Pinot Noir McDougall Ranch, Kutch 2022

13% alcohol. 8 barrels of this wine made from vines planted in 1998 3.5 miles from the Pacific, at an altitude of 1010 feet. Greywacke and sandstone soils. 50% whole bunch and matured in used French oak. Beautiful aromatics here with floral red cherry fruit, wild strawberries, chalk and a touch of mulch. The palate is textured and fresh with sleek, silky red fruits and a twist of orange peel and some raspberry crunch. Fine and expressive with a slightly stony finish. Real potential for development but lovely now too.

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.

Full bottle 1,293 g. Vineyard planted in 1998 at 1,010 feet and 3.5 miles from the Pacific on greywacke and sandstone. Picked by hand as early as 24 August. 50% whole cluster. Spontaneous fermentation, like all Kutch wines, plus no added lactic bacteria. Aged in eight neutral French oak barrels. Transparent purplish crimson. Less expressive on the nose at present than the Falstaff 2022 and with more marked acidity and fine tannin. Hints of raspberry. This should mature into something delightful but needs time. 2025-2032