Our 2021 Estate Pinot Noir shows off the vineyard with best of vintage barrel selection, 22 months on oak with 50% new French and Hungarian from Francois Frere, Cadus, and Kadar. Aromas of brown sugar, black cherry, cola, and nutmeg jump from the glass. On the palate, maraschino cherries layer atop an earthy wet leaf note, with plush, lengthy tannins on the finish.
The laser focus of our 100% Pinot Gris starts with a honeyed sweetness on entry, then explodes with white peach, coriander, honey biscuit, and nectarines across the palate, then delivers a long wet gravel finish. After 32 months en tirage, this bubbly improves with a little air and is even better a day after being opened, if it lasts that long!
Lichen's 2018 Blanc de Noir, made in the methode champenoise with 32 months en tirage, offers the classic characters of hazelnut and brioche in the nose, matched by luxurious mousse and a rich and full-bodied bubbly in the mouth. Put it in a paper bag at a Champagne tasting and it's easily confused by connoisseurs with top-tier grower producer Blanc de Noirs. (We know because we've done it!)
The 54 months our Grand Cuvée Rosé enjoyed en tirage, combined with a touch of still Pinot Noir at bottling made this the one of the most complex sparklers Lichen has released to date, and a hands down favorite among staff. Dried tropical fruits — mango, papaya — on the approach, then evolves as it opens in the glass to watermelon, peach, and baked apples. Enters with white raspberry and candied ginger, ending with a lingering tangerine finish. Seamless start to finish.
If a belly dancer turned florist and then moonlighted as a winemaker, one would suspect she was on our winemaking team for this one. Floral aromatics of jasmine and orange blossom pair with fresh honeydew melon. A dense, viscous midpalate follows with stone fruit, more melon, bosc pear, sliding into a lighter, brighter tropical citrus dancing all the way to that spectacular finish.
The 2021 Moonglow Pinot Noir marks a new era and approach in red wine production for us. This wine was fermented in 500 Liter puncheons, giving it a roundness and weight not seen in prior Moonglow Pinot Noirs. Raspberry, pomegranate, cherry cordial, cocoa powder, pencil shavings, and black tea waft up from the glass. Delivers brown sugar sprinkled on top of a bowl full of cherries, with strawberry pastry and Indian spices. Deliciously fleshy.
