Short Nor Cal Trip: TNs from Rhys and Kutch Visits

Just getting home from a very short but fun 2 days in Nor Cal. We made just two stops, and decided on the final day to just slow down and recover before we flew home. 36 wines over 2 days was a lot for my old bones and we needed Saturday AM to recover before going to SFO for an early afternoon flight.

On Thursday, Brig Campbell and I flew to SFO, grabbed a car and jammed over to see Jeff Brinkman at Rhys. I have made this visit for a # of years now, a real opportunity each year to dig into the new vintage, as well as look at some of the new side projects. Also joining us was Berserkers Alan Rath and Mike Dildine, along with another couple who are not part of the WB craziness.

Jeff and I decided to taste the Pinots first, then take a break, then finish with the whites. I liked this format for a change. We did not taste Alesia this time, instead focusing on all the Rhys designated wines, plus a new Chenin Blanc from Pajaro, plus the new 15 Aeris from Italy, alongside the 2017 Carricante from Centennial Mountain. We also tasted the new Bearwallow BdB sparkler, which was the wine we kicked off with before we started the reds. For me, the standouts, and clearly crushing it, were the Alpine and Horsehoe red and whites, along with the new Porkie. Those wines were dialed in and show for me the class, finesse, and depth of what these plots are producing these days. Balance, now alcohol, very little wood (if any) perceived. This is the kind of wine I want to continue to pursue and Rhys is just hammering away at delivering this kind of quality. And contrary to perhaps how these wines may be misperceived still even today, as both Alpine and Shoe PNs are fully destemmed. Yes, Home, Skyline and Swan Terrace still are 100% whole cluster, the SCM vineyards are now, to include the new one, Mt Pajaro (a tiny bit of stems). So, my conclusion is that like any project and effort, the way forward changes as the best practices are discovered, then adapted–this is the SCM PNs for me. And to my liking, and on this visit, I did prefer these over the Skyline and Swan Terrace.

A thanks to Jeff for taking the time to see us and for allowing us to journey through the vintage. My notes follow below, and will be joined later by a post from Brig, who also has notes and his usual story to add. I will add my Kutch notes from our visit to see Jamie shortly.

JULY 2018 RHYS VISIT–TASTE THE 2017S AND SOME NEW STUFF - Rhys Estate (At The Winery) (7/26/2019)

• 2015 Rhys Blancs de Blancs Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
  Tasted at the winery. The bottle we tasted was hand disgorged and dosaged, as part of the dosage blending trials for the upcoming 2015 disgorgement. Neutral wood, around 13% ABV. Aromas of toast and some light lees. The core of this is about acidity, a brisk lemon. Green banana, orange/citrus and then closing with lime into a finish with good length. The texture here is round and just fuller in tone as compared to say the Mousse Les Varosses Anecdote I had this week from Cuisles, which was also Bdb. I am cognizant too of the risk here in trying to see a new project like this one from the context of Champagne. These are not the same wines, nor is CA=Champagne. With that context in front of me, what this first effort of Bearwallow shows is a wine that is brisker, with terrific acidity, expressing a CA feel. Exciting to see Rhys take on a project like this and work to find the inspiration of Champagne into the context of CA.
• 2017 Rhys Chardonnay Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
  Tasted at the winery. 12.8 ABV, with 15-20% new wood. Spicy, yellow fruits and some flint, along with green apple that is lightly candied. Lemony citrus with an intense finish, along with some lime zest.
• 2017 Rhys Chardonnay Mt. Pajaro Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Tasted at the winery. 12.7% ABV, with 15-20% new wood. Lime, honeyed lightly, with bright green apple flavors. This seemed overall to me gentle and approachable (akin to the 2017 MP PN which we also tasted). Spicy, with a touch of caramel into the finish.
• 2017 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Tasted at the winery. 12.8% ABV, with 15-20% new wood. Yellow apple, generous and balanced. Spicy pear, and then my notes evolve to say lots of spicy apple in the finish that is wrapped in mineral and a honeyed quality. Tasted next to the 2017 Shoe Chard, and it has the same intensity of the Shoe, but it adds a richness that the Shoe doesn’t show for me. Splitting hairs here, as both wines were excellent, but I just found the Shoe to be a little better, more lasered for me.
• 2017 Rhys Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Tasted at the winery. 12.5% ABV, with 15-20% new wood. My notes are starred for the wine, and I liked this best of the 4 Chards, for sure. Lemon is the lead flavor with a persistent core of intense citrus that is married with a wet stone quality that is intense, long and in my notes the words ‘painfully concentrated’. Take that for a positive, as this was lights out good. Thinking back, I have to say this vintage of Shoe Chard really struck me as one of the best I have ever tasted from Rhys. Outstanding.
• 2017 Rhys Chenin Blanc Mt. Pajaro Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Tasted at the winery. Peach, green apple, some tropicals, spicy honey, mineral. Chenin from SCM? This was terrific. Will want to get some when this finally comes out, but if I recall from Jeff’s comments yesterday, there is not going to be a lot of it to go around…150 cases?
• 2015 Aeris Wines Etna Bianco Superiore - Italy, Sicily, Etna DOC
  Tasted at the winery from shiner. This is a little prickly, with intense acidity, structure and minerality/wet stone. This was good, kind of electric in quality with all of the stuff going on.
• 2017 Aeris Wines Carricante - USA, California
  Tasted at the winery from shiner (bottled this past April). This to me tastes fuller in tone as compared to the 2015 Aeris Mt Etna that was alongside it. It’s the 2017’s palate, which seems broader, even oily/suave with honey? The 2017 version (which is grown here, on Centennial Mountain in Sonoma County) shows plenty of lemon rind, grapefruit yet has the same tight, intense finish as the 2015 from Italy.
• 2016 Rhys Syrah Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Tasted at the winery. 12.7% ABV. 100% whole cluster, cask raised. Some dried purple flower, potpourri and cracked pepper. Cherry with a distinct blue note, which comes through with more air and tasting.
  
