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Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast, Kutch 2018

RegionU.S.A.
Subregion U.S.A. > California > Sonoma
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyPinot Noir

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Label

Tasting Notes

Great information given on the well-designed back label. 42 barrels produced. Vineyard planted 1972–1999, at various elevations up to 1500 feet (460 m). 3–8 miles (5–13 km)from the ocean. Mixed soil types. Picked 7 September to 1 October. 100% whole cluster. Three-day lag time followed by native yeast fermentation and native malolactic conversion in barrel. All of the fruit was crushed and punched down by foot. Aged in used French oak barrels on the lees untouched for 11 months. Unfined and unfiltered. Transparent crimson. Appetising sour-cherry nose. Very zesty indeed where acid and fruit joust on the palate. The whole-bunch element is certainly evident but is (just) not too pronounced. Lovely fruit is already approachable and is hugely refreshing. I can't see it becoming a La Tâche but it should provide utterly pleasurable drinking over the next few years. 2019-2022

16.5
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, December 2019

The 2018 Pinot Noir “Sonoma Coast” bottling from Jamie Kutch is a beautiful wine, with the wine a bit higher octane than customary, but hardly alarming, as it still clocks in at only 13.2 percent. The bouquet is just beautiful, wafting from the glass in a blend of cherries, strawberries, woodsmoke, lovely soil tones, a bit of sweet stems and a topnote of raw cocoa. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and nascently complex, with a lovely core of fruit, tangy acids, fine soil signature and a long, moderately tannic and perfectly balanced finish. This is made from declassified fruit from the single vineyard bottlings of MacDougal, Bohan and Falstaff vineyards, used one hundred percent whole clusters, was punched down by foot and saw all older casks during its eleven month elevage. Just a superb bottle in the making! 2024-2050. 91+

91+
John Gilman, View From the Cellar, March 2020
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