Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast, Kutch 2021

Jamie Kutch’s 2021 Sonoma Coast bottling of pinot noir includes fifty percent whole clusters in this vintage and comes in at an even thirteen percent octane. The wine offers up a superb aromatic constellation of cherries, beetroot, sweet stem tones, woodsmoke, raw cocoa, a refined base of soil tones, roses and a discrete foundation of new oak. On the palate the wine is bright, young and full-bodied, with excellent depth at the core, fine soil undertow and grip, ripe, buried tannins and a long, tangy and nascently complex finish. Structurally, this wine is certainly approachable right out of the blocks, but in terms of complexity, this is still a puppy and it would be infanticide to open a bottle until it has had at least a few years in the cellar to let all these layers emerge properly on the nose and palate! 2026-2065.

Full bottle 1,413 g – heavier than bottles of the rest of the range, presumably because of supply problems. The usual informative back labels. Jamie Kutch's biggest production (just) – a blend from all over Sonoma Coast that filled 25 barrels. Vines planted 1972-1999. Elevation 500-1,400 ft. Between three and eight miles from the Pacific. Mixed soils. Picked 7-23 September. 50% whole bunch. Like all these 2021s, hand-picked, spontaneous fermentation, natural malo, aged in used French barrels. Minimum effective SO2. Unfined and unfiltered.Bright cherry red. Nervy aroma with maraschino-cherry notes. Lots of freshness on the palate which ends with a certain graininess, almost as though some of it had been aged in concrete. Fairly light-bodied. You could drink this now but it's probably worth waiting a few months.