  
  
• 2017 Rhys Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
  Tasted at the winery. 13.8% ABV, fully destemmed and no new wood. Aromas of pepper and spice, maraschino cherry (which might sound pretentious…my point is a sweeter, more luscious cherry but the specific reference is what came to mind when the wine hit my palate). My notes also show the word ‘pure’ underlined, and a reference to sexy, finishing with some tannin to give some structure. Overall, this was generous, juicy, and as we talked about around the table, the vintage in this year really given Bear flashier, pure tone. Very good…on retaste today from the leftover’s from yesterday’s bottle, the spicy quality is really presenty, along with a purple fruit sensation. Terrific.
• 2017 Rhys Pinot Noir Porcupine Hill - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
  Tasted at the winery. 13.8% AV, destemmed and no new wood. My notes have a star next to the Porkie, which was one of my wines of the day. I got a cool rose petal aroma, just a lovely floral tone. We tasted this next to the Bear (of which Porkie is a special section in Bear), so let me use the side by side for context. The Porkie is less sexy, more focused and intense as compared to the Bear. The cherry core of the Porkie is leaner, showing more acidity, along with cedar and loam. Terrific vintage for Porkie.
• 2017 Rhys Pinot Noir Home Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay
  Tasted at the winery. 13.3% ABV. 100% whole cluster, 20-25% new wood. Plenty of structure here, with a darker cherry quality, alongside a elegant frame. For me, this showed a rocky quality, along with blueberry, giving the cherry the darker edge. The acidity too is bright, along with some earth.
• 2017 Rhys Pinot Noir Mt. Pajaro Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Tasted at the winery. This is the first release of MP as a single vineyard wine (in 2016, it all went into the Alesia SCM PN). 13.6% ABV, virtually destemmed with 20-25% new wood. Floral nose, I really dug just smelling it in the glass. Red fruited, spicy with a zesty/zingy quality. Medium wight, moderate complexity and approachable, yet enough spicy cherry to liven it all up. Drinking well for me.
• 2017 Rhys Pinot Noir Skyline Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Tasted at the winery. 12.9% ABV, 100% whole cluster, 25% new wood. Gorgeous aromas of spice, lifting out of the glass much like the 2017 Porkie did for me, too. Plush, juicy, yet with density with a lot of lovely red/blue under all the density. Some herb comes into the finish, along with the same cherry, added by red apple and even a little meaty/savory thing. This has structure, length, density and really everything Skyline can be.
• 2017 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Tasted at the winery. Like the 2017 Porkie from earlier in the tasting, I have the Alpine starred in my notes too, as one of my wines of the day. 12.9% ABV fully destemmed and 30% new wood. When first poured, this had a distinct pinot funk to it, which blew off with swirling. While the aromatics seemed shy, with some light spice, what is banging on this wine is the palate impressions. As with the 2017 Bear, this also came across to me as extremely pure in tone. My notes say ‘immediate sensation of purity’. The balance here is exquisite, which isn’t a word I use all that often in my normal vocabulary but this is what flashed for me when I tasted the wine. Blue and red fruits, even a little red apple too on retaste, with a bit of vanilla. Juicy, balanced by the terrific acidity. Excellent vintage for Alpine (and if you see my other note for the 2017 Horseshoe, that wine too kicked ass, and these plots are not very far apart–both wines excelled for me in 2017).
• 2017 Rhys Pinot Noir Swan Terrace - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Tasted at the winery. 12.5% ABV, 100% whole cluster, 25% new wood. Like with many of the 2017 Rhys PNs we tasted during the visit, there is a floral aroma to the wine. In this vintage of Swan, my sense is the stems are doing some work and imparting their presence. The wine has a density and darkness (not color but the sensation it creates for me), with the structure of the wine evident–coiled with what my notes say ‘some heft’. Herb, savory, intense meaty thing in the finish. I liked this but I have to say at this point in the curve, I prefer the 2017 Alpine more (for those who may not know, Swan Terrace is part of Alpine, a different section and exposure of the vineyard that is made separately)…as a follow-up, I had the leftover wine in bottle from our visit yesterday and so I poured the last 2 ounces this morning for retaste. The color here is dark, a ruby with light maroon. There is so much stuffing and texture here, and it doesn’t yet feel married with the fruit. What I believe would be accurate to say is power and raw material–wood, stems and fruit–all present but not harmonized. I suspect this wine is going to live a while, and knowing the community here, I don’t think people are going to rush off and open bottles of this in the first few years anyway.
• 2017 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Tasted at the winery. 12.7% ABV, fully destemmed, 35% new wood. Has a little bit of the pinot funk nose that was also present in the 2017 Alpine, which too blew off with swirling. This Shoe is terrific. Juicy with plenty of red fruit that is zesty, possessing also the same fantastic purity of the Alpine. Spice with a rocky note. Alan Rath was seated next to me and he called the red fruit ‘strawberry’, which I thought was an excellent descriptor. Ultimately, this is in a tie for me with the Alpine for the purity, and for my PM wine of the day, with this Shoe showing a zestier, strawberry fruit. Excellent stuff…on retaste this morning from last night’s leftover bottle, there is some added cranberry.

