Littorai Hirsch Vineyard Pinot Noir 2013 Magnum

Littorai Hirsch Vineyard Pinot Noir 2013 Magnum

Littorai
$440.00

Grape: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2013
Type: Red

This red wine comes from Hirsch Vineyard in the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA, one of Littorai's key vineyard partnerships on the true Sonoma Coast. Ted Lemon farms the fruit organically and biodynamically and ferments on native yeast, with minimal sulfur and no fining or filtration through to bottling. The site sits high and exposed above the fog line, cooler and windier than most Pinot noir ground in California.

It displays a translucent garnet color, opening with dark cherry, dried rose, and a saline, oceanic edge typical of the site. On the palate, the medium-bodied frame is taut and structured, balancing dark red fruit against firm, fine-grained tannin. Acidity is high and keeps the wine tightly wound rather than soft. Savory, mineral notes deepen the fruit through the middle. It finishes long and structured, built for a decade or more of further development.

Hirsch Vineyard lies 12 miles northwest of Jenner, a series of ridge tops between 1,200 and 1,550 feet and only 3 miles from the Pacific. This is San Andreas Fault territory, and the soils are correspondingly varied: Hugo gravelly loam and Hugo-Josephine complex. Planted in 1990, the site averages 2.58 tons per acre, and Littorai has bought its fruit continuously since 1994, longer than any other producer.