2012 Kutch Pinot Noir Falstaff Vineyard- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (1/8/2015)
Decided to pop one leading into this month’s offering. Very youthful nose shows red cherry, mineral, spice, and forest floor. medium(-) bodied palate shows vibrant acidity, with similar flavor profile (perhaps a little darker fruit). finish is lovely and leaves behind some sour cherry notes along with a nice acidic taste. paired well with roast chicken. Very young and will develop well. (93 pts.)
2012 Kutch Pinot Noir Falstaff Vineyard- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (12/15/2014)
Opened about an hour ago. I’ve made WOTY remarks about this wine a few times this year so I wanted to see if this was going to be my selection. Pairing it tonight with a butternut squash lasagna, the wine is the temp I prefer for pinot (low 60s) and poured to a burg stem to treat it right. Pours moderately dark, with plenty of dark raspberry, light pepper and a touch of stem yet not showing any imbalance from the full cluster treatment it saw. Juicy, mineral and spice. Where this excels is that it gets flavor into the wine, color without getting all blown up with wood and alc inputs. Finishes with good structure, the same framing juicy fruit and a tang that is refreshing. Will revisit tomorrow to see how air impacts the wine and close the note, see where I land…Day 2, with a light chill. Floral aromatic. The texture and weight of the wine is noticeable tonight, although it’s not gloppy as it has an underpinning of loam and a meaty note that frames up the fruit, along with some stem inflection that helps add an edge. I really just dig this wine for the stuffing, complexity and juicy feel. Finishes with deep, blue and red fruit tones and zingy acidity. This is going to be a fun wine to track and watch evolve and still remains the best red wine from CA I have had all year, my red WOTY.
Great note Frank, as always. Every TN on this one is my sullen reminder that I didn’t even come close to going long enough when buying last Jan. I can’t wait to try it but saving my precious two bottles as long as I can.
I just found a few bottles for $59@ at Flickinger, so out went my “save money for BerserkerDay” resolution. I’ve had this wine a couple of times myself thanks to tastings that The Roman Numeral set up and I agree, it’s a briliant wine.
I tell you, that Frank Murray, he is a serious market mover. I’m frankly (no pun intended) shocked any bottles of the FMIIIWOTY would still be available at retail on January 9th.
So am I, Chris, so am I. Peyton, agreed, I should have gotten more as well. Great to see the wine is moving in the right direction. I think Jamie is very high on the 13s as well…
Popped my first bottle of 6 tonight. Been holding off because of Allen Meadows warnings that it needs time, but wtf Franks reviews have me too curious. What a gorgeous nose. Red fruits, spice, forest floor. This is really remarkable for such a young wine.
However what impresses me most is Jamie’s deft use of stems. I’m a Rhys buyer but young they are too stemmy. I don’t have much experience with other CA Pinot producers who use stems as liberally as Kutch and Rhys. Thus far, I think Jamie has a more refined touch. They are a welcome complexity versus something to look past at this stage. Time will tell of course if that remains the case.
On the palate, just lovely. Layered, balanced, concentrated. It’s world class but I always rush back to the nose. Great work Jamie! You should be proud, just exceptional pinot.
Hey John, just opened another 12 Falstaff. So good. A touch of cinnamon from the new oak, but what lies under it…crunchy, zesty red fruits with acidity, loam, such incredible finish and balance. Man, man. This continues to be such a stunning bottle of PN. I’m drinking the wine over dinner later and looking to see how it unwraps a bit more. For now, with really no air, such a beautiful PN.
As Frank knows, I’m also a fan of the wine—more recent note at Jamie’s winery a month ago or so:
"2012 Kutch Falstaff Pinot Noir
This came in at 12.9%. Even the nose seems warmer [sic, than the 2013]–sunnier, juicier, redder sweet fruit, with the fruit surging in front. Bolder wine, more open, with the fruit showing forward, strawberry, raspberry and edge of citrus."
Mr Grammer, I know you like this wine and it would have been a pleasure to have shared a glass with you. I did share one with Arnie Caplan last night, another local Berserker so he got to enjoy it with me.
I tell you what, this wine has risen to be one of my legacy wines because it continues to leave a mark on me, one of joy and real pleasure. This is certainly two things for me. One, a winemaker to follow and watch grow. Jamie is getting some wonderful stuff into the bottle, and I am belted in to see where he is going to take his wines. And the other point, to watch this Falstaff bottling if he can keepo making it. What class this stuff is.
My WOTY for 2014, and if I didn’t have some kind of unwritten rule, it would land on the list again but it’s no matter, as this wine has already secured a place in my all-time list, next to Copain Kiser, as some of the best CA PN out there.
