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| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.6 pts. and median of 93 pts. in 35 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Jbird73 on 5/3/2024 & rated 93 points: Really good stuff here. Color is a deeper purple than anticipated. Nose is really strong with red fruits and spice/sandalwood maybe... Lots of life, really nice long finish. Just a really good bottle right now. This leaves me with 1 left and will try and wait a few years to see the evolution. (484 views) | | | Tasted by Lazerlar on 12/15/2023: As others have noted this is a very good wine that will benefit greatly with time in hibernation. Enjoyable now to get a baisis for its evoultion,
I will try to hold my remaining bottles for a couple of years. (1275 views) | | | Tasted by BradA on 8/25/2023 & rated 92 points: Strawberry fields forever !
Very pure, very clean and a well balanced wine. I have one left and it’s a shame as it is a mistake to drink this in an adolescent stage. Jamie crafts wines that are fun to drink young , but really show after 5-7 years of cellaring .
Drink now to 2030. (1690 views) | | | Tasted by gharter on 8/21/2023 & rated 90 points: PnP. Very aromatic with red cherry, blood orange, spice and a touch of whole cluster . Lots of flavor showing red cherry, orange, earth, spice and whole cluster. medium body leading to a smooth finish. Seemed lower in acid compared to previous bottles and came across a little flat. (1639 views) | | | Tasted by Djfermentation on 3/25/2023 & rated 95 points: This was a fantastic. Both power and finesse. It drank quite well with a 20 minute decant and was a pleasant fit with sushi last night. Hard to say when to drink our other bottle… it’s pretty darn good right now. (2053 views) | | | Tasted by BradA on 11/22/2022: Really good. Full, voluminous fruit and velvety across the tongue. I think this is too youngful for current drinking. Needs 2-3 years of cellar time to round out. (2278 views) | | | Tasted by melvinyeowq on 8/15/2022: Pre-dinner BTG at 67PM: Liked the 2016 McDougall the other week a lot but this was disappointing. The type of new-world nose that I dislike, jammy and cherry liquor notes. High alcohol but yet had a greenness to it and a bitter finish. (2945 views) | | | Tasted by Rieslingfan on 8/1/2022: Popped and poured, then followed over about three hours, this is still an infant. Lots of deep red fruit, and a bit of an earthy wall. It took ninety minutes or so for more detail to emerge. After about two hours a warm tobacco note crept in, along with a bramble black fruit note that was eerily reminiscent of picking wild blackberries on a sun-baked Vermont mountainside. I could feel the heat on the back of my neck, and smell the fresh berries dropping into the basket. The ripe berries carried through on the palate, picking up a macerated juiciness that coated the palate, leaving that tobacco note, and a quick dash of mint on the finish. (2453 views) | | | Tasted by Frank Murray III on 7/10/2022: Kutch Verticals--Trout Gulch, McDougall and Falstaff: Vertical (non-blind) of Falstaff, 2010 -2021. We did not taste the 2011 (no one owned it) nor 2014 and 2018 (stupid COVID forced the owners to have to miss the tasting) and the 2021 was a tank sample that Jamie pulled for us and shipped down for the tasting (being bottled next week so it's the final composition). Has a mix of density with a black/red hard candy. Then, the tang of sour cherry works its way through the finish. A few more tastes and then I can sense more of the fruit bowl feature, with a reinforcing flavor of kiwi. Just all kinds of fruit colors coming through. (2625 views) | | | Tasted by gharter on 7/3/2022 & rated 92 points: PnP. Very aromatic with red cherry, blood orange, spice and a touch of whole cluster . Lots of flavor showing red cherry, orange, earth, spice and whole cluster. medium body leading to a smooth finish. (1804 views) | | | Tasted by tanglenet on 5/19/2022: Tasted at the SFYC Pinot Tasting panel. Wines were poured into the glasses at least an hour before we tasted. Quick notes: low acidity which came off as flat and flabby to me; medium weight in body; dark cherry notes on a semi dry finish. Fair to Good (1825 views) | | | Tasted by TomTom on 3/29/2022: Meant to grab the Sonoma Coast, but opened the Falstaff by accident. Lots of great elements, but needs time to let the stem inclusion integrate. (1906 views) | | | Tasted by Pinot-takk on 5/1/2021 & rated 93 points: Another great Kutch wine. Lovely taste of berries, great long dry aftertaste. As good or better than many great Burgundy wines. I like this. (2492 views) | | | Tasted by RuneG on 4/2/2021 & rated 94 points: Decanted for 6 hours.
