One of California’s most thoughtful and respected winemakers recently celebrated his 30th vintage. Over the past few months, Ted Lemon has hosted retrospective tastings and conversations with select groups of customers, sommeliers and members of the press, such as one I attended earlier this month in San Francisco.
Lemon and his wife, Heidi, jointly helm Littorai Wines, a small estate on the Sonoma Coast producing single-vineyard Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and one bottling of Chenin Blanc. The wines are sold primarily through a mailing list, with small quantities reaching restaurants worldwide.
In 1984, fresh from his role as winemaker and vineyard manager for Domaine Guy Roulot – the first American to hold such a position in Burgundy – Lemon made the somewhat surprising decision to search for his first American winemaking job in Napa.
‘There’s a part of me that felt, you know, you’re 24 and you’ve made wine from Clos de la Roche, Bonnes Mares, Échezeaux, Perrières-Charmes, and you feel a little bit like a one-hit wonder’, jokes Lemon. ‘I thought I’d probably never be able to match that, and I should just forget about owning my own winery and go find some interesting places to work. Napa was booming at the time – I just wanted to see what was happening there.’
Though Lemon spent several years in Napa working on hallowed Cabernet ground alongside legends like Ric Forman and Randy Dunn, he kept his heart in Pinot Noir through a tasting group whose members would become some of the most influential players in California wine: John Wetlaufer and Helen Turley, Tony Soter, David Ramey, Burt Williams, Steve Kistler, Chris Howell, and Cathy Corison.
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Image courtesy of Littorai Wines.
