Kutch '12 vs '13 Pinot Blind Tasting - Something for Everybody

FMIII was the master of ceremony for this evenings gathering. As usual, all the wines are blind but hints are shared thoughout the evening as to the theme. I guessed Copain Pinot but that was wrong, hell I thought the last flight was syrah. Excellent work orchestrating the theme, comparing the Kutch '12 versus the '13 for a number of vineyards and then throw in a few special treats. Food was excellent, as always, but stay away from the ginger. It was HOT HOT HOT and took your palate away for a couple of minutes.

As a side note; this event puts me at exactly 2,000 tasting notes. When I first started writing notes it was a goal to hit the 1,000 mark. Well, now the double is in the rear view mirror. I've found great pleasure in the entire process.

The obligatory before and after shots.

• 2013 Kutch Pinot Noir Sans Soufre Sonoma Coast

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Double blind. Guess carignan. I liked Steve's guess of gamey better, a new world Beaujolais.
  
  Rumors are there is very limit supplies of this and it'll probably pass through the restaurant channels. Bottled without sulfur, interesting. Color is light magenta or even violet. Nose is stone and light strawberry. Palate has floral hints mid palate. Medium plus acid and no oak anywhere. Taste young with light tannins and a tart rhubarb finish. Cool wine and I think it's from the falstaff vineyard which is now my favorite.

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• 2013 Kutch Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Dark maroon color. Smells like raspberry compote, is there such a thing? Should be if not. Flavors are reserved, light, red berries. Finish has more of a dark berry cut with chalk and medium acid. Rounded out tannins.

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• 2013 Kutch Pinot Noir Bohan Vineyard

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Blind. Lightly colored for a pinot but brilliant clarity, like a gem stