2010 Kutch Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

The 2010 Pinot Noir is laced with freshly cut flowers, sweet red berries, mint and anise. A delicate, fragrant wine, the 2010 impresses for its balance and total class. Feminine and graceful throughout, the 2010 is a delicious, harmonious wine to drink now and over the next few years. This is a very pretty entry-level offering. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2018. Jamie Kutch is one of the most thoughtful and introspective of California's generation of young, emerging producers. Those qualities are serving him very well as the wines continue to move in the right direction. Overall, I find the 2011 Pinots a notch above the 2010s. In 2011 Kutch opted to use a higher percentage of whole clusters, an approach that has paid off in spades. Kutch also decided to bottle his 2011s a little earlier than normal, after 10 months in oak versus 18 for the 2010s, a move that seems to have preserved a measure of focus that has at times been missing in the wines. Sadly, 2011 is the last vintage for Kutch's Savoy Pinot, but that site has been replaced by two new additions: Hirsch beginning in 2012 and Alder Springs in 2013. It will be fascinating to see where Jamie Kutch goes next. One thing is clear -- the road is wide open. Tel. (917) 270-8180

More clay, more weight and depth. 30% new oak. More stems. Delicately stemmy and less sweet smelling. Compounds in the stems and tannins in them adding depth – ‘very little in the skin in California because of the sun’. This is fresher and drier than the Savoy Pinot from the Anderson Valley. Fragrant, less sweet than the Anderson Valley wines. More structure but great finesse. Fine grained but dry. Perfumed on the mid palate. (JH)

The 2010 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast is an attractive, vibrant Pinot laced with freshly cut flowers, spices, mint and licorice. The 2010 impresses for its energy and focus. It is a hugely promising, feminine wine that should drink well pretty much right out of the gate. The Sonoma Coast bottling is a blend of fruit (100% destemmed) from Sonoma Stage, Le Jons and McDougall Ranch. It is a terrific entry-level Pinot from Jamie Kutch.