2015 Kutch Pinot Noir Signal Ridge Vineyard- USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino Ridge (10/8/2018)
My first time with this particular vineyard, and it was an interesting experience. Given my lack of background with the characteristics of the site, I can’t speak to any terroir influences, but Jamie’s stem inclusion practices were certainly clear. There was a distinct floral note to the wine, as well as a fresh herbal tone supporting the cherry/strawberry fruit. One thing that did concern me was a bit of an acidic tingle (not CO2) on the finish of the wine. I have run into this once before, in Jamie’s 2013 Sonoma Coast blend, and it eventually came to dominate the wine. I did not care for that effect at all (and now have half a dozen bottles of a wine I don’t want to drink), and I hope it’s not going to become a dominant feature of this wine, because I otherwise really like this cuvée.
Interesting note - and interesting concern as well. Do you happen to know the ABV on this wine - and perhaps on the 13 SC blend that you mentioned?
It would not be common for the acid to become ‘more pronounced’ unless everything else (fruit, stems, etc) really fade in a big way over time. I would not suspect that this will occur here, but who knows . . .
Otherwise, sounds like another fantastic wine from Jamie - no surprise there at all.
A couple impressions here. This first informal one from last May is the only one I have for the 2015 version:
“I was surprised at the Signal Ridge and how open and inviting it was from the get-go. I think the sour cherry fruit is again a very accurate pinpoint and certainly the Mendocino vineyard that Jamie pulled the grapes from stands in contrast to his Sonoma Coast SVDs, but that’s part of the fun. I likened the overall impression on this one to a Sonoma Coast bottling of his.”
Then from my trip in July for 2016
“This is Jamie’s fruit source from Mendocino. 12% alcohol, 777, 115 and 2A are the clones. Nose is active with spices and some sweet red pepper to the cherry fruit. 50% whole cluster, this is quite good, vervy with a lot of carry, if not quite to my personal like for taste profile. Very well made wine nevertheless, has a real potency.”
David - this is exactly what I was experiencing when I drank the 2013 Sonoma Coast blends but wasn’t able to completely identify what was going on. Thanks for putting this in words.
So Jamie reached out to me, offering his thoughts on the 2 wines (Signal Ridge & Sonoma Coast), and even some sort of replacement/credit. I thought that was really classy, but said I would like to open another 2013 Sonoma Coast before discussing it.
Last night I opened a bottle of the 2013 Sonoma Coast Pinot, and the dominant acidic tingle was back to a minor background note. It was frankly less than in the recent bottle of Signal Ridge. I wonder if I was not looking for it, if I would even notice it.
So I don’t really know what’s going on. Is it some aspect of the stems evolving, poking out, then fading into the weave? Is it just a stage? I don’t know, but I am enjoying this bottle.
Sorry Jamie. The wine does always have the last word.