Pinot Noir Mindego Ridge, Kutch 2022

The 2022 Pinot Noir “Mindego Ridge Vineyard” bottling from Kutch Wines is another outstanding wine in the making. These are the youngest vines that Jamie works with, as they were only planted in 2009, but they are producing very, very good fruit, based on the three vintages I have tasted of this bottling. It is fermented with fifty percent whole clusters, indigenous yeasts and raised entirely in used barrels. The bouquet is bright, complex and a bit more marked by its whole clusters than the Sonoma Coast bottlings out of the blocks, offering up a very promising bouquet of red and black cherries, pomegranate, sweet stem tones, gamebird, brown spices, stony soil tones, mustard seed and a touch of cedar. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, complex and mineral-driven in personality, with a beautiful core of fruit, ripe tannins, tangy acids and lovely balance on the long, poised and youthful finish. This is more youthfully angular out of the blocks than the Sonoma Coast bottlings, which will make it less tempting to commit infanticide with bottles, but in due course, this too is a going to be an outstanding wine. 2033-2080.

Full bottle 1,293 g. From a 10-acre, south-facing vineyard planted in 2009 at 925 feet and eight miles from the Pacific on shale and silty clay loam. Hand-picked on 27 September (much later than the Sonoma Coast Pinots). 50% whole cluster. Spontaneous fermentation, like all Kutch wines, plus no added lactic bacteria. Aged in just five neutral French oak barrels. I hope Jamie Kutch is also still making a Chardonnay from this vineyard. Pale garnet (less blue than the Sonoma Coast Pinots). Subtle and seductive. Really very complete and satisfying. There's a hint of lokum (Turkish delight) about this wine which has such a beautiful balance of fruit and freshness. It's already a delight to drink. Perhaps it doesn't have the tannic undertow of some of its stablemates, but at the moment it's pure pleasure with a certain gentleness of texture. 2023-2033