Mixed Case Kutch Chardonnay/Pinot Noir 2022

***chardonnay sonoma coast - 92 points***
the 2022 chardonnay “sonoma coast” bottling from jamie kutch is a lovely wine. the bouquet is bright, expressive and nicely tropical in profile this year, offering up scents of pineapple, papaya, orange peel, salty soil tones, citrus blossoms and just a touch of vanillin oak. on the palate the wine is vibrant, full-bodied and succulent, with a lovely core, fine soil undertow and grip, zesty acids and lovely balance on the long, complex and wide open finish. this wine comes in at thirteen percent octane in this vintage and is really quite a lovely drink right out of the blocks. drink between 2024-2035.

***pinot noir sonoma coast - 93+ points***
the 2022 pinot noir “sonoma coast” bottling from jamie kutch was crafted using fifty percent whole clusters in this vintage and saw no new oak during its élevage. the wine tips the scales at an even thirteen percent octane and delivers a pure and refined nose of red and black cherries, raw cocoa, woodsmoke, lovely soil tones, a beautiful array of spice tones from the whole clusters and just a dollop of cedary oak. on the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, tangy and sappy at the core, with fine soil signature, ripe, buried tannins, excellent focus and balance and a long, complex and vibrant finish. this is an outstanding bottle, but it deserves some time in the cellar to properly blossom. 2032-2075+

***pinot noir bohan vineyard - 94 points***
as i have mentioned in the past, the bohan vineyard’s pinot noir vines were planted all the way back in 1972, so these are veritably vieilles vignes. the vineyard is planted on classic goldridge soils and jamie used fifty percent whole clusters for this wine and raised it all in used casks. the wine’s aromatic constellation is very precise and nicely black fruity in personality, offering up scents of sweet dark berries, black cherries, fresh thyme, dark soil tones, pigeon, coffee bean and a floral topnote redolent of violets and pungent roses. on the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, black fruity and soil-driven, with tangy acids, fine focus and grip, a lovely core of fruit and a long, nascently complex and suavely tannic finish. like all of these 2022s from jamie kutch, the bohan vineyard bottling will need some cellaring time to soften up its backend tannins before it starts to drink with generosity, but it is going to be stunning wine once it blossoms. 2031-2080.

***pinot noir falstaff vineyard - 95+ points***
the falstaff vineyard has been one of jamie kutch’s earliest single vineyard bottlings, as i first tasted a falstaff pinot from him all the way back in the 2009 vintage. his 2022 vintage of falstaff is going to vie with the 2019 and 2021 versions as the very finest i have yet tasted from this superb vineyard. like the 2021 version, this wine includes fifty percent whole clusters and was raised entirely in used casks. the bouquet is utterly refined, offering up scents of black plums, dark berries, black cherries, coffee bean, just a touch of fresh thyme, a complex base of dark soil tones, woodsmoke, just a hint of cedar and a topnote of violets. on the palate the wine is fullbodied, focused and very refined on the attack, with a gorgeous core of sweet black fruit, lovely transparency and grip, tangy acids, fine-grained tannins and a very long, seamlessly balanced and complex finish. this is a brilliant young pinot noir! 2033-2080.

***pinot noir mindego ridge - 94 points***
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.

***pinot noir mcdougall vineyard - 94+ points***
the evolution of jamie kutch’s 2022 mcdougall ranch bottling in the glass was absolutely fascinating, as this wine started out life all sappy, crushed red fruit and a round, velvety palate impression, but after thirty minutes in decanter, the wine had delved into a much more black fruity personality and the wine’s fine underly structural chassis was quite evident. the wine comes in at an even thirteen percent octane in this lovely vintage and eventually offers up a deep, vibrant and complex bouquet of red and black cherries, sweet dark berries, gamebird, woodsmoke, a beautiful base of dark soil tones, a lovely dollop of savory fresh herb tones and a discreet framing of cedar. on the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and impeccably balanced, with a superb core of fruit, fine transparency and grip, ripe, buried tannins and a long, tangy and focused finish. this is a superb bottle of pinot noir in the making. 2032-2080.