On Wednesday, January 8, 2025, we had a chance to interview and get to know Chris Pittenger. Chris is the winemaker for Limerick Lane Cellars. We covered eight of his new 2022 vintage wines; all were Zinfandel offerings. We have enjoyed Chris’ wines for a long time. This was our first chance to interview him. Our previous Limerick Lane interview was in January 2023 when we interviewed the former owner, Jake Bilbro. So, this was a good time to catch up with what is going on at the winery.
Before we get to the wine reviews, I thought I would share a few new tidbits we learned during the tasting with Chris.
- Chris’ passion for winemaking was born during his college years at Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo where a viticulture course set him on his path.
- He then worked at Wally’s wine shop in Los Angeles where he was exposed to the best wines of the World and gravitated towards Burgundy, the Rhone, and Piedmont.
- From there he moved to Jackson Hole to refine his palate (and snowboarding skills) in The Tetons while working as a sommelier in the wine-centric Restaurant Terroir. While there he befriended Matt Courtney the current winemaker at Arista Winery.
- After that, Chris worked at several notable wineries. Robert Biale in Napa, Torbreck (Australia), Williams-Selyem (Healdsburg), and finally, four harvests at West Sonoma Coast winery Marcassin (under Helen Turley).
- Chris and his wife Sarah started a winery in 2009 called Gros Ventre Cellars. They are on their 16th harvest. They mainly produce vineyard-designated Pinot Noir from the West Sonoma Coast and Anderson Valley. They also make a little bit of Gamay.
- Just prior to Limerick Lane, Chris then spent 11 years as winemaker at Rhone focused Skinner Vineyards in El Dorado making some extraordinary Mourvédre and Grenache.
- Chris started at Limerick Lane in 2018.
- Karen Francis DeGolia is now the owner of Limerick Lane. How that came to be is outlined in her bio on the Limerick Lane Team page.
- Chris makes a very polished and seamless Zinfandel by using Pinot Noir techniques and neutral French oak.
- The 2022 vintage was like 3 harvests. The Old Vine vineyards came in before Labor Day. The second pick was before the heat wave and Chris liked that fruit. Late picked grapes either went into the Russian River wine or were bulked out if they didn’t make the cut.
- 2023 was a super late vintage for most producers.
- The Maffei Vineyard was very impressive in 2022. This vineyard is one of the many historic vineyard sites used by Chris.
- Banfield Vineyard is a historical site. It is also known as Martinelli Road
- Monte Rosso Vineyard is another historic vineyard site. Limerick pulls their grapes from the highest block in the vineyard. This vineyard is always the first one to come in.
- “Rocky Knoll” and “1910 Block” are Estate Wines that come from the historical Limerick Lane vineyard.
- The “Ricci Block” comes from the Ricci Vineyard which is next to Limerick Lane Vineyard and was owned by Karen Francis DeGolia before she bought Limerick Lane.
- The “Marquis” Zinfandel is blend of all the vineyards. Chris’ goal is make the best old vine expression each vintage.
Below is a summary of the wine offerings from Limerick Lane that we covered. The links below are to our full reviews. If you are interested in ordering and trying these wines, you will find some of these wines via your favorite fine wine shop or on top quality wines lists. You can also purchase these wines on the Limerick Lane website.
1) Limerick Lane 2022 Zinfandel “Russian River” $46 (KWGTP 92)
2) Limerick Lane 2022 Zinfandel “Maffei Vineyard” (RRV) $64 (KWGTP 95.5)
3) Limerick Lane 2022 Zinfandel “Banfield Vineyard” (RRV) $64 (KWGTP 94.5)
4) Limerick Lane 2022 Zinfandel “Monte Rosso Vineyard” (Moon Mtn) $72 (KWGTP 93.5)
5) Limerick Lane 2022 Zinfandel “Ricci Block” (RRV) $68 (KWGTP 93)
6) Limerick Lane 2022 Zinfandel “Marquis” (Sonoma County) $72 (KWGTP 94)
7) Limerick Lane 2022 Zinfandel “Rocky Knoll” (RRV) $65 (KWGTP 95)
8) Limerick Lane 2022 Zinfandel “1910 Block” (RRV) $68 (KWGTP 95.5)
Additional Wine Covered After Our Tasting With Chris (So Far)
9) Limerick Lane 2022 Syrah (RRV) $46 (KWGTP 93.5)
10) Limerick Lane 2022 Red Blend “Rocks & Fog” (Sonoma County) $56 (KWGTP 92)
11) Limerick Lane 2023 White Blend “Failte” (RRV) (KWGTP 91)
You can find reviews of past and future Limerick Lane wines that we cover on the Limerick Lane KWG winery page on our website. We hope you enjoy these terrific wines as much as we did. Cheers! — Ken