Left this in the glass for 5 hours. The strong tea notes subsided and the wine smoothed out much more to my liking. Drank w/out food. This was slightly cloudy, not that I care. This had a heavier weight than expected. Fine tannins. The acidity was there but not providing enough lift. Maybe disjointed from age, maybe it didn't get enough air?
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MNB: Grab Bag (Home (Noe st)): (blind) Medium minus ruby color. Elevated intensity aromas of pomegranate, tart cherry, slightly confected cherry as if from whole cluster, ripe black cherry, funky reductive red cherry, also slight hints of possible oak - a small percent new, or mostly used. There's a really savory tamari-wet leaves thing on the nose, and baked cherry. On the palate, dry, medium plus body, elevated alcohol (14%), high acid, elevated bitterness - harsh and disjointed, and elevated tannins (green, bitter, and papery).
The key features here: - thin-skinned grape - whole cluster - reductive red fruit - variable ripeness / millerandage - slight oak usage - elevated alcohol, high acid, super bitter - elevated tannins
I'm at a loss. Possible laterals include: - New World Pinot - but a super hot one with over-extracted tannins - Barbera - but one with clean winemaking, a touch of oak and confected whole-cluster/carbonic notes
On the balance, I think this is most likely Pinot, Napa, 2014. A hot bitter mess.
Actually: 2006 Littorai Haven vineyard!
Everyone else really liked this, so on preponderance of evidence I'm guessing this was an off-palate day. The overwhelming consensus was this was an extremely well-balanced, restrained, high-acid Pinot.
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Drinking very well. Rich brambly dark fruit nose that intensifies as the wine breathes. Silky palate, more dark fruit, and tremendous length with hints of sweetness. In a great place.
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This is drinking so nicely right now, why its a shame to drink it!!! Lots of subtle fruit flavors across the nose and palate, deep, balanced, but not overpowering or in your face kind of c-noir style.....
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Still prime drinking at 9 years old. Dark cherries, spices, a fair amount of complexity, ad clearly extremely well made. Man I love Littorai. Not too far off from some good 1er cru burgundy in style, through clearly having an extra fruit kick from the CA sunshine. For $60 this was a FAIR value.
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Delish! With 10 years of age this dark fruit and savory wine is drinking very nicely right now. Balanced with a nice lingering finish. Paired well with BBQ salmon.
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- Garnet color. It's in total harmony and has flavours of fig, mushroom and black currant with a medium/full body. Polished texture with a medium finish.
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Deep garnet in color. Intense with full strength acidity upon initial opening however as it opened it settled down into a gorgeous and multi-dimensional Pinot. Very bold and very well balanced with intense cherry and berry favors that lasted long into the palate. Exceptionally well balanced and powerful example of Littorai!! Perfect with the braised short ribs.
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Opened this after a very disappointing showing of a different Littorai PN in a blind tasting last week. That bottle showed a distinctly sweet candied profile I found very offputting. This one opens up with a similar sweet black cherry note, but with air the sweetness fades and the spine of the wine firms up. Black cherry and plums, with lots of spice (some really high-class oak there?) and savory notes, and it's medium weight and nicely tart and a bit tannic, although the tannins are quite fine and the whole thing is very elegant. Very good and an extremely well-executed version of a "restrained" Sonoma PN, with the telltale black cherry fruit signature but enough acid and structure and complexity to balance it out.
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Delicious dark cherry, floral, and smoke aromas and flavors with wonderful complexity and balance that carries into a delightful finish. Went great with sautéed rabbit Niçoise!
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Incredible depth, this wine had power and elegance nicely balanced. Plush stone fruit with earthy flavors. You can smell the "true" Sonoma Coast in this wine. Balanced on the palate and a superb finish.
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sadly, my last bottle. really showing nicely now. has great balance between cool red fruits, complex spice and wood notes, and minerality. while not overly structured, it isn't flabby either. a nice finish that shows some of the more complex spice and wood notes. a really enjoyable bottle of wine.
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While not my favorite Littorai bottling, this was delicious and fit well with 4 of 5 blind courses (mostly seafood, vegetables, some red meat). Sour cherry, rose pedal, raspberry, pine, roasted spice/herbs... Soft med/full-bodied mouthfeel... some earthy/vegetel notes on the finish. A root beer/sassafras aspect. Despite being of a vintage that doesn't ever get talked about, this is bursting with fruit - sweet but lean and acidic. The flavor spectrum over time, with some air, became ideal. Beautiful.
