2024 Kutch, Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast.
The new artist label entry level Kutch Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is absolutely delicious, bursting with juicy and vinous red fruits, almost Gamay like and expressive with a carbonic like feel to it, probably because of the 50% whole cluster and youthful stage, but with air it settles into a silky pure wine. The medium/full palate delivers black cherry, plum, pomegranate and crushed raspberry fruits, along with cola, very subtle oak, briar and cinnamon spice, as well as delicate rose petal, apple skin, blood orange and tea notes. Coming from exceptional vineyards, a few planted in the 1970s, mainly on Goldridge soils, on the coast ridge lines of the western most part of the Sonoma Coast and within a few miles of the Pacific Ocean, this wine shows off lovely balance and dynamic acidity. This bright ruby hued and nicely aromatic Pinot Noir was a new wine for me and it is a lot of quality cool climate Pinot for the buck, a big thank you to Kent Torrey of the Cheese Shop in Carmel by the Sea for turning me on to it.
Jamie Kutch, who makes riveting whole cluster and cool climate Pinot Noirs, also is gifted with the touch for Chardonnay and I really loved his Trout Gulch version, that wonderful vineyard farmed by my friend Richard Alfaro in the Santa Cruz Mountains, who introduced me to Kutch’s wines. Kutch’s style is all about balance and retaining acidity, so finding these extreme coastal vineyard sites are paramount to his achieving his winemaking goals, which shows in the transparency in his offerings. Jamie, once a New York NASDAC trader, has become one of top Sonoma Coast producers joining an elite group of Pinot maestros in the region, who is working on establishing his own estate winery and vineyard near Sebastopol. His Pinot wines typically see 50% whole cluster fermentation and everything is done by hand and he uses mostly used barrels, but high quality French cooperages. This Sonoma Coast bottling, with the sunset like label, is a sublime value if you can find it, but I highly recommend taking the jump up to his white label offerings, which are even more impressive and still well priced!
($30 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive