Littorai, Mays Canyon Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley

Graduation Dinner (Restaurant Lulu, San Francisco) : Cork crumbled. Pale ruby color with some mild bricking; nose has muted but interesting complex fruits, savory cherry, some earth, seems less fruity than expected, slight green/herbal; palate is dry, light bodied, fruit has dropped out leaving a dry midpalate; finish is medium length. This is a very interesting Pinot with an intriguing nose and real character, but it is on the downslope, has lost too much fruit on the palate without enough …

Earthy nose with unmistakeable Russian River red fruit. A bit rough and unbalanced at first, with unexpected tannins. Settled into classic Littorai cola, Asian spice, and smoke with raspberry and cherry RR style fruit. Still has backbone, can go another 2 years, I'd say. After 40 min, glycerin started to emerge and tannins receded, started to balance out. As usual, I kick myself for not waiting longer for it to open up. About two hours in it's fading, losing fruit, …

Popped and poured. Medium deep red. Very savory on the nose without the RRV fruit this vineyard often shows in its youth; really secondary flavors of bark, forest floor and herbs. Medium bodied on the palate and a long savory finish. Not sure if this will age well beyond this 8 year point; will be interesting to see how it does after 24 hours. Next day has put on quite a bit of richness and mid-palate depth, but still a …

2010 July 4th Wine Barbecue at the Pangs: (Almost) All American Wine Lineup (Chez Pang, Sunnyvale, California) : Medium dark red violet color; rich, cherry, black cherry nose; tasty, ripe cherry, berry syrup palate; medium-plus finish

Deep ruby color. Nose a bit muted, with hints of asian spices. Very round and supple on palate right from the initial attack. Showing bright red fruit flavors with only a slight astringency on the mid-palate (tannins that are not otherwise noticeable?) to detract. Asian spices echo on the finish, which is long and lingering. Though Ted Lemon is known for Burgundian-styled wines, this struck me as unmistakably Californian. Not terribly complex but yummy.

No decant. Muted nose of dark cherry. Creamy oak flavors with dark cherry and cinnamon spice. Consistent palate throughout with a nice, textured & full mouthfeel. The spice lifted a bit on the finish.