Precis red fruit (strawberry, rhubarb and a bit of red currant). It is floral, mineral, spicy and lactic towards yoghurt. Very juicy palate, beautiful intensity and length. The wine is lifted to a level that normally only is achieved by good Burgundy producers. Elegant and very complex. This is soif at a very high level. (2069 views) | | | Tasted by tcufletch on 2/13/2021: Initial taste was a small sip upon opening; crisp and clean nose of light strawberry, allspice and a bit of stems; palate was a fresh and vibrant delicate strawberry and a fine minerality. All of this was really pleasant and what I've come to appreciate in Jamie's Pinots.
Fast forward an hour or so after giving the wine a little chill and things changed. The fruit had become a little more muted, not completely gone but not what it was initially. There were more savory notes and less bright fruit. The mid-palate was a bit flat and there was very little acid on the back end. Re-corked and put away for a day.
Day two and the wine has morphed yet again and to something I appreciate and enjoy. The fruit on the nose and palate is still not bright and fresh like it was upon opening but there are defined strawberry and rhubarb flavors and I too now get that light mushroom savoriness indicated by others. There is more savoriness and earth here than fruit but all the flavors play well together with a really nice layered mouthfeel. What I think I appreciate the most is there is now more acid which really helps the mouthfeel and makes the wine more interesting. This is a solid wine; definitely more old-world style which is along the lines of what I've come to expect from Jamie. (2378 views) | | | Tasted by BradA on 1/1/2021 & rated 93 points: Very pure, Jamie is producing some incredible wines. However, I would urge restraint: the wine is very young and primary to me. Gobs of fresh fruit and a very full finish. Not hot or extracted,but I know there is more if you have the patience to cellar. Drink from 2023 on. (2602 views) | | | Tasted by brigcampbell on 11/21/2020: This is a heartfelt tasting note. I really didn't like this wine when I tasted with Jamie right after it was bottled, it came off with a lot of tomato. I was really concerned because Falstaff is one of my favorite bottlings of Pinot Noir in the world. I was concerned.
I guess it's a bit like saying that your dog is ugly. Nobody has the heart to say it and I felt very reserved based on the fact that it was just recently bottled and I don't consider myself an expert.
FMIII had opened a bottle last night and we happened to cross paths today and he said hey I think you should taste the 2018 Falstaff again, I said gladly.
Wow, what a terrific bottle of wine. It has a reduced concentration and intensity of the typical falstaff but is absolutely fantastic. A leaning towards old world yet doesn't forget it's California roots.
If nothing, this bottle will always remind me that wine is about the time and the place and the people. And if those are all things that you enjoy then you enjoy the wine. (1828 views) | | | Tasted by Frank Murray III on 11/21/2020: Haven't had one of these in over a year so now is a good time to get one open. 12.5% ABV. This is going to be a crusher of a wine....merely open 15 mins and it's already fanning out with flavor. The whole cluster is seemingly already integrating with the wine, and with just old barrels used here, the purity comes through. Strawberry, raspberry, mineral, red apple and a modest thread of acid emerging, too.....move forward another 24 hours, trying the wine again prior to dinner so I have a clear palate right now, too. Given Alex's recent previous note, I wanted to see if the wine was going to pick up something more savory, more older world. I really let this shake off the chill it had from the fridge, to allow it the space to breathe. What's here today is a plumper wine, with some of the mushroom note that Alex mentions, yet it retains a good portion of the fruited core. There is quite a bit of flavor packed into here, and the acidity comes through nicely with all the air it has seen. And absent to me is the stem inclusion flavoring--there is just nothing stemmy about this wine and whatever impact they had post-bottling, those have integrated well. In total, I believe the medium weight, the deeper red flavors and solid acidity should allow this to age well, too. Jamie Kutch is to me one of the real wizards with California Pinot Noir. (2925 views) | | | Tasted by WineGold on 10/29/2020 & rated 94 points: A Burgundian Pinot in PERFECT balance. We decanted and poured and drank immediately. No breathing. Drank next to a 2017 Kutch McDougal.
It pours light to medium to garnet, with a great, bright, airy nose of red fruit and rhubarb a touch of musty earth. The nose is layered and nuanced, moving from one note to the next as you focus on it.
On the palate there is slightly less fruit and slightly more earth. There is crushed rock, wet earth, minerals, mushrooms balanced with exactly the right amount of strawberries and raspberries. It’s light to medium bodied, but extremely interesting. This is a wine of focus and precision.
