When and How to Consume Littorai Wines

Our clients often ask for descriptions of our wines. While this can be very subjective, our lengthy experience with these sites has taught us the following:

Mays Canyon Chardonnay: produces elegant, mineral and floral chardonnays with great acidity. The wines are finely boned and best suited to fish and shellfish dishes.

Charles Heintz Chardonnay: Richer and opulent but with a hidden backbone of acidity. This is chardonnay for foie gras and rich dishes.

Thieriot Chardonnay: The most exotic of the three. In some vintages closer to Heintz in style and others, more Mays Canyon in texture. Aromas of linden and chamomile. The best marriage with asian foods and foods with exotic spices.

Hirsch Vineyard Pinot Noir: Pinot noir of masculine tannins. Aromas of blackberry and herbes de Provence: sage, savory, thyme. This is wine for game dishes, hearty foods and stormy nights.

Savoy Vineyard Pinot Noir: similar to Hirsch in tannin profile but aromas quite distinct: joyous fruits of raspberry, plums and morello cherry. The most versatile of our pinots, in lighter vintages suitable for fish dishes, in denser vintages a wine for game.

One Acre Pinot Noir: The softest, richest of the pinots. Aromas of lavender, raspberry, blackberry, rose petal and spices. Pinot noir for fish dishes and lighter meats.

Thieriot Pinot Noir: Asian spices, cumin, orange peel even mahogany (usually a descriptor reserved for Cabernet Sauvignon based wines). The pinots of Thieriot Vineyard have both richness and tannic structure. Like Savoy Vineyard, the Thieriot wines can pair well with both fish and game.

A Look at the Vintages

In accordance with our belief in minimal manipulation of our wines, almost all these wines are bottled both unfined and unfiltered, with little human intervention. We strongly recommend that you stand the bottle upright 24 hours before opening. If it is a young wine, we suggest decanting off of any sediment.

The chardonnays are best consumed from one to five years after release. The pinot noirs are best consumed from one to ten years after release. Since storage conditions vary and have an enormous impact on the aging of all wines, we encourage you to be your own judge of when the wines reach optimal drinking. As a guideline, here is our evaluation of past vintages. This assumes excellent storage conditions:

Vintage 1993: A warm late season, better for Pinot than expected at the time of release. One Acre is at its peak now, but will hold. Mays Canyon should be consumed.

Vintage 1994: A high acid chardonnay vintage with wonderful earthy bouquet. Firmly tannic, good pinot. Both are fully mature now.

Vintage 1995: A classically proportioned vintage with fruit intensity and balanced tannins. Both chardonnay and pinot are delightful wines. One Acre and Mays Canyon are ready to consume. Hirsch, Savoy and Occidental show greater life expectancy but are also lovely now.

   4/11/03-- Occidental: If you still have bottles of this in the cellar, you are in for a real treat. The wine seems to be coming out of an adolescent phase and is glorious now. The first aromas are of earth and truffles. With air the wine becomes brighter with notes of lemon peel, mint and just a hint of creme brulee. The palate is fresh, vibrant and wonderfully balanced. Two days later the partial bottle was just as good if not better... Years of life ahead?

Vintage 1996: The surprise of the 1990s. Far better and more age worthy than either winemakers or the media expected. All the wines are full, rich and vibrant. A delight. Drink.