We wanted to alert you that beginning on Tuesday, January 19th at 1pm EST, we will release our Spring offering which includes our 2014 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir $39 our 2014 Bohan Vineyard Pinot Noir $49 and our 2014 Falstaff Vineyard Pinot Noir $59
Yeah, this is going to be tough. Probably going to sit out BD VII for starters. Cutting back order sizes for many lists is next. Going to buy this, but there are already 3 other lists I know I am going to skip this go around.
I’m good with this. I’ve been calling for a national law that all wineries have to drop on the same day. That way I can make my decisions with full knowledge of everything that will be available to me. That way I avoid, “Oh crap, another one that I forgot about but can’t not live without.”
I am especially excited by the Sonoma Coast, which I consider the best value in California Pinot Noir, and the Bohan. I scored 2 bottles of 2013 Bohan, and the first one I opened was outstanding - best SV Pinot from Jamie for my tastes.
I had these 2014s back in September and they were phenomenal.
Color me excited and not much excites me these days.
2014 Kutch Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (9/26/2015)
After having the Bohan, Falstaff and McDougall of the same vintage, I am glad I saved this one for last. I think I get it now. It’s the alchemy of all good things found in some of these vineyard designates in a more approachable and easy-going styled wine. This is wonderfully fragranced; you smell this from 2 feet away from the glass. Nose of pure strawberries and blackberries. Palate flows forth with a multi-layered array for quietly place fruits. This has interesting notes of citrus I really like. What this really is all about is approachability and focus; it stays playful. Balance is fantastic on this. It certainly has less of the vineyard characteristics as one would expect, but the family resemblance will never be doubted. Finish is true and long and this shows itself as seamless. Maybe a lighter styled structure but it really shows elegance. When you think of its price point you realize it is a party in a bottle and all for $39 (91 pts.)
2014 Kutch Pinot Noir Falstaff Vineyard- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (9/24/2015)
Simply beautiful. Opens with a vibrant lightly hued purple tinged crimson with a nose that explodes from the glass. It gets your attention right from the get-go. Fragrant violet laced sweet cranberries and red cherries with a hint of lemon rind on the back end. Palate shows the red cherries proudly. Litle and bouncy with tons of verve. Acidity perfect and tannins well woven. Seamless and elegant, this just gets better as it sits; the nose starts picking up some violets again. Holy-moly, this is a must buy. (94 pts.)
2014 Kutch Pinot Noir Bohan Vineyard- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (9/16/2015)
pretty color of dark ruby with the most purple of edges that seem to glow. The nose is haunting with the freshest black raspberries and dark strawberries. There is a super high-tone to this most fragrant nose. Palate shows a superbly knitted Pinot with so many layers. Deeply rich but yet lithe on the tongue, this mesmerizes the senses. For such a youthful wine it shows some playfulness; it’e elegant and focused. After 10 minutes I get this amazing Violet candy thing (Choward’s) that I really really dig. It’s intensity shoots from the glass and if you hold the glass to your nose long enough you catch the exact moment it turns down and goes to a sassparilla. Crazy huh? Tannins are well hidden but clearly in place and balance is one with itself. Another few minutes and the sassparilla thing comes across the palate left to right…no right to left. Finish is long and robust. I gotta tell you, this is certainly a unique (to me) Pinot experience that I can get hooked on. wow! (94 pts.)
I’ll add to the Pobega parade here, too. I went through the three Kutch wines that are being released, drinking them all in the past few weeks. As so many of you hang on my every TN, for those who do, you can marvel at my impressions below. Sarcasm aside, I am a great fan of Kutch these days, have been now since the 2010s hit.
2014 Kutch Pinot Noir Bohan Vineyard- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (12/14/2015)
This is my last visit with the 2014s, having re-worked through the others (Sonoma Coast, Falstaff and McDougall) in the past month. I opened this about 3 hours ago, no decant. Poured the first small glass at room temp, 66 degrees. Geez, the aromatics on this thing are great: stems, pepper, smoke and something floral. The palate is what really got my attention. Smooth, silky, just the most gorgeous, polished cherry fruit, simply pure. With the cherry, which is the dominant player, is strawberry and as best as I can describe it, a liquefied minerality that made me truly stop and pause. god, so this such a complete opposite experience to the bottle I had six weeks ago, almost like they are two different wines…with the chill on it, really just a cooling a few degrees, this is as good, just as expected a little firmer. The tannin shows up more and the wine is a little more slatey and tense. The fruit also darkens more, think now black cherry versus the red cherry from earlier. Still, this just drinks with such flavor and energy, so good. More for tomorrow…a day later, this stuff is just crazy to drink. At once, slick cherry, then the next moment a savory black cherry, the next moment something pure and exotic in flavor. There is plenty of fruit, structure and stuffing here so the drink window on this will go out for some time. Lots to like here.
2014 Kutch Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (12/3/2015)
This is bottle #2, a fresh reprise of the one from about 4 weeks ago, when we tasted all the other 2014s and a few 2013s together. This time, the wine is going solo, only me tasting it over successive nights. I opened this about an hour ago, put a light chill to it, good stem used too for my impression. This drinks more like the 2014 McDougall, so think darker, fleshier and more fruit centric. There is a creamy fruit purity to the texture, quite easy to like. Lots of purple fruit, at least giving me the sensation of that flavor, which is not blue or red alone, but perhaps both together forming something of a sum of their parts. Light touch of root beer, then a cool sense of pinot funk, then raspberry skin and a closing dose of bright acidity. At least for Night 1, this is really quite pure and squarely enjoyable with a core of moderate complexity…Night 2, still juicy with the purple/blue fruit (more blue toned as it warms). Appearing tonight now are the stems, which have created an herbal seasoning in the palate, along with a citrus rind component and some dusty, light tannin. I dig this for being juicy, stemmy spicy and flavorful…Day 3, no fade. For what is here, at around $40, it’s terrific and represents well what CA PN can do at this price point for an AVA blend. As for a drink window, it seems silly to attach one to a wine this young but that aside, I do think this will drink fine with release and another 5 or so years out.
2014 Kutch Pinot Noir Falstaff Vineyard- USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (11/18/2015)
Round 2 of '14 Falstaff. Last week, I tasted all the '14s together, over dinner and on just one evening with several other smart palates. This bottle, it just be me, over what should be 2-3 nights. Opened about 2 hours ago, ideal temp, no decant, burg stem. For Night 1, a few things pop. For one, the aromatic of stem, although they are seasoning and present, not dominating and green smelling. Yet, they are there. The palate is juicy, also accented by the stems again and they give an herbal touch. There is a peaty quality to the cherry and blueberry fruit that expresses as juicy and fleshy, with some rocky tannin closing the finish…Day 2, enjoying the wine with the same approach as yesterday. And, the wine is very similar to that profile in tone and taste. It retains the juicy core, more blue fruited tonight than red, with the mild stemmy influence and the brushing of rock in the finish. Tonight, I also find some of the citrus peel note, which is what I also found in the '13 a few weeks ago. Perhaps that aspect of Falstaff is the nature of its terroir? At this stage, this is softer styled, medium weight, juicy…Day 3 and last glass, this is the best showing. It’s finally picked up some edges, some astringent grip. Still juicy but finally has a zesty tone. I’m not the type that will say a wine will be this or be that with time–that’s a debate for another space but this wine is better, is different on this final night so take that info as you wish. I did enjoy the last glass above all the others and will look ahead to see how this will taste in say 2016, even beyond.
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