New Winemaker - Limerick Lane Cellars

Surprised this hasn’t been posted yet, but got the email this AM. Curious to hear others thoughts:


Since our purchase of Limerick Lane in 2011 it has been an absolute whirlwind. We closed escrow the day after harvest started with only two tasting room employees, myself, a tractor and some very old equipment in the cellar.

When we got our first reviews from Wine Spectator on the 2012 vintage (of which our Estate Zinfandel was ranked #12 on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of the World) I was literally on a street corner selling wine, and got a call from a friend saying Wine Spectator just gave our Estate Zinfandel 94 points and our 1023 Estate Cuvee 96 points. I was stunned.

We’ve put in a lot of work and come a long way since that day. We’ve built an incredible team of folks with decades of experience who will ensure that we continue to produce the best wines possible.

With that, I am so very happy and excited to announce that we have just crossed our next major milestone, by hiring renowned winemaker and viticulturalist Chris Pittenger to head up all of our winemaking and vineyard operations. Chris’s winemaking background includes Torbreck, Robert Biale, Williams Selyem, Marcassin, Skinner, and his family’s personal project Gros Ventre.

The first thing I’m asked when telling people about Chris coming on board is “Will the wines change?” and I have a very simple answer: YES.

Chris will continue to make reflective, delicious and fresh full-bodied wines that you all love. Chris will bring a superior level of protocol, management and care to every step of our farming and cellar practices. Chris will take these wines to a place that is simply beyond my abilities–he’s very talented.

Don’t worry. I’m committed to continuing what we have going here, keeping the winery small and maintaining the unique experience you’ve all come to enjoy. I’m still in charge and at the winery all the time, when I’m not helping spread the word at tastings and events.

Thank you all so much for being a part of the Limerick Lane family. On behalf of my wife, children, current team, and now Chris, we are all incredibly grateful.

• Jake Bilbro

Certainly interesting. I finally got over there to taste for the first time a month and a bit ago. The Rocky Knoll Zin ended up being the best winery wine of the entire trip and, I think, #5 overall of 496 total wines tasted. The notes:

"2015 Limerick Lane Rocky Knoll Zin

15.2% This is special in the nose—fruit and cocoa with some mocha and sandalwood. And this is shudderlicious on the palate. Acid, earth, plum and boysenberry fruit, with everything in wonderful harmony. I can’t stop drinking it, had to take a bottle. 94, one of the best Zins I’ve had in a long, long time, and one of the better wines of the whole trip."

Love their wines. Will be interested to see what the new stuff tastes like.

Actually, this was brought up in another discussion a month ago, but it would have been easily overlooked since the discussion was not specifically about Limerick Lane:
Recent tastings of Giornata / Tercero / Gros Ventre

As mentioned on that thread, Chris is a very talented winemaker who has done a fine job in recent years at Skinner in El Dorado County as well as with his own Gros Ventre label. Very nice guy as well, and I’m sure he will be making some terrific wines at Limerick Lane. I’ll certainly plan to go visit him once he’s got a vintage or two there under his belt.

I didn’t associate the name with the winery, but I was very impressed with the Skinner lineup when we tasted there last Fall. I am looking forward to a visit to Limerick in late October.

Pittenger rocks. Ridiculously talented and perhaps the nicest person I have met in the wine business.

We visited LL last year and were very impressed with all the wines. The price pushes the higher end of the range when compared to producers like Carlisle, Scherrer, Ridge and Turley, but the wines are excellent.

From Wine & Spirits Magazine:

Agreed that the wines I’ve had from Chris’s time at Skinner and those from Gros Ventre have all been excellent. Great guy too!

Tasted at LL for the first time this year on our Sonoma/AV trip and was impressed. Excited to see what he will make from those vines.

I’ve had the pleasure of tasting and drinking with Chris a few times now (the danger of Limerick Lane being just around the corner from my house). Fantastic guy – knows his wines - and I think he will be doing some superb things with the LL wines going forward. Kudos to Jake for hiring him, as well.

Adam Lee
Clarice Wine Company

Allocation drops next week.

Thinking about buying and trying for the first time.

Any recommendations?

Uh… do it?

Completely agree. He’s got a wide talent base for someone who can do the range of wines that he does. Just tasted some crazy interesting whites he does under Gros Ventre, really impressed.