Pinot Noir Falstaff Vineyard, Kutch 2022

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.

13% alcohol. 13 barrels made of this wine from vines planted in 1999 at 505 ft elevation 8 miles from the Pacific in a cold, foggy pocket of the Sonoma Coast. Goldridge soils with 50% whole bunch and maturation in old French oak. Beautiful aromatics here: perfumed and floral with red cherry fruit and a hint of grape and musk, as well as some dried herbs. So floral. The palate is beautifully focused with sleek red cherry and raspberry fruit with a twist of orange peel and a slight bitterness (but in a nice way). Has nice structure and some rocky mineral notes. Beautiful stuff with potential for development, and a slight mulchy quality too.

Full bottle 1,291 g. Vineyard planted in 1999 at 505 feet and 8.2 miles from the Pacific on Goldridge soil. Picked on 10 September. 50% whole cluster. Spontaneous fermentation, like all Kutch wines, plus no added lactic bacteria. Aged in 13 neutral French oak barrels. Transparent crimson. Savoury, herbal nose. Very refreshing and finely balanced. Sufficient fruit concentration to overcome the tannin. Appetising dry finish. You could enjoy this wine already! Although there is a sufficient array of ingredients to suggest that the wine will age well. 2023-2030