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Still clear at the rim. Effusive nose of baked cherry, rose, and cinnamon. Mid-weight on the palate, with sappy sour cherry, anise, raspberry, and caramel flavors that are framed by bright acidity and good structure. Gains depth and complexity with air, building momentum over the course of 3 hours that the bottle was open. Sill young, with potential for improvement ahead.
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straw and sour cherry nose. Flavors of sour cherry, roasted herbs, soft earth, floral with rose petals... medium body lively, with earh and nice finish.
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Brilliant ruby red; interesting tangy component to the nose but not showing a lot in the way of fruit initially. On the palate quite a bit more intensity than the previous bottle; good underlying structure and some snappy red fruit. This now seems likely to develop nicely over the next year or two.
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Beautiful deep reddish pink with clear rim. Nose of fraise de bois, ripe red cherries, red licorice and Luden's cherry drops. Perfect balance on the palate with like flavors that go right to the end of a solid, medium finish. Muted acidity refreshes, but leaves a wonderful tangy impression. Succulent, but not at all tiring.
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An unusually complex pinot with game and ripe cherry; the gentle acidity is flexible and plays flirtatiously with duck breast in sherry jus; the long finish coasts mildly, augmenting this wine's pairability.
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Diffuse and closed on the nose; reasonable depth on the palate but no where near what most Littorai Pinots show on the nose or in balancing acidity. The other 06 Pinots I've tasted have also been quite awkward over the last 6 months; perhaps a phase or a vintage which will never show well. Time will tell.
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Last bottle was corked. This one has a metalic/copper finish. Also very odd gamey quality I don't associate with Pinot. Good concentration of fruit, with balanced tannin and acid. Finish is long, but repeats those obtrusive notes.
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Slightly corked, but TCA just above my threshold, so components of the wine were notable. Very rich, ripe and full bodied. Aromas of stewed rhubarb , blackberry and forest floor. An initially closed nose unfurls to reveal sassafras notes. Gains power and weight with air. There’s just enough acid to temper the viscous, decomposing cranberry fruit. Despite the flaw, this was a fairly complex wine with aromatics that move from one to the next before you can quite grasp them. Unfortunately, t he musty wet cardboard aromas that kept popping up kept me from fully enjoying this wine.
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Family Winemakers San Francisco (Fort Mason San Francisco): Tasted at the Family Winemakers in SF. Quick notes: somewhat lower acidity that the Mays and Roman with more approachable fruit with sweet strawberry notes. Good to Very Good.
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3/14/2024 - jjct wrote:
@RajivAyyangar's note matches my experience with this bottle.
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6/21/2021 - gresch Likes this wine: 91 Points
Left this in the glass for 5 hours. The strong tea notes subsided and the wine smoothed out much more to my liking. Drank w/out food.
This was slightly cloudy, not that I care. This had a heavier weight than expected. Fine tannins. The acidity was there but not providing enough lift. Maybe disjointed from age, maybe it didn't get enough air?
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5/5/2018 - S. Lorin wrote:
Loring Place
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6/26/2017 - RajivAyyangar wrote:
MNB: Grab Bag (Home (Noe st)): (blind)
Medium minus ruby color.
Elevated intensity aromas of pomegranate, tart cherry, slightly confected cherry as if from whole cluster, ripe black cherry, funky reductive red cherry, also slight hints of possible oak - a small percent new, or mostly used. There's a really savory tamari-wet leaves thing on the nose, and baked cherry.
On the palate, dry, medium plus body, elevated alcohol (14%), high acid, elevated bitterness - harsh and disjointed, and elevated tannins (green, bitter, and papery).
The key features here:
- thin-skinned grape
- whole cluster
- reductive red fruit
- variable ripeness / millerandage
- slight oak usage
- elevated alcohol, high acid, super bitter
- elevated tannins
I'm at a loss. Possible laterals include:
- New World Pinot - but a super hot one with over-extracted tannins
- Barbera - but one with clean winemaking, a touch of oak and confected whole-cluster/carbonic notes
On the balance, I think this is most likely Pinot, Napa, 2014. A hot bitter mess.
Actually: 2006 Littorai Haven vineyard!
Everyone else really liked this, so on preponderance of evidence I'm guessing this was an off-palate day. The overwhelming consensus was this was an extremely well-balanced, restrained, high-acid Pinot.
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5/28/2017 - shaneajohnson wrote: 95 Points
No time for a formal note, but this was fantastic. It's in a great place now. Wish it were not my last bottle of this.