Posted from CellarTracker

We had time to kill so we drove down Alpine Road to the vineyard. That is one twisty road, oye!

The block at the gate is chardonnay.

The new planting right of the tree is a replacement of pinot due to a mudslide. The big planting on the far right is expanding Alpine with more chardonnay.

Now we’re late for Jeff’s hair appointment.

Some photos from Rhys visit.

Impressive Frank, impressive. Man I hope one day to pop over and do the Rhys thing like that. Great notes too. Hope you are well!

Pictures from Rhys

• 2017 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/27/2019)
  Bam! You know immediately this is terrific. There’s a matchstick aroma with a grounding of salinity. Oh, my. Yellow fruited, yellow pear and yellow apple. This is very burgundian without a doubt. ****
• 2017 Rhys Chardonnay Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (7/27/2019)
  Bit surprised by the deep of color, almost like an apple juice color. There’s nice acidity and balance with a more profound mouthfeel than the other cards. Good zest of citrus.
• 2017 Rhys Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/27/2019)
  I have “spectacular” and “awesome” scratched on my notes after tasting about 15 wines before this one. The grandeur of the aromatics, the flint, oh so attractive. Yellow fruit and citrus. This nudged out the Alpine for WOTN but that’s an embarrassment of riches when tasting these two head to head.
• 2017 Rhys Chardonnay Mt. Pajaro Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/27/2019)
  Medium yellow color. Shows a bit more of a fruity quality and toasted oak note. This is the first vineyard designated bottling for Pájaro and will be a nice addition to the lineup. The site also and Chinen Blanc and Riesling planted so lots of goodness coming from this new plot.
• 2015 Aeris Wines Etna Bianco Superiore - Italy, Sicily, Etna DOC (7/26/2019)
  Looks like a yellow diamond in the glass, really cool. Honey and nut aromas. This is rich, mouth coating with dark pear and roasted Apple.
• 2015 Rhys Blancs de Blancs Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (7/26/2019)
  Full disclosure - this was a bottle made for the dosage testing and not the final bottling. It was hand disgorged and dosage was 1g/l which is the final dosage level for this vintage. The wine was cloudy because of the hand disgorgement but I noticed after an hour that much of the yeast and other particulate had settle in the bottom of the glass. This sat in neutral oak. There’s a faint yeast aroma but was that from the critters floating in the glass or the wine itself and will it show in the final? No brioche either. Don’t know the answer. There’s yellow apple and lemon aromas. The texture of the wine is very fine, an elegant mouthfeel. Palate flavors, for me, were driven by unsweetened lemon curd, grapefruit, and blood orange. Rhys guys are very excited about this wine and I would agree, can’t wait to trying the final results of all their efforts.
• 2016 Rhys Syrah Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/26/2019)
  Nose of a northern rhone with a strong charcoal influence. There’s a lot of stem here with dark cassis and incense. Really long finish. Push this drinking window out - way out. This is a really well built.
• 2017 Aeris Wines Carricante - USA, California (7/26/2019)
  This is from the bottle but no label. They did say it’ll be “California” when labeled. Nice sweet pear and white flowers. Palate is rich and not like the nose. There’s base of acid layered with pear and a zip at the end of a clean finish. This is really good.
• 2017 Rhys Chenin Blanc Mt. Pajaro Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/26/2019)
  What? For real? This is so good, I mean really good. It’s pure Chenin with tropical fruit and pineapple. Huge mineral component and medium acidity. Damn nice wine.
• 2017 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/26/2019)