2012 Kutch Pinot Noir Falstaff Vineyard- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (6/21/2015)
Not sure how I waited six month to try another one of these. My WOTY for 2014, it’s hard to not keep opening these for the sheer pleasure that this wine just keeps on delivering bottle after bottle, In my wine pursuits, it’s the bottle that can deliver every time, regardless of context or moment, to exhibit that repeat experience of being top of the class. This 2012 Falstaff, it reminds me of the greatness that is the 2007 Copain Kisers, most notably the En Bas. This wine, like that one, just hits me right where I think of iconic PN experiences. This Falstaff was opened y/day, took to dinner to have with fish. I brought home about 1/4 of the bottle for today, retasting now at perfect temp. Last night, it drank with a beautiful dark raspberry, showing the push of the 2012 vintage. As it warmed on the table, the warmer temp did allow some of the savory notes from the whole cluster to emerge. And, with just a touch of new oak on this wine, it lifts a cinnamon aroma from the glass, but like the fruit, neither the vintage nor the wood get out place. Along with the raspberry today, there is red apple (which is what Copain Kiser usually shows, too, FWIW), juicy with a little hint of mineral and lovely acidity. No alcohol, no overt ripeness, no oak–nothing for me is out of balance in this beauty. With a light chill, the finish remains lively, a little rocky and a touch savory from the stems. Just a beautiful bottle of wine and equal to Copan Kiser En Bas for satisfaction, grace and class. Everyone has their wine favorite, this one for me has reached that height. Bravo again, Jamie.
The pleasure would be double for me, Monsieur Frankie.
In the interest of full disclosure, my other notes from FallTacular:
"2012 Kutch Falstaff Pinot Noir
Frankie’s WOTY last year and now I see why (I haven’t opened any of mine yet). Ahhh–smells like luxury. Great strawberry, baking spices, touch of sandalwood and dusting of cocoa. Drinking really well already, zings around the mouth with very balanced and bright berry fruit. Nick of coffee grounds and potpourri at the back. Great wine, #4 today."
There are an awful lot of stems in Copain Kiser and Kutch Falstaff. I get that the stemophiles like 'em for that, but I certainly wouldn’t call them balanced, as they’re not wines for everyone.
David, there are no stems in any of the Copain 2007 pinots, nor any in subsequent bottled vintages. Wells destems everything for pinot. The exception are the syrahs, which run around 50%. As to the Falstaff above, the wine is 100% whole cluster and for me, they are integrated well.
I would call these wines very much balanced, with this Falstaff being a beautiful example of balance to me. What do you mean by your balance remark?
I’m distinguishing between a wine that’s to your personal palate and a wine that is “balanced”. IMO, a “balanced” wine is a wine that isn’t extreme in any direction. Kutch Falstaff is wildly stemmy. Lots of folks like stems, and they’ll like Kutch Falstaff, but lots of folks don’t, and wont. That’s not a balanced wine, it’s a rather extreme one (albeit one that’s extreme in a way that’s pleasing to you and many others).
I was not aware of the change at Copain and stand corrected. My last experience with the pinots was at a visit to Copain back, I think, in 2010 that was probably my most disappointing visit ever, with my wife hissing to me under her breath asking why I was making her drink something so green.
I suppose this is why we have the Board here, for discussion, to share views about what each thinks is best suited to their own tastes. I’m not trying to pick a bone here or create a post where there is defending and accusing, David…I don’t find the Kutch Falstaff to be stemmy at all, and in fact, I think it’s a credit to Jamie Kutch that he can make a stable of pinot noirs that have full stem inclusion and the wines taste terrific, to me not stemmy. There is color, acidity, fruit, low alcs, a lack of wood and booze signature, etc. For me, that’s what I call balance.
I appreciate you posting back and offering where you land with balance, too.
Have you had the 2012 Falstaff before? If not and if you want, please send me your address and I will overnight a bottle to you, on me. I don’t think it is stemmy or green, but then again, I drink a ton of Burgundy. I would be curious your thoughts if you haven’t had the wine before.
I can attest that the 2013 Falstaff I have had, 3 times since the new year started is not even a bit ‘stemmy’.
I would love to see the data points from this taster and I would be really even curious if he has even tasted one of any vintage as I see not a single note in ct, and he does have an account with notes.
This wines (2013) is beautiful and is all about balance and class.
You’re kidding, right? Kutch wines are 100% whole cluster. They’re VERY stemmy. And that level of stemminess isn’t really appropriate, IMO, for Falstaff, which is, IIRC, a cold vineyard that sort of produces edgy, racy wines that can get overwhelmed by overstemming.
I generally don’t get how a producer makes pinot from the coldest vineyard, uses as many stems as possible, and then that wine is proclaimed balanced. It may be a tasty wine, it may be a wine that some folks really like, but it’s certainly out there on the edge.
I posted above that I adore this wine. In contrast, I have moved away from board darling Rhys pinots because I find those wines to be closer to what you are describing (overly stemmy).
Different strokes I suppose between you and me, but have to admit I’m puzzled by your comments. I have found the stems to add a wonderful aromatic complexity in the 12 Falstaff, never a flaw.
For comparison sake, do you drink Burgundy? If so, do you find Dujac wines to be too stemmy?