Sonoma County winery spotlight to kick off the 2020 harvest season and fall releases puts a well-deserved focus on Kutch, of Sonoma, as the small, bespoke winery newly releases an offering of its only single vineyard Chardonnay-Trout Gulch, its acclaimed McDougall Ranch Pinot Noir, a Bohan Graveyard Pinot and Signal Ridge Pinot.
"We are thrilled with the outcome of our 2018s as they continue to evolve says winemaker/owner Jamie Kutch. "It started in the vineyards as all the elements really came together and yielded fruit of great quality. . . they really are gorgeous."
Described as being vivid wines that very much capture the personality of the year in their translucent expression of place, Jamie's almost Old World style of Pinot and Chardonnay are true boutique wines for the Sonoma County wine lover.
As the old saying goes: “wine is made in the vineyard.” Following this philosophy, Jamie and his team strives for well positioned, cold climate vineyard sites, with appropriate soils.
"It has been a challenge to locate and secure such sites, causing our production to grow at a slow but steady pace," says Jamie. "Once the fruit is harvested, it is handled with the utmost care, sorted meticulously and moved only by gravity. We attempt to pursue a minimalist philosophy, trying to provide the purest expression of Pinot Noir from a particular place and time, taking great care not to over-manipulate our wines in the cellar. This minimal interventionalist style of wine-making is reflected in our use of indigenous yeast, native malolactic bacteria and élevage in 100% neutral oak barrels (no new)."
All punch-downs are done by foot. Upon completion of fermentation, these wines are gravity flowed into French oak barrels, where they remain unmoved while aging sur lie (on the fine lees). The wines are not racked until ready to bottle, between 11 and 16 months after harvest. AKutch wines are encouraged to express all of the natural greatness of their vineyard origins.
"This is our 15 vintage release! The wines really taste like Sonoma," says Jamie, whose wines have been touted by critics as ridiculously good. "They teleport you to the vineyards each with their own distinct smell and taste. Weather grown in sand or rock, high above the fog at 1,400 feet elevation or 300 feet and below. We let mother nature dictate the wines and she helped shape and grow some fantastic grapes in 2018. We are really proud."
*Link to place an order for Kutch wines ORDER LINK
Link to FALL NEWSLETTER
Link to Zoom tasting of these wines
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