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12/22/2016 - Richard P Howden Likes this wine: 92 Points
Drinking very well. Rich brambly dark fruit nose that intensifies as the wine breathes. Silky palate, more dark fruit, and tremendous length with hints of sweetness. In a great place.
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5/6/2016 - UpfromtheCellar wrote: 92 Points
This is drinking so nicely right now, why its a shame to drink it!!! Lots of subtle fruit flavors across the nose and palate, deep, balanced, but not overpowering or in your face kind of c-noir style.....
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4/17/2016 - pjhr Likes this wine: 93 Points
Continues to drink beautifully.
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11/7/2015 - jbaron Does not like this wine:
Dead.
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10/30/2015 - RyanJames Likes this wine: 92 Points
Still prime drinking at 9 years old. Dark cherries, spices, a fair amount of complexity, ad clearly extremely well made. Man I love Littorai. Not too far off from some good 1er cru burgundy in style, through clearly having an extra fruit kick from the CA sunshine. For $60 this was a FAIR value.
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10/30/2015 - UpfromtheCellar wrote: 92 Points
Delish! With 10 years of age this dark fruit and savory wine is drinking very nicely right now. Balanced with a nice lingering finish. Paired well with BBQ salmon.
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4/25/2014 - Ladalove wrote: 92 Points
- Garnet color. It's in total harmony and has flavours of fig, mushroom and black currant with a medium/full body. Polished texture with a medium finish.
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2/9/2014 - Tree512 wrote: 91 Points
Full ripe red fruits, balanced and long, has a good life ahead of it. Best of the 2006 Littorai I have had so far.
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1/4/2014 - ajfret01 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Outstanding. Earthy and spicy. Just great!
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8/15/2013 - mthompson wrote: 92 Points
Deep garnet in color. Intense with full strength acidity upon initial opening however as it opened it settled down into a gorgeous and multi-dimensional Pinot. Very bold and very well balanced with intense cherry and berry favors that lasted long into the palate. Exceptionally well balanced and powerful example of Littorai!! Perfect with the braised short ribs.
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7/31/2013 - pjhr Likes this wine: 94 Points
As delicious as the last bottle!
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3/11/2013 - coremill wrote: 89 Points
Opened this after a very disappointing showing of a different Littorai PN in a blind tasting last week. That bottle showed a distinctly sweet candied profile I found very offputting. This one opens up with a similar sweet black cherry note, but with air the sweetness fades and the spine of the wine firms up. Black cherry and plums, with lots of spice (some really high-class oak there?) and savory notes, and it's medium weight and nicely tart and a bit tannic, although the tannins are quite fine and the whole thing is very elegant. Very good and an extremely well-executed version of a "restrained" Sonoma PN, with the telltale black cherry fruit signature but enough acid and structure and complexity to balance it out.
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2/10/2013 - pjhr Likes this wine: 94 Points
Delicious dark cherry, floral, and smoke aromas and flavors with wonderful complexity and balance that carries into a delightful finish.
Went great with sautéed rabbit Niçoise!
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11/10/2012 - MillenialWineGuy wrote: 94 Points
Incredible depth, this wine had power and elegance nicely balanced. Plush stone fruit with earthy flavors. You can smell the "true" Sonoma Coast in this wine. Balanced on the palate and a superb finish.
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10/6/2012 - shaneajohnson wrote: 93 Points
This wine is in a good spot right now, but I think it still has years of improvement ahead of it. Try again in 2016+
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7/7/2012 - kthornton78 wrote: 93 Points
sadly, my last bottle. really showing nicely now. has great balance between cool red fruits, complex spice and wood notes, and minerality. while not overly structured, it isn't flabby either. a nice finish that shows some of the more complex spice and wood notes. a really enjoyable bottle of wine.
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11/29/2011 - PVTerroir wrote: 93 Points
While not my favorite Littorai bottling, this was delicious and fit well with 4 of 5 blind courses (mostly seafood, vegetables, some red meat). Sour cherry, rose pedal, raspberry, pine, roasted spice/herbs... Soft med/full-bodied mouthfeel... some earthy/vegetel notes on the finish. A root beer/sassafras aspect. Despite being of a vintage that doesn't ever get talked about, this is bursting with fruit - sweet but lean and acidic. The flavor spectrum over time, with some air, became ideal. Beautiful.
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11/22/2011 - rosenst1 wrote: 90 Points
Popped and poured. Medium ruby. Nice spicy nose with red fruits dominant. Medium full on the palate good depth and a lovely finish.
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9/24/2011 - etherscreen wrote:
another winner. sadly my last bottle.
