2012 Littorai Pinot Noir Hirsch Vineyard- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (12/15/2020)
13% abv. Medium burgundy red, flamboyant aromatics. On the palate, raspberry, cinnamon, mint and lavender. Medium depth, excellent length. Energetic, tense and light as a feather. Maybe the best Pinot I’ve tasted this year. (95 pts.)
Great note, thanks! Have a lone bottle in the cellar from Lopa and have been slightly worried by the mixed reviews on CT, but now this has gotten me excited to try it. Any tips on decanting?
I always pop and pour my Littorai. They have lots of stuffing but they unfurl nicely in the glass. I like to watch them evolve and mellow over a few hours.
Hirsch is my favorite bottling of Littorai and Ted does my favorite interpretation of David’s vineyard.
There’s this pine needle and orange peel note that I find intoxicating.
Wow, high praise indeed. I’ll admit it – I went and checked my inventory. Have singles of 2012 The Pivot and Platt, but not the Hirsch. Hoping that Littorai was successful across the board in Sonoma Coast that year. Time to open one or both?
Regards,
Peter
Wow, just served this the weekend before last and I also enjoyed it immensely. They remind me a little of Rhys, not because they have the same flavor profile, which they don’t, but because they both possess this extra gear that takes them beyond even other very good expressions of pinot from Ca. Matthew’s “pine needle and orange peel” really hit the nail on the head for me as to what was unexpected there, as well as Buzz’s lightness and tensile strength.
I think the 2012 Littorai pinots are still showing young across the board. I’ve tried a few of them this year, and indeed the Hirsch was the best and most ready of the bunch.
This post inspired me to pop open a Williams Selyem Hirsch Pinot tonight to celebrate the winter solstice and the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. I had a 2010 ready to go.
What a fabulous wine. It is showing remarkably young, with brilliant red and dark cherries, cranberry, damp earth, pine needles, and a character that conjures up the misty redwoods surrounding the vineyard. In addition, there are some lovely subtle secondary notes creeping in of toast, baked clay, and dried herbs. What a great balance and this wine is at the perfect spot! I have had three expressions of this vineyard and would rank them as such- #1 Williams Selyem, #2 (very close second) Littorai, #3 Hirsch Vineyards. I’ve heard great things about David Hirsch’s higher end bottlings, but I’ve only had the San Andreas Fault; it’s a nice wine, but doesn’t hold a candle to Williams Selyem or Littorai. Cheers to Yule!
Love both Williams Selyem and Littorai Hirsch, although not my favorite single vineyard for either producer.
Hirsch is a huge vineyard and IIRC, W-S and Littorai have access to some of the most prime blocks. Although W-S has lost access and no longer makes a Hirsch.