Below is a summary I have tried to pull together to give a visual and sensory connection to last night’s dinner. In addition, I also had 11 wines left over and have retasted through nearly all of them today and my TNs from last night remain pretty spot on for the notes I scribbled out.
I have also tried to wedge in some photos, and in addition to the boring bottles and labels, I also wanted to show some of the people who attended. We do these dinner and I love this wine culture because of the people who I have met and who give the gift of their friendship, craft and kindness to me.
As a quick passing comment, one though that is important for the punchline, three comments:
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The 2017 Kutch wines are bitchen. Full of color, low ABVs and yet stacked with pure flavor. I continue to ride Jamie’s train forward as one of the bright Pinot Noir winemakers in CA.
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The 2015 Kutch show the intensity of the drought in what was Year 4 in CA. The wines are dark, deep, brooding and have stuffing.
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The Model Farm wines are lovely, with that Chardonnay really showing some finesse and profile. The Syrah too is terrific, an evolving project that speaks to Rhone more than CA.
Thanks for reading and enjoy the report.
KUTCH AND MODEL FARM DINNER AT MY PLACE IN THE OC - My House In The South OC (11/4/2018)
Many thanks to Jamie Kutch of KUTCH and also Joanna Wells and Sean Castorani of MODEL FARM for coming down to the OC to do some wines and food with us. We put together a table of 14 people, and as we have done over the years for many of these wine dinners, we had a # of us take a course and provide the food for the event, to be paired thoughtfully with the wines of their course. I thought the group last night really did that thoughtful job of making the food pairings work, which make the wines shine, too. Of note, there were 3 Champagnes in the opening course but I didn’t take notes so I am not going to post a TN with no information. But the wines were NV Mouzon-Leroux L’Ineffable (really 2014), 2006 Gimmonet Special Club and 2006 Taittinger Comtes.
I really dug the wines last night and so the notes follow below, along with a spur of the moment course of bubbly I pulled from the cellar at the end, which I didn’t scrawl notes for but have good recall of those wines so they are listed. god, I love Vilmart and the Marie-Courtin, which I finished today as a completely still wine from last night.
Jamie and Joanna/Sean, thank you for making the trek down, sharing your craft and letting us peek at the wines again. And to the OC gang, well done.
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2016 Kutch Chardonnay Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
The aromatic on this has just a subtle whiff of vanilla bean, and that is the extent of the wood here–very minimal. This is chocked with lemony acidity, yet it’s not taut or lean. The lemon quality does give it the electricity I dig in my Chards, and this is lovely stuff. Finishes with terrific length, showing that same citrus. 12.5% ABV, made completely from Bohan fruit. -
2016 Model Farm Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
I really enjoyed this last night. There is a seductive kind of golden apple note, along with a distinct tangerine acidity with lime. Solid balance and energy that finishes with a lemon oil quality. 12.5% pure Chard, grown on 40 year old own-rooted vines in Boulder Creek (SCM). Best showing of this wine yet.
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2017 Kutch Pinot Noir Bohan Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Tasted this back in July, when it was a tank sample being readied for bottling. Fragrant, with rose petal, lightly tangy and stony with a touch of creamy fruit this is squarely cherry in tone. Elegant and delicious, very much like the bottle from July. -
2015 Kutch Pinot Noir Bohan Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Tasted alongside the 2017, it makes for a cool contrast. There is some whole cluster in the aromatics of the 2015, the fruit presence is darker too, both in color reflecting through the glass as well as the heartier note of the fruit on my palate. Floral, pepper, dark cherry and just more presence and persistence, whereas the gentler and elegant notes of the 2017. -
2016 Kutch Pinot Noir Signal Ridge Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino Ridge
Red fruited, with acidity yet it lacks the definition of the other wines on the table tonight, which probably made it stand out to me as unlike the others. Seems a bit roasted to me and cedary. I really have a hard time getting my head around Signal Ridge. In sum, I seem to like the wine much better in July when I last tasted it and my regret today is that I didn’t retaste the wine again as I left it with my son in law for him to finish.