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8/13/2011 - etherscreen wrote:
enjoyed at peninsula grill for wife's birthday. no note, but very enjoyable for us both. took an hour to open.
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6/11/2011 - DanR wrote: 91 Points
Still clear at the rim. Effusive nose of baked cherry, rose, and cinnamon. Mid-weight on the palate, with sappy sour cherry, anise, raspberry, and caramel flavors that are framed by bright acidity and good structure. Gains depth and complexity with air, building momentum over the course of 3 hours that the bottle was open. Sill young, with potential for improvement ahead.
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4/16/2011 - bruce61 wrote: 93 Points
A really nice bottle of Pinot. Bright fruit, some toast and spice. None of the vegetal notes that others have reported.
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3/19/2011 - calnative Likes this wine: 91 Points
straw and sour cherry nose. Flavors of sour cherry, roasted herbs, soft earth, floral with rose petals... medium body lively, with earh and nice finish.
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2/13/2010 - rosenst1 wrote: 89 Points
Brilliant ruby red; interesting tangy component to the nose but not showing a lot in the way of fruit initially.
On the palate quite a bit more intensity than the previous bottle; good underlying structure and some snappy red fruit. This now seems likely to develop nicely over the next year or two.
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9/22/2009 - ginfizz wrote: 93 Points
Beautiful deep reddish pink with clear rim. Nose of fraise de bois, ripe red cherries, red licorice and Luden's cherry drops. Perfect balance on the palate with like flavors that go right to the end of a solid, medium finish. Muted acidity refreshes, but leaves a wonderful tangy impression. Succulent, but not at all tiring.
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8/23/2009 - rjonwine@gmail.com wrote: 92 Points
2009 Family Winemakers Annual Tasting; 8/23/2009-8/24/2009 (Fort Mason, San Francisco, California): Intriguing tart red fruit nose with green notes; tart cherry palate with a touch of gree; medium finish
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8/1/2009 - Rollerball wrote: 94 Points
An unusually complex pinot with game and ripe cherry; the gentle acidity is flexible and plays flirtatiously with duck breast in sherry jus; the long finish coasts mildly, augmenting this wine's pairability.
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7/27/2009 - rosenst1 wrote: 85 Points
Diffuse and closed on the nose; reasonable depth on the palate but no where near
what most Littorai Pinots show on the nose or in balancing acidity. The other 06
Pinots I've tasted have also been quite awkward over the last 6 months; perhaps
a phase or a vintage which will never show well. Time will tell.
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7/27/2009 - Jody Smith wrote:
Last bottle was corked. This one has a metalic/copper finish. Also very odd gamey quality I don't associate with Pinot. Good concentration of fruit, with balanced tannin and acid. Finish is long, but repeats those obtrusive notes.
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3/17/2009 - peternelson wrote: 93 Points
Family Wine Makers: Fine t’s, complex frt, spice, minerals, perfumey as hell! GC Burg-like; elegant bal, so good.
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2/17/2009 - olm2000 wrote: 89 Points
ripe red fruits and some pine needles on nose...smells and tastes like Sonoma Coast pinot...well made but not worth the tariff IMO
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2/7/2009 - tanglenet wrote:
3rd Annual Freeman Caves Weekend; 2/6/2009-2/8/2009 (Santa Rosa and environs): Tasted at the winery. Quick notes: ripe cherries with a dry citrus finish. Very Good.
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11/28/2008 - Jody Smith wrote:
Slightly corked, but TCA just above my threshold, so components of the wine were notable. Very rich, ripe and full bodied. Aromas of stewed rhubarb , blackberry and forest floor. An initially closed nose unfurls to reveal sassafras notes. Gains power and weight with air. There’s just enough acid to temper the viscous, decomposing cranberry fruit. Despite the flaw, this was a fairly complex wine with aromatics that move from one to the next before you can quite grasp them. Unfortunately, t he musty wet cardboard aromas that kept popping up kept me from fully enjoying this wine.
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8/25/2008 - rjonwine@gmail.com wrote: 91 Points
Family Winemakers San Francisco; 8/24/2008-8/25/2008 (Fort Mason, San Francisco): Oak and tart red fruit nose; tart cherry and red fruit with noticeable oak; medium finish
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8/24/2008 - tanglenet wrote:
Family Winemakers San Francisco (Fort Mason San Francisco): Tasted at the Family Winemakers in SF. Quick notes: somewhat lower acidity that the Mays and Roman with more approachable fruit with sweet strawberry notes. Good to Very Good.
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