Greetings all!
I am very happy to announce the debut of a new series here on our blog: Light On Lytton! Each week, we’re going to devote one day’s post to news from our sibling to the north, Lytton Springs! That’s right, each week, we’ll be shining a Light On Lytton, to see just what those Sonomans are getting up to.
So, we begin, appropriately enough, with a look at a bottle of Lytton Springs, and tasting notes as compiled by the Lytton Springs staff who very recently tasted this offering. The wine in question is the 2002 Lytton Springs, and the staff tasted this just last week; a rather rare and special treat, given that this tremendous vintage is scarcely available any longer; Sandy Johnson, Tasting Room Manager at Lytton Springs, only has about 6 cases left, and at $50/btl. they’ve been going fast!
2002 Lytton Springs, at Lytton Springs!
So, I have to confess that, after reading Sandy’s synopsis of the Lytton Springs staff’s thoughts, my interest was rather piqued, so I pulled a sample from the cellar here at Monte Bello, and decided to taste along, as it were. So in the notes below, I’ve added a few thoughts of my own (my notes are the italicized lines in parentheses).
And now, on to the tasting notes!
2002 Lytton Springs, ready to taste!
Dark brooding aromas of allspice, clove, lavender and sage …
(Totally agree, especially on the brooding, the clove, and the lavender. For me, I found the herbaceousness to be less like sage, and more almost pistachio-like in character; a hint of greenish herbality, but with a nutty quality … I did also find the florality in the aromatics to be slightly sweet in character, perhaps closer to lilac than lavender? Hard to say, there are certainly hints of both …)
On the palate, concentrated black fruit, plum, mission fig, and blackberry. .
(Concentration is definitely the key word here, this is a powerful wine that flexes tremendously muscular compression; strength of a boxer, finesse of a dancer …Definitely some black fruit, and the plum is quite present; not sure I’m getting the figginess per se; I don’t quite see that particular combination of sweetness and earth as being overtly noticeable here, though there is certainly something close; for me, it’s something more akin to a cocoa powder sensation; some nice tanginess, a touch of sweetness, a little rusticity, etc. Overall though, I totally agree with concentration, black fruit, plum, and blackberry …)
Long lingering finish, completed by silky tannins. Beautiful now, can last another 2 or 3 years.
(Agreed! The finish is astounding, and the tannins are just absolutely luxuriant. This can certainly go another 2-3 years – Paul Draper gave 2013 as his estimation of peak pourability, which jibes well with the LSers perspective – though based on how it’s showing today, I think it may have even more in it than that …)
And that’s this week’s Light On Lytton! Cheers to Lytton Springs!
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