Chardonnay Trout Gulch Vineyard, Kutch 2022

Full bottle 1,341 g. Fruit grown in this popular vineyard planted in 1977, 3.5 miles from the Pacific on sandy loam. Hand-picked on 19 September. Spontaneous fermentation in five French oak barrels (one new) after whole-bunch pressing. Wonderfully bright, energetic but fully ripe fruit that informs a wine that's already a pleasure to drink. Complete. Great fruit/acid integration and a slightly saline note on that lime framework. My kinda Chardonnay ... Quite long. I'd love to taste a fully mature version of this wine. Drink 2024-2031.

As I have noted in the past, Jamie Kutch’s Trout Gulch Vineyard Chardonnay is made from vines that were planted all the way back in 1977. There are five barrels of this beautiful wine in the cellars this year, one of which was new oak. The wine delivers a beautiful aromatic constellation of white peach, apple, fresh almond, a complex base of soil tones, fruit blossoms, a whisper of vanillin oak and just a touch of orange zest in the upper register. On the palate the wine is vibrant, full-bodied and beautifully structured out of the blocks, with a fine girdle of acidity, excellent depth of fruit at the core, lovely balance and a long, zesty and soil-driven finish. This too is first class chardonnay. Drink between 2024-2045.