  Whoa, stop the bus. The scents of this wine say “pay attention my friend”. Starts with cherry/berry but after it warms up there’s a distinct red apple note which I would associated with the deep end of Anderson valley versus mountain fruit. Perfect balance of acid and tannins, elegant. Killer.
• 2017 Rhys Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (7/26/2019)
  Hint of Carmel on the nose and the color is dark, looks concentrated. Even a little chambord. Palate is tart red fruit and lot of raspberry wrapped in a light toast. Foudnation of fine tannins and a spicy background. No stem inclusion on this one so the spice is coming from the fruit itself and oak.
• 2017 Rhys Pinot Noir Home Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay (7/26/2019)
  Bright cranberry color. I’m getting a strong Bing cherry and cranberry flavor with lots of tannins and noticeable oak influence. Intriguing texture in the mouth.
• 2017 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/26/2019)
  Oh damn… I thought the Alpine would be king of the Pinot lineup in this tasting. Close call as there’s both ridiculous but I’ll give the nod to Horseshoe. Wow, herbal aromas like tarragon and low toned red fruit. Palate even has a smoked luxarado cherry accent. Beautiful wine.
• 2017 Rhys Pinot Noir Mt. Pajaro Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/26/2019)
  Has the Pinot funk on the nose, that or the farmer next door is growing cannibis. It blows off quickly but there remains an herbal quality. Red fruited, floral and a chalk note. First single vineyard bottling for this fruit and it’s extremely promising. Vineyard sits on shale and very shallow top soil.
• 2017 Rhys Pinot Noir Porcupine Hill - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (7/26/2019)
  The block is the steep part of Bearwallow. This shows some of the basic flavor profiles of Bearwallow but it has much more structure, big shoulders, lots more tannins, and green note at the finish. It’s very young right now and shows it, this should be a great wine.
• 2017 Rhys Pinot Noir Skyline Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/26/2019)
  Wow, this is drinking beautifully right at the pop n pour. Cherry and ripe raspberry with a citrus note. There’s also a light smokey thing hanging around with pine sap. Less tannins than the Rhys Pinot noir.
• 2017 Rhys Pinot Noir Swan Terrace - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/26/2019)
  This displays the same sexy nose as the Apline with cherry fruit but showing more oak/Carmel. Has a “Woody” thing too. Very structured - it’s the stem inclusion at work here.

Posted from CellarTracker

On Friday, we visited Jamie at his house in San Francisco. For both he and us, it is easier then the drive to Sonoma to do it at the winery. I appreciate that Jamie invites us into his home and let’s us taste in his living room, as it also gives us the added benefit of watching his son Clayton, with his mind blowing long blonde hair, dance to Michael Jackson, as well as give everyone a glitter tattoo. It’s become now a bit of a tradition to do the tasting this way, and I really enjoy it. We we’re also joined by Jamie’s wife, Kristin, as well as Jamie’s assistant winemaker, Joanna Wells, and her husban Sean Castorani, who works at Rhys–both of them make the Model Farm wines, which we did not taste this time. It’s all small degrees of separation, this wine hobby.

Jamie and I pre-selected the wines, and I made an intention with this event, as well as yesterday with Rhys, to work to taste less wines, yet spend more time discussing the wines and go deeper into the details of each. So, we landed with doing all of the Chardonnays that Jamie has made, as well as his inspiration and my input as to the Falstaff and McDougall wines. Like with Rhys, the legacy of the craft has too many wines to do everything, so deselection for the ‘what’ was important.

