Wine of the week: snap up this soon-to-be legendary Californian pinot

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published 5 November 2021

2018 Littorai, The Pivot Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, California

£470 in bond for six bottles, rennaisancevintners.com; £380 in bond for six bottles, Wimbledon Wine Cellar 020-8540 9979

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Made by Ted and Heidi Lemon from a 2.8-acre biodynamic vineyard, this is the most beautifully thought through, carefully judged, respectfully oaked and finely tuned red wine, and it manages to add a whisper of whole-bunch detail (37%), too – Ted and Heidi adding ravishing “seasoning” to their pristine fruit with consummate accuracy. I was so taken by this wine after first encountering it, I immediately bought three bottles and opened them for a series of my most forensic wine pals to enjoy. It passed every analysis with flying colours, accompanied by oohs and aahs.

I then poured it at a corporate event and a further 25 wine lovers fell at its feet. Please do look up Littorai and learn more about the Lemons and their talents because they are a fascinating pair. This wine has yet to secure a wine-shop listing, but two merchants have put their hand up with rather differing prices! My advice is to get in quickly because only 515 cases were made of this soon-to-be legendary wine.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition’s Communicator of the Year (matthewjukes.com)

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Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’. He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner.

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy. His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.