Great Dirt is Not Sentimental: Ted Lemon on Terroir

Perhaps the most commented on post I have made in the past few months has been my posting of the transcript of Matt Kramer's speech at the Wellington Pinot Noir symposium in New Zealand. Kramer's thoughts on what it takes to make truly great wine were both inspiring and controversial.

A couple of weeks after Kramer made his comments, another articulate American found his way to the southern hemisphere and offered his own thinking on making great wines. Ted Lemon is one of America's most experienced and thoughtful winemakers. Trained in Burgundy, Lemon has been making wines under his Littorai label in Sonoma County since 1993. I recently published an excellent interview with him conducted by a friend of mine, Jordan MacKay.

He recently spoke at the Mornington Penninsula Pinot Noir symposium in Australia. My friend Chuck Hayward was there, and managed to secure a transcript of the speech which he has published on his blog.

It's definitely worth reading, especially as a complement or counterpoint to Kramer's speech.

Check it out.