Ted Lemon began his winemaking career by receiving an enology degree from the Université de Dijon, France in 1981. He was the first American ever selected as winemaker/vineyard manager of a Burgundian estate, Domaine Guy Roulot in Meursault, and remained in Burgundy through 1984.
He has been a consultant to a number of prominent wineries in California and Oregon. Ted founded Burn Cottage Vineyard in Cromwell, New Zealand, with the Sauvage family. Burn Cottage was the first fully biodynamic vineyard in that region (Central Otago). In 1993 Ted and Heidi Lemon began Littorai Wines, which produces vineyard-designated pinot noirs and chardonnays from the western hills of Sonoma County and Anderson Valley in California. In the late 1990s, after more than 15 years of conventional farming, Ted became convinced that that modern western agronomic theory is both unsustainable and inadequate in its conception of plant health and nutrition. Since that time, all of the vineyards which Littorai owns or leases are farmed using biodynamic methods and Ted has helped transition most of the vineyards from which Littorai purchases fruit to biodynamic methods. Ted has worked with several biodynamic consultants including Peter Proctor, Andrew Lorand, and Alan York.
In 2010, Ted was selected as Winemaker of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle. He has been nominated for a James Beard Award as Wine and Spirits Professional of the year in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Ted’s philosophy of terroir winegrowing is cited in Burgundy’s application to the United Nations as a World Heritage Site.