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2017 Kutch Pinot Noir Falstaff Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Poured in the same flight as the 2013 and 2015 McDougall, this Faltsaff was the finishing wine of that flight. This is right now about strength, intensity, with tannin, juicy dark raspberry fruit and present acidity. Stacked with black and red fruits, and credit to Chris Fitch who was next to me, that termed this core quality as ‘pomegranate’. Spot on descriptor. It’s the closing feature of the finish, adding a spicy, pure dark quality to the wine. Excellent Falstaff, one that will age and develop as it integrates its power…as a follow-up note, I am still enjoying the remnants of the wine a day later, this is such a pure, delicious bottle of PN, with some rocky notes, purple and red fruit and flavor composite that is just a joy. For me, gotta be the best Falstaff to date, for sure. Bravo. -
2013 Kutch Pinot Noir McDougall Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Poured from mag, as part of a flight that also had the 2015, as well as the 2017 Falstaff. Aromatics of flint and graphite, with a pure fresh raspberry core that leads to a jammy pure finish that includes some tannin. Closes rocky and juicy, and I suspect this is going to age a long time. One of my best wines of the night, for sure. -
2015 Kutch Pinot Noir McDougall Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Holy crap this is drinking beautifully. Exotic aromatics with just a light imprint of whole cluster. Dark, powerful, with incredible intensity. Iron, herb, dark red fruit and solid structure. The acidity and fruit carry this wine through a long finish. I have some leftover from last night, plan to taste later today and see what the additional aeration did for the wine but clearly my WOTN from the dinner and yet another testament to the quality Jamie made with the 2015 vintage (for which the 2015 Sonoma Coast, although not tasted last night, remains one of my personal favorite PN wines I have had all year, too).
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2014 Model Farm Syrah - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Tasted alongside the 2016, and FWIW, I am using a mix of notes from what I recorded over dinner last night, as well as fresh pour now from the mag we used. This gives me a pretty complete look at the wine, especially helpful when last night we finished with these 2 syrahs after a nice meal of Kutch pinots that preceded them. This 2014 continues to exhibit the spot-on ground black pepper note that caught my attention 2.5 years ao when I had this wine and Model Farm for the first time when I was up to visit Jamie @ Kutch. Joanna, his assistant WM, and Sean Castorani (who works at Rhys), make the Model Farm wines and they are terrific. Back to the wine…in addition to the black pepper, there is the same cooked meat quality here and along with the red fruited tone, there is an imprint of blueberry, too. And I find the 2014 more approachable now, more rounded out with the same medium weight of the 2016, but more integrated structure in this 2014 as opposed to the youthful and more tannin 2016. For traditional Rhone focused syrah fans, this is a terrific version of CA syrah, -
2016 Model Farm Syrah Petaluma Gap - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Where this differs from the 2014, which we poured alongside it, is the aromatics. The 2014 is chocked with ground black pepper, and the 2016 is floral, with white flowers and some of the stems giving it a cracked spice note. The palate of the wine is a mix of meat juice, red fruits, charcoal/amber, pure red fruited and chewy. FWIW, I write this note from both my comments from last night, as well as retasting the wine real time in my glass now. Even with 24 hours of air, the structure is evident but the core of this speaks Rhone to me, with the savory, red fruited, cooked meat quality. I bought 3 in the recent release and this will be a wine I drink over the next 7-10 years as it comes together.
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1995 Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume - France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Quarts de Chaume
Held onto this for 5 years, found a good occasion last night to pair it with a coconut cake my wife had made. I used to dig sweet wines and this is the final sweet wine of any kind that had remained in my cellar. I don’t miss these wines, as they just taste cloying to me. I believe several at the table enjoyed this, as it was poured from 750 and drained to the bottom. Gold/bronze in color, with nectarine. Just too rich for me and my fragile tastes these days. -
2008 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
Pulled this last minute to close the Kutch dinner. This stuff continues to drink with such class, balance. The acidity here is spot on, the dosage is seamlessly woven into the wine. Remains my favorite champagne of anything I have had from anywhere, equal in stature to the Savart Expression. Love CdC. -
2014 Marie Courtin Champagne Concordance Extra Brut - France, Champagne
Grabbed this last minute from the cellar, to be passed around the table with a 2008 Vilmart CdC. The wines went fast and I didn’t take notes on either but what I recall from this bottle was a cool, distinct briny quality. If I can find the remnants from last night amidst the bottles and retaste today, I will bring back a final remark…finished up today as a still wine, as the CO2 is long gone. What’s left? The same salty, slatey presence of yesterday, along with a raspberry component that finishes with citrus and mineral. Delicious, and the kind of wine that gets the taste buds activated.
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