The McDougal we drank this next to is bigger, darker, more robust, edgier, greener, with the stems from the whole clusters being more apparent. I think, perhaps, the McDougal might be slightly shut down at the moment? Both my wife and I preferred this Falstaff, but appreciated both tremendously with a filet and roasted potatoes dinner! (2043 views) | | | Tasted by brigcampbell on 9/1/2019: This probably isn't tasting anything like it will when released but there's cherry fruit which is the first for me with Kutch. Lightly colored and translucent. Light tannins and soft. I would not put any stock in this note. (2206 views) | | | Tasted by Frank Murray III on 7/27/2019: July 2019 Kutch Visit (Jamie's Pad in SFO): Drank as part of a 5 bottle flight of Falstaffs (2010 non-blind, with the 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2018 tasted blind). This was bottled three days ago. There is structure here, some power and coil with cherry. Red and purple fruit, with some vanilla on the finish? I did star this wine as I liked it as much as the 2017 as the winners for me in the lineup. Unfortunately, none left to retaste today so will have to follow the journey of the 2018 over time. Of note, this was a large vintage for Falstaff so there will be either more of it, or more of it going into the Sonoma Coast, or both. But, we will get to see Falstaff do its thing. (2006 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of JebDunnuck.com and View From the Cellar and Vinous and JancisRobinson.com. (manage subscription channels) |
| Kutch Producer websitePinot Noir Varietal character (Appellation America) | Varietal article (Wikipedia)
Pinot Noir is the Noble red grape of Burgundy, capable of ripening in a cooler climate, which Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot will not reliably do. It is unpredictable and difficult both to grow and to vinify, but results in some of the finest reds in the world. It is believed to have been selected from wild vines two thousand years ago. It is also used in the production of champagne. In fact, more Pinot Noir goes into Champagne than is used in all of the Cote d'Or! It is also grown in Alsace, Jura, Germany, the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Romania, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Italy, and so forth, with varying degrees of success.
Pinot Noir is one of the world's most prestigious grapes. It is very difficult to grow and thrives well in France, especially in Champagne and Burgundy. Pinot Noir thrives less in hot areas, is picky on soil, and deserves some oak storage.
Pinot Noir, or Blauburgunder / Spätburgunder in German, is a blue grapevine - and, as the German name suggests, the grape comes originally from Burgundy in France.
The grape, which thrives in calcareous soils, is used primarily for the production of red wine, and it is widely regarded as producing some of the best wines in the world. The wine style is often medium-bodied with high fruit acidity and soft tannins. It can be quite peculiar in fragrance and taste, and not least in structure - which may be why it is referred to as "The Grapes Ballerina".
Pinot Noir is also an important ingredient in sparkling wines, not least in champagne since it is fruity, has good acidity and contains relatively little tannins.
The grape is considered quite demanding to grow. The class itself consists of tightly packed grapes, which makes it more sensitive to rot and other diseases.
Pinot Noir changes quite easily and is genetically unstable. It buds and matures early which results in it often being well ripened. Climate is important for this type of grape. It likes best in cool climates - in warm climates the wines can be relaxed and slightly pickled.
In cooler climates, the wine can get a hint of cabbage and wet leaves, while in slightly warmer regions we often find notes of red berries (cherries, strawberries, raspberries, currants), roses and slightly green notes when the wine is young. With age, more complex aromas of forest floor, fungi and meat emerge.
In Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Hungary, it often produces light wines with less character. However, it has produced very good results in California, Oregon and New Zealand.
With its soft tannins and delicate aroma, it is excellent for white fish, chicken and light meat. For the stored wines you can serve small game. Classic duck breast is a matter of course, a Boeuf Burgundy and Pinot Noir are pure happiness.
Pinot Noir loses quality by over-harvesting.
Pinot Noir is prone to diseases, especially rot and mildew. Viruses cause major problems especially in Burgundy.
Pinot Noir are large round grapes with thin skins. Relatively high in alcohol content. Medium rich tannins and good with acid.
As a young person, Pinot Noir has a distinctly fruity character such as raspberries, cherries and strawberries.
A mature Pinot Noir, the taste is different. Cherry goes into plum and prune flavors. It smells of rotten leaves, coffee, moist forest floor and animal wine. This must be experienced.
In warm climates you find boiled plum, some rustic, little acid.
If the grapes are over-grown, the wine will be thin, with little color and flavor.USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Sonoma CountyMendocino CountySonoma Coast * Sonoma Coast AVA (Wikipedia)
* Sonoma Coast AVA (Wine Institue) |
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