The team of Jamie and Joanna is pretty cool to see in action, as to me Jamie is the tinkerer, the inspiration of ideas, and Joanna is the details, the focus on keeping it all wound together. She is also excellent with tasting and has a helluva palate. Of note, like with Rhys again, the whole cluster is going down on the pinot noirs. In the 2018s, they are not 100%, with the %s now between 60-80%. And since 2013, there is zero new oak used on the PN wines. It’s important we continue to call out these changes, as it’s easy to slap a label on wineries like Rhys or Kutch, that they use a bunch of new wood or slather the wines with stems. This is not true, and as we all change, so do the execution of their wines.

In sum, my notes are below. We tasted the Chards first, spending about an hour going through all 6. We then took a short break, made the final decisions on the PN wines to taste, then got them all bagged as we did the PNs blind–Falstaff first, them McDougall. A few conclusions. First, the Kutch Chards are excellent and for me I finally can see the cumulative work and the strong results Jamie is getting. These are excellent whites, with plenty of acidity and mineral flavors. As for the reds, I now believe I prefer the Falstaff for the gentle yet killer elements that create its profile. I find McDougall the more powerful wine, although the 2018 reminded me more of Falstaff and was pretty unique to what it showed.

A big thank you to Jamie and Kristin for hosting us, and for the look into the craft. Bravo.

JULY 2019 KUTCH VISIT - Jamie’s Pad in SFO (7/27/2019)

• 2008 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
  Disgorged March 2015. Lime and yellow apple that translated into a compact, restrained package. Stone fruits, too, finishing with a briny/saline tactile quality that is bright and lively. A few people commented that it tasted a bit sweet. I didn’t find that quality, as say compared to a recent Grand Cellier that I though the dosage was more apparent. Overall, I can sense the structure and energy that continues to live in the 2008. Really good.
  
  
  
• 2014 Kutch Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Drank as part of a complete vertical of all Kutch Chards (14-17, to include Trout Gulch). We started oldest wine, of course the 2014, which for me has been a fantastic wine bottle after bottle. This one performed as well. Flinty, citrusy nose. Apple, pear with a flinty, lemony rainwater finish, which gives it structure and tension. This remains distinctive, a superior Chard that keeps on trucking along.
• 2015 Kutch Chardonnay Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
  Drank as part of a complete vertical of all Kutch Chards (14-17, to include Trout Gulch). This bottle shows a toasted barrel influence in the aromatic. Lemon, lots of green apple and spicier in tone than the 2014 SCM that preceded it. Using 2014 again as a contrast, the 2015 replaces the flinty/mineral of the 2014 with a big cut of lemony acidity/spice that is quite pronounced. This same quality impacts the finish, too. This 2015 is fantastic, and while to tones down the flint of the 2014, it brings an energy and presence that for me surpasses the 2014. And as I said in a previous TN about this wine, you have to like acidity in your wine to enjoy this, which I do…retasted the following morning from leftovers in the bottle at room temp, this is just really stunning. The flint/wet stone note has come forward and the intensity of the acidity remains, too. A wine for the senses. Excellent.
• 2016 Kutch Chardonnay Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
  Drank as part of a complete vertical of all Kutch Chards (14-17, to include Trout Gulch). This followed the 2014 and 2015, which for me are big ‘shoes’ to fill. This 2016 has a a lot of the same acid profile of the 2015, and it also has some of the minerality of the 2014, what my notes called ‘steely’ or ‘wet stone’. These 2 descriptors may not seem related but they help form my perception of what I sensed in the core of the 2016. The dominating fruit for me here is the green apple, a fresh cut pippin is the best descriptor, where the flavor is crisp, bright. Finishes with a little wisp of caramel and my notes also say ‘candied green apple’…retasted the following day from bottle leftover at room temp and it reflects some light creaminess, a gently smooth quality that is mixing with the apple and citrus and some flint. I see this 2016 having qualities of both the 2014 and 2015, so if you like one or both vintages, you get some of each with the primary volume of both turned down, bringing it all together to make the 2016. Delicious.
• 2016 Kutch Chardonnay Trout Gulch Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Drank as part of a complete vertical of all Kutch Chards (14-17, to include Trout Gulch). This was the first designated vintage for TG, although it did play a large role in composing the 2014 SCM Chard, which is a genius wine. Little lift of green herb in the aroma, and following the 2014-2016 Chards, this was the fleshiest of the four for me, even a bit creamy with white pepper, green apple and ginger. Spicy pear in the finish with a supportive apple note…retasted the following morning from the leftover bottle at room temp, this shows a bright, distinct lemon peel, which them marries with the texture to convey some lemon custard. Of note, this wine is labeled at 13.4% ABV, which is about 3/4ths of a point of alcohol higher than the previous three Chards (all were around 12.7%). This also has a wet stone feel to the palate, and is just a little more gentle on the acidity as to compared to the other Chards. Very good.
• 2017 Kutch Chardonnay Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
  Drank as part of a complete vertical of all Kutch Chards (14-17, to include Trout Gulch). Yellow apple, mint, some toast and supple, with what I recalled being the least of the 5 Chards in terms of perceived acidity. Spice, green apple, some lemon but not the lemon intensity of the 2015…retasted the following morning from leftovers at room temo, my notes from yesterday reflect the wine pretty well as it tastes today. Like the 2017 Trout Gulch, this seems a little more approachable than the other Chards. What I notice this morning is some yellow apple (which for me usually means a softer, less acidic impression of the fruit), some stone fruit, like a peach or nectarine. As the wine finishes, there is a mandarin orange kind of citrus that gently fills in. I believe for the 2017 whites, people will find them more gentle and less intense, which I do like but I will drink my 2017s before the earlier vintages,
• 2017 Kutch Chardonnay Trout Gulch Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
  Drank as part of a complete vertical of all Kutch Chards (14-17, to include Trout Gulch). This was the final wine of the six Chards. My notes tailed off for this wine, as I probably was getting a bit palate fatigued. What I jotted down yesterday was creamy with citrusy acids. Yellow/green apple, mint and some honey. Fortunately, there is plenty leftover from last night to retaste today at room temp. This reminds me a lot of the 2016 Sonoma Coast, mixing green apple, stone, and lemon together. Of note, too, it’s about a whole point lower in alcohol from the 2016 Trout Gulch, and more in line too with the alcs on the 2014-2016 Chards. It does have a touch of the 2016 Trout’s creaminess and also the same kind of dried green herb note, too. This 2017 seems more complete to me now too, juicy and refreshing, and a wine you can get into and drink now.
  
