Thank you for joining us on our journey with food and wine, both things we firmly believe should be shared – for maximum enjoyment…

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

Blessed to live in the multi-cultural food and wine mecca of Melbourne in Australia, we are constantly asked by friends about restaurants, wine and experiences we have with these things in Australia and other parts of the world too. 

This blog is our food and wine life in words and pictures and is an extension of our instagram page @wineanddiners where you can get the abridged version. We hope you enjoy the ride and look forward to any shared experiences.

Salute! Bon Apetite! Gān bēi! Cheers!

When life gives you Lemons – Rejoice!

Thursday 7th March 2019

Ted Lemon has been on a tour around Australia to commemorate the 25th Birthday 🎂 of his Littorai wines from California’s Sonoma Coast and Anderson Valley. Ted and his wife Heidi, also an accomplished winemaker, started Littorai in 1993. He is an advocate for sustainable farming practices and employs these throughout his vineyards.

This was our first introduction to Ted’s greater portfolio of wines. First experience was in New York City’s awesome Carbone restaurant in Greenwich Village. A lunch following a very large evening with some other wine passionate friends who were visiting NYC at the same time. DANGER. With the time difference, the hangover, an earlyish lunch booking and the huge sleep in (11am🤷) the 2016 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ended up being our breakfast wine. What a bright juicy little wake up it was – also a very memorable one.

So when we heard that the Prince Wine Store were hosting the venerable winemaker himself at their equally delicious (and significantly more affordable) restaurant Bellota, back in little old Melbourne, we jumped at the chance.

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Ted’s self deprecating nature belies his impressive credentials, starting with an Oenology degree from the Université de Dijon in France in 1981. Ted stayed on in Burgundy and learned his craft at some serious Chateaux – Domaines Georges Roumier, Bruno Clair, De Villaine and Dujac – before landing what most would imagine was a dream role – at Domaine Roulot in Meursault at the ripe old age of 25. Ted quips in his intro ‘I don’t make much Chardonnay (20% of total production) because it’s really hard to make and I’m just not as good at it’.

His wines however tell a different story. The first pair was a vintage contrast of his Thierot Chardonnay, 2016 and 2007. Thierot Vineyard is in West Sonoma County Southwest of the town of Occidental and sits at 275 metres ASL on a south facing slope. The vineyard is protected a little from the icy Pacific winds and the cooling fogs found in the region by a ridge to the north. Ted has farmed this vineyard biodynamically since 2004 and despite the water shortages that plague the area, it is entirely dry farmed.

The 2016 is all white flowers, herbal tea and ripe citrus fruits with hints of raw cashew and some serious drive. This wine is a baby and still had significant energy tied up in its taut frame. This completely turns the standard view of Californian Chardonnay on its head and you would gladly remain inverted. The 2007 was looking more developed and honeyed as you would expect but still had some lovely freshness for an 11 year old wine from a warmer vintage. Nicky had paired this with a seared River Trout with Crème Fraîche Mustard Sauce and Yarra Valley golden Trout Roe, inspired.

Ted threw in a surprise wine for us, his Charles Heintz Chardonnay 2016. This vineyard is a little further inland than Thierot and one that Ted doesn’t own or lease but rather has a long-term grower relationship with (19 vintages worth to be exact). The site is more vigorous and so they need to drop a lot of fruit to achieve their desired quality and the site is a little warmer (by around 4 degrees). The total vineyard size is 8 hectares but only 7 rows of that go into this wine. The Thierot was our favourite but this wine had it on the night. It was a little richer, a little rounder and noticeably more savoury, perhaps a little more together for us at this stage, no gangly elbows but without the same linearity and drive. We’ll take one of all 3 thanks 🙋‍♀️.

Next up, Pinot Noir. The first bracket, served with a Veal Sweetbread Risotto was a delicious contrast in styles. 2016 Littorai Savoy Pinot Noir, known by Ted for its ageability, looked vibrant and red-fruited – this vintage is quite floral and had seriously silky tannins and supple texture with earthy minerality only just starting to show through. We kept going back to it in the glass – only wish we had a bottle to see the evolution, a very crowd pleasey wine. The Savoy vineyard is in Anderson Valley in Mendocino County, a little further up the coast and Littorai’s coolest site. Littorai was named by Ted and Heidi from the Latin ‘Litoralis‘ meaning coast or seashore. Back to Sonoma next and Russian River Valley this time, 2016 Mays Canyon Pinot Noir. Oh so brooding and much more about brambly and darker fruits, earth, dried herbs and crushed gravel and graphite supported with some seriously powerful structure. Less about volume than persistence and seriously amazing with the Risotto.

The next bracket was another look at Anderson Valley vs Sonoma Coast with 2016 Wendling Pinot Noir from Anderson Valley and 2016 Haven Vineyard from Sonoma Coast. Both wines initially showed a little more extraction than the previous bracket so they took a little while to show their personality through some significant concentration. Wendling is one of the Lemon’s latest acquisitions and the vines planted in 2010 in comparison to other sites, are young. The red gravelly loam at this vineyard naturally reduces vigour according to Ted and given 2015 was the first vintage, this wine has oodles of complexity. Again, brambly fruits and earth and pretty delicious but perhaps shy, as it was overshadowed by its bracket partner, the Haven. Ted planted this vineyard in 2000, his original estate vineyard and has grown it biodynamically ever since. 40% is dry gown and this vineyard is teeny tiny, 2.7 hectares in total with only 1.6 planted to Pinot Noir. This vineyard sits 366m ASL and is late ripening and very cool. This long ripening has created a wine with diverse aromatics, some serious fruit concentration – mostly darker – and some really cool seaweed and dried herb notes intermixed with wet earth and wet rock. The acid is front and centre here too but the concentration stops it from being tart, it’s just bright with lots more to offer in the future. This and the Roast Squab with Porcini jus that Nicky made with it, should have left and got a room – dee-licious.

Last and not least, the Cerise. This vineyard, back up in the Anderson Valley, sits at 300m ASL and is planted on rocky soils. It is self limiting and Ted mentioned it is picked later than Savoy, even though Savoy is cooler as a site. The guys at the Prince Wine Store along with Ted were kind enough to showcase 2 vintages, the 2016 and the 2006. The 2016 looked really spicy and a little firm – again, needed a bottle to sit on – and the 2006 was a really interesting look at how the wines can age. 2006 was apparently a tough year and Ted mentioned wines were a little weedy on release but they have softened up and show some intriguing similarities to aged Nebbiolo with pot pouri and as Ted put it ‘Antique drawer smell’. An aged Ossau Iraty to match.

Chef Nicky Reimer’s food is always a treat and this was no exception. Hearty flavours that are never dumbed down and in this instance, were allowed amplification without fear of the wines being overshadowed.

Tune in for the next Blog when Georgia fills us in on her trip to Italy…