| | Mr Kutch sent this box of toys for the boys gratis (just the 2015 Pinot Noir) with the regular Falltacular shipment and said "have at them". He also sent along write ups and his perspective on the wines which Frank read to the group. Nice touch and interesting.
My overall thoughts in no specific order.
1) The 2015 chardonnay is amazing, it showed well in a Pinot tasting. LOL
2) The line up is solid across the flight
3) I like tasting all the wines at the same time versus serially.
4) Nordhoff has a good palate, when I got stumped he'd blurt out the descriptor
5) Good people make for good times
6) Falstaff, best vineyard in California...
Glasses - All 5 wines poured together. It's crowded but the best way to do it. I brought 5 different stems for 5 different wines.
The Crew - Me, Andrew, Steve, Richard, Frank, and Sean
 Okra
Edemame
Mixed bag - Chef always brings out something for fun
Empanada - a staple when we eat here. Chicken and Mushroom
 - N.V. Camille Savès Champagne Grand Cru Brut Rosé - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
Light pink color, as usual. Lots of green apple aromas. Really showing more of the chardonnay component of the wine this time. Plenty of sour dough/ toasted french bread flavor. Very good but interesting that over the years the bottles have varied yet all solid.
- 2015 Kutch Chardonnay Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Weighing in at 12.72% ABV Light yellow color. Nose is initially burnt popcorn but later warmed up to beautiful floral bouquet. Attack starts with vanilla nd then a big heaping spoonful of acid that makes the mouth immediately water. Very sharp edges. Strong lemon component and texture, very bright. As this warmed up it really took off. FMIII asked me what was my wine of the night for the pinot noirs and I said jokingly the chardonnay. It was that good.
Skirt Steak - I took this of Andrew's meal. Looks good, huh?
Lamb Chops - Sean and I split the lamb chops as we snacked way too much beforehand. Chimichurri, put that $!@# on everything.
 - 2015 Kutch Pinot Noir Signal Ridge Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino Ridge
Nose is sweet strawberry, almost candied or jammy. First of all, this wine is young and shows that way, fair enough. Palate reveals medium plus oak and lots of stem flavors. An underlying foundation of gritty tannins is omnipresent. The flavor isn't sweet strawberry though, just a light sprinkling of nearly ripe strawberry with dark raspberry and cranberry. Very good wine.
- 2015 Kutch Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Nose is REALLY muted on this one compared to all the other 2015's. There's some red berry but it's minimal. The flavors are stem and oak with berry, blue and raspberry. Goodness this wine is coiled up like a spring. I assumed it was a single vineyard wine. Nope, just little old SC AVA... impressive. Don't open this thinking you'll wait to drink the SV stuff, this wine needs time (probably more than the others in the lineup). As a side note, this really screwed people up as nobody that it was SC.
- 2016 Kutch Pinot Noir Sans Soufre Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
I thought this was Gamay. Looks like it and taste like it. Others did as well. Nose is candied and it's light bodies. Color is an interesting cloudy magenta, different than the other PN's. Wine dances on the tongue, very distinct. Good mineral note and fine rounded tannic structure.
- 2015 Kutch Pinot Noir Falstaff Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
This was blind and showed darker than the others. Initially the wine smelled like weed, the kind people smoke... Very interesting. That blew off later, reduction? Don't know. Also had a touch of molasses. Nimble on the palate despite looking rather large. Very good chalk basis with dark fruit and perfect balance. I love the sandelwood and black incense at the finish. I suspected this was Falstaff or my just hoped it was. My WOTN.
- 2015 Kutch Pinot Noir McDougall Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
This was dark colored, maybe not as dark at the Falstaff but it was close regardless. More magenta color here, though. Mild cherry nose and red raspberry. Taste young, no problem, and the tannins are drying. Much more so than all the other wines. It would scrape your tongue clean. medium plus mouthfeel. This changed with air towards the end of the night as it began to open up. Very nice wine, just young. It and the SC AVA are just too tight and disjointed right now to even mess with, why ruin a great wine by opening before it can blossom.
The reveal. We tasted these blind but knew they were all 2015 Kutch. Is that 1/2 blind or one eyed?
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