  
  
• 2010 Kutch Pinot Noir Falstaff Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
  Drank as part of a 5 bottle flight of Falstaffs (2010 non-blind, with the 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2018 tasted blind). 13.25% ABV with 50% whole cluster. Red cherry, sweet pomegranate, cinnamon (like a red hots candy) and red apple. This wine is approaching a decade old and is holding up well and drinking with a good balance, too. No rush on these if you have any remaining.
• 2012 Kutch Pinot Noir Falstaff Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
  Drank as part of a 5 bottle flight of Falstaffs (2010 non-blind, with the 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2018 tasted blind). I did not pick this out as the 2012, and I have drank a lot of the 2012 over the past 5 years. When it was first released, I was really fond of the wine, and then as time went on I found the stems and the balance in total out of whack, so I went negative on it. A recent bottle kind of opened my eyes again as to how the wine had either evolved further, or I had evolved, or both! So, in seeing this revealed as 2012 when we pulled the bag off was both confirming for the recent bottle I enjoyed, and perhaps the wine has truly changed. It has a real purity or raspberry, a rocky note, and then some pepper which is mainly on the aromatic. With more air, cherry, raspberry jam, yet this still remained balanced, and my notes say, ugh, ‘elegant’. I’d never think to call the 2012 elegant but this was my note from yesterday…retasting from yesterday using the bottle leftovers today, I can see the darker color of this wine now. I would not call this elegant today, as the density is a little more apparent to me. What the wine tells me today is that this is going to be a lot less like what Falstaff is today, especially the 2017 and 2018 in terms of weight. I do like it, but not anywhere near as much as the way Jamie is making the newer releases.
• 2018 Kutch Pinot Noir Falstaff Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
  Drank as part of a 5 bottle flight of Falstaffs (2010 non-blind, with the 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2018 tasted blind). This was bottled three days ago. There is structure here, some power and coil with cherry. Red and purple fruit, with some vanilla on the finish? I did star this wine as I liked it as much as the 2017 as the winners for me in the lineup. Unfortunately, none left to retaste today so will have to follow the journey of the 2018 over time. Of note, this was a large vintage for Falstaff so there will be either more of it, or more of it going into the Sonoma Coast, or both. But, we will get to see Falstaff do its thing.
• 2017 Kutch Pinot Noir Falstaff Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
  Drank as part of a 5 bottle flight of Falstaffs (2010 non-blind, with the 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2018 tasted blind). I’ve gushed and gushed about this wine for almost 2 years now, both when I first had it prior to going to bottle, and since then from bottle several times. It’s on my short list for WOTY for 2019 and it might stand in a tie with the 2017 Rivers-Marie Platt PN. We’ll see later in the year when I do them side by side. For yesterday’s bottle, some light stems on the nose. My notes then say ‘intensity’ with blue fruit, spicy, all mixed together. Then, ‘purple purity and seductive’. Yet, in all of this perceived power, there is medium weight and balance. Youthful, juicy and delicious…retasting the following day from the leftover wine at room temp, damn I love this wine. There is structure, purity, balance, with some earth/soil, complexity. And yesterday when we had this blind, I knew this was the 2017 under the bag, as a wine that is unmistakable in how it translates to such pleasure and balance. Beautiful again. Damn.
• 2014 Kutch Pinot Noir Falstaff Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
  Drank as part of a 5 bottle flight of Falstaffs (2010 non-blind, with the 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2018 tasted blind). Tasted right after the 2017 and that may never be a fair fight for any other wine given the beauty of that 2017. While it doesn’t have the intensity and presence of the 2017, it does maintain the balance of that wine, actually a superb balance. Lightly rocky in tannin, with pure red and some blue fruit to go with it. Delicious, sexy and drinking very well for me right now.
  
