Littorai -the Littoral zone and biodynamics

In the arcane vocabulary of academic geography the margins of watery places, oceans and seas, rivers and lakes, are the littorai. The littoral zone describes the section of the coastal environment between the high-water mark and somewhere around or beyond the first bits of coast that are permanently submerged.

Ted Lemon, founder, owner and winemaker at Littorai Winery in the Sonoma Coast AVA of Northern California, named his winery to mark the profound influence of the coastal climate on the terroir of his patch of ground. A visit to Littorai is food for the soul for any terroiriste who has escaped the wine-Disneyland of Napa Valley - the Lemon family and their team are doing something very interesting here.

Little bit of history first. On my visits to California wine country I've met more rich-guys-who-bought-a-winery than I care to remember. Bless 'em, of course, for their enthusiasm and commitment, but they are usually happiest doing front of house duties while a team of oenologists and consultants concentrate on maximising the points-yield from each vintage. Lemon, in contrast, has been in wine all his adult life, studying at wine school at Universite de Bourgogne and then working at a roll-call of top Burgundy estates before becoming what he assures us was the first American to be hired as vineyard manager and winemaker at a Burgundy estate. The family founded the winery in 1993 and finally opened their new production facility on the estate in 2008.

I visited their patch of ground in the spring of 2010. Things that are worth doing are often a little bit of a challenge, and there's nothing more likely to deter a diffident Brit than a very big and forbidding set of locked gates. The gates were roughly where I thought the winery should be, but there was no sign or name or street number and no-one had mentioned a big set of gates that needed an entry code when I set-up the visit. However, I've found that puzzled-looking British people in the USA act as a sort-of attractant to helpful strangers, so I concentrated hard on looking at confused as possible and sure-enough a kindly elderly gentleman appeared from nowhere to point-out a side-entrance and to encourage me on my way. A warm welcome awaited me at the end of the track as we pitched-up at the still-shiny new winery. I thought about asking whether they had many no-shows for appointments, but everyone was so nice and I didn't want to look like the stupid Brit who couldn't get past the gates, so I kept all that to myself.

Biodynamics is a littoral agricultural system, existing at the margins of conventional farming, organic agriculture, homeopathy, holism and god-knows-what-else. On Wine Alchemy Paul Howard has written about the problem of "greenwashing", spurious biodynamic claims made by industrial producers. Littorai in contrast are the real deal. I toured the site and the farm. They have 30 acres of beautiful verdant land on the estate site but true to Steiner's conception of the biodynamic farm as a self-sustaining organism only a small minority of the land is actually used to grow grapes. Old wooded areas have been left undisturbed and other plots are used to grow crops complementary to the process - broad (fava) beans and herbs for the BD preparations. There are wild flower areas, bee hives, boxes for Mason Bees and they are planning on getting a cow! Like all organic farmers they were more proud of their compost heap than the new winery!

The range of wines is almost exclusively chardonnay and pinot noir. In line with the terroir-driven philosophy these are from several distinct geographical spots, both on the estate and elsewhere. While the estate vines are of course owned by the winery the off-site plots are mostly on long-term lease arrangements which give Littorai control over viticulture. I tasted a hugely impressive and very appealing range of wines here. While they showed nuanced differences from cuvée to cuvée what shone through was a house style which values elegance and balance, which allows the fruit and it's patch-of-ground to speak. They make a convincing case for a terroir for these grapes in Northern California which allows for the making of harmonious and elegantly restrained wines.

Whether it's because or despite their use of an agricultural system from the margins of the mainstream, for me it's clear that Littorai occupy another margin - among the very best producers of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in California. That's a good littoral zone to be in.

The Littorai wines

Chardonnay

Thieriot Vineyard, 2008

 

Pale gold colour. Nose has zesty citrus minerality and lovely toasty fruit. There's oak evident but it's not overt and there's certainly time for all to integrate and harmonise, which I think it will do over 5-10 years. Palate while rich is surprisingly light on its feet, reflecting the skilful balancing of fruit, acidity and oak that has been done here. Very good indeed.

Charles Heitz Vineyard, 2008

 

This is in a richer style to the Thieriot with a more buttery character. It's far from one-dimensional though with an intriguing savoury white pepper and greengage character. Richer palate with the same buttery feel, but the racy acidity keeps it fresh and balanced. Very good indeed.

Pinot Noir

Les Larmes, Anderson Valley, 2007

 

I've read elsewhere this is made to be the relatively approachable pinot in the Littorai line-up. This seems so, but it is also beautifully made and quite serious. The nose of strawberry and raspberry fruit is balanced with a core of slightly smoky darker fruit. The label says 13.9% alcohol but I could find not detectable heat on the nose or palate, so the balance seems spot-on. Palate has lovely soft fruit and it will drink well over its first 5 years or so. But there's also a slightly spiky interesting pepper note, which together with the lovely balance suggests there's no harm in hanging on to it a little longer than that. Lovely.

May's Canyon, Russian River Valley, 2007

 

Initially much tighter than the Les Larmes, but air revealed a more serious darker fruited structure. Delightful and poised pinot fruit. Lovely velvet texture on the palate but there's a very appealing spiky white pepper quality too that lifts and gives balance and texture. Structure is all in place and it's very long. This needs time, maybe ten years or more, but will be superb.

Cerise Vineyard, Anderson Valley, 2007

 

This is said to be a more rocky, coarsely-textured vineyard site and this has given the wine a more mineral quality with good sour mulberry fruit balance. A bigger wine than the previous two pinots but a great job has been done keeping the balance right. On the day I preferred the previous two 2007s, but this may just need lots of time.

Haven Vineyard, 2006

 

Last of the pinots - and the only 2006. This has a complex and interesting earthy and farmyard nose with more lovely sour fruit notes too. Palate has sour cherries, right in my mouthwatering-wine-sweet-spot! It's also spicy and complex, long and richly structured. This has real complexity & is absolutely delicious.

Finally, an oddity!

Lemon's Folly, 2008

 

This is a field blend of 95% Gewürztramminer and 5% Sauvignon Blanc. This is amazingly subtle and restrained stuff - lovely gentle classic rosewater nose that's aromatic and interesting without being overpowering. Gentle and elegant. Love it.

PS At the very next winery visited we got talking to another customer who told me that he had had an appointment at Littorai but had given-up because all he could find was... a set of forbidding-looking locked gates!

Andy Leslie, June 2010