Am I excited to have got an allocation of this wine? You betcha! Do I LOVE the wine? Absolutely. I had to choose a vineyard and I chose Les Larmes (the tears), their gem from the Anderson Valley.

Ted Lemon, who owns and operates Littorai with his wife, Heidi, is a lifelong winemaker with an Enology degree from the Université de Dijon. He has worked at many prestigious estates in Burgundy (including Domaine Georges Roumier, Domaine Bruno Clair, Domaine Parent, Domaine De Villaine, Domaine Delorme, and Domaine Dujac) and was the first American ever selected as winemaker/vineyard manager of a Burgundian estate (Domaine Guy Roulot in Meursault). Since 1993, Littorai has grown from producing 300 cases annually to 3,000 cases amongst 8 different vineyard designations and Ted remains one of America’s most highly-respected winemakers. 

The "Les Larmes" bottling hails from the Anderson Valley and is comprised of declassifications from the vineyard-designated wines as well as additional Sonoma Coast vineyards. The wine is a blend of sites farmed conventionally, others farmed using only organic materials, and sites farmed using biodynamic techniques. After harvest, the grapes are pressed and the wine spends approximately nine months in French oak, of which 20-25% is new. 

Aromatically the wine lifts from the glass with fresh cherry, alpine strawberries, rhubarb, huckleberry, and violets. On the palate, the wine is supple with enticing red fruit flavors as well as delicately fine-grained tannins alongside mouthwatering acidity.