  
  
• 2010 Kutch Pinot Noir McDougall Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
  Tasted over two days. 50% whole cluster, and just under 14% ABV. On Day 1, this seemed riper to me, with a bit of syrup (referring to palate weight/feel), with dark berry and some maple. On Day 2, pretty similar, with some riper quality alongside the density that doesn’t feel balanced to me. Finishes astringent, too. This bottle was not nearly as good as the one I wrote up a year ago, and I suspect that bottle may have had some cooler chill added to it. This may be the way to approach this wine. Overall, this bottle is not of the style and touch that Jamie now uses for McDougall.
• 2017 Kutch Pinot Noir McDougall Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
  Drank as part of a 5 bottle flight of McDougall (2010 non-blind, with the 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018 tasted blind, along with a 2018 Bohan Graveyard that was put in as a ringer). On Day 1, this is floral, perfumey with purple fruit and spicy, too. A big wine with power, composed of dark strawberry, cola/root beer (?). Nothing to retaste on Day 2, unfortunately. I’d look to Brig Campbell’s note (which should be around the same tasting date as mine) for some additional context.
• 2013 Kutch Pinot Noir McDougall Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
  Drank as part of a 5 bottle flight of McDougall (2010 non-blind, with the 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018 tasted blind, along with a 2018 Bohan Graveyard that was put in as a ringer). Tasted over two days. On Day 1, this shows a terrific mix of blue/purple fruit, juicy and finely balanced. On Day 2, this adds a little savory quality, with a juicy dark cherry. The overnight air seemed to evolve this wine some more, changing the fruit perception for me. Both this 2013 and 2018 were my wines of the flight, and I believe the 2013 is showing the kind of balance that makes it stand out. Terrific.
• 2018 Kutch Pinot Noir McDougall Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
  Drank as part of a 5 bottle flight of McDougall (2010 non-blind, with the 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018 tasted blind, along with a 2018 Bohan Graveyard that was put in as a ringer). On Day 1, what stands out for me are the aromatics. Purple and red fruit, with a spice note. Polished, delicious and balanced, and of note, this wine was just bottles a few days prior to us tasting it. Has a purity and rocky quality that show the positive tannin structure that is in the wine. For Day 2, the fruit profile is gorgeous, mixing all kinds of colors–red, blue, purple, all fresh and pure. Medium weighted, and for me this is more like the weight of what I enjoy about Jamie’s Falstaff, not the power of the usual McDougall. Finishes with the same rocky tannin and structure from Day 1, and I would believe this will not only be a strong vintage for McDougall but one that is going to age superbly.
• 2018 Kutch Pinot Noir Graveyard Block Bohan Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
  Drank as part of a 5 bottle flight of McDougall (2010 non-blind, with the 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018 tasted blind, along with a 2018 Bohan Graveyard that was put in as a ringer). This was the ringer wine that Jamie mixed into the McDougall flight. And perhaps as a credit to it, as well as the consistency of expression for the McDougalls, this Bohan seemed the most different. This was 100% destemmed, yet very floral. What made this seem unlike the McDougalls was the zesty quality it displayed. It has an approachable quality, lifted by acidity that carries the red fruit. Didn’t have anything to taste on Day 2. Also of note, this bottle, like with all the 2018s we tasted, was just bottled earlier in the week.
• 2015 Kutch Pinot Noir McDougall Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
  Drank as part of a 5 bottle flight of McDougall (2010 non-blind, with the 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018 tasted blind, along with a 2018 Bohan Graveyard that was put in as a ringer). When I tasted this wine at our Kutch dinner with Jamie at my place back in November 2018, it stood out as one of my wines of the night. Had not tasted it since so was good to get another look at it. Yesterday, we tasted the wine and it seemed to show some stems on the nose, a little peppery. The palate? Smooth and balanced. Also what I noted was some opulence and youth, almost giving off a barrel-sample quality, all of that jamminess that comes with a young wine. Seductive red fruit. On Day 2, I retasted this again at room temp, and I get the same stems on the aromatic. The palate remains delicious, and my notes say 'balance with a good density. A mix of dark berry, rocky tannin, stony, with power, showing a tight finish. This 2015 is going to go a long time, and this bottle confirms the terrific quality, stuffing and future for what’s to come. Excellent vintage for McDougall.

Posted from CellarTracker

It’ll take some time for me to get my Kutch notes up as the honey dos piled up and I’m 90% finished stoning a bathroom wall so I need to get that cleaned up.

Quick takeaways - Kutch chardonnay is amazing. Pinot is incredible. The Trout gulch and Falstaff Vineyards are special, love them both.

Here are a few pictures from Jamie’s. I think he said it was the first time he ran through all the chardonnay like this, blind is a humbling format. As Yoda says, “Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”

Jamie has no fear.

Joanna has a critical palate, very impressive. Maybe the third time I’ve tasted with her and each time I walk away with a new trick or perspective.

I appreciate the detailed notes from Frank and Brig! The Rhys tasting was remarkable - nearly four hours from start to finish. Kudos to Jeff for taking time out to share with us.

I’ve always associated Rhys with Pinot, and the lineup is getting better and more refined as it continues to expand. Swan, Alpine, Horseshoe and especially Skyline are longstanding favorites for me and these seem to continue to evolve and improve as the vines age and the team refines its approach. Beautiful wines. The Mt. Pajaro shows real promise.

If there was a surprise for me it was the whites. The entire '17 Chardonnay lineup was fantastic and I agree with Frank and Brig about the special nature of the Horseshoe. The '15 Etna Carricante was electric and the '17 Centennial Mt. Carricante was delicious with clear varietal character. The Mt. Pajaro Chenin was a revelation.

Perhaps with best Rhys tasting I’ve experienced to date. Jeff and his team are not resting on laurels - they are expanding and pushing limits.

Sounds like an awesome trip and epic tastings! Thanks for the notes. I need to find time for another Rhys trip soon.

Brig, you tell your wife you have important notes to write and post, that any of the chores can wait.

Opened a 2013 Bearwallow tonight which is breathing out now. Reminiscing a bit…

Charlie, would be a gas to have you. We typically do this in July so keep that in mind. It was just Brig and I traveling in this time, but past years we have had 4 guys on the trip.

The bathroom is done.

Can you call and talk with her? LOL

Dude, that’s bitchen. Nice work.

Now, where are your TNs?

I’m nearly speechless…I can’t thank you enough for sharing your experience and tasting notes. I was fortunate enough to be on Jamie’s mailing list for his initial offering and remained for several years. Some personal issues caused me to skip some years, but I have since re-joined and absolutely adore his wines. I have dropped Jamie a few notes on some wonderful wines of his and he always takes time to respond…he is truly a class gentleman. I look forward to being a supporter of his wines as long as he continues to bless us. Should life ever bring anyone to Louisville, feel free to drop me a line and I will gladly share some of his nectar. Thank you again for sharing…

Thank you, Frank and Brig! Fantastic write-up of your visit to 2 of my 3 favorite domestic pinot producers! Jealous would be an understatement, but very appreciative of your notes and descriptions.

Who is the third?

Thanks, gents.

Hey, Len.

It’s just a big giant bonus if you get some thing from this. Kutch is special and for those that appreciate more power.

We do it because love it. It’s really that simple.

I love Jamie’s wines…The 2014 SCM Chard is one of my all time favorite Chards from anyplace in the world, just a great wine. Had a 2012 McDougal Pinot recently that was superb.

I have been on the Rhys list from the beginning, love the Horseshoe Chard. I am crossing my fingers that I get some of the Chenin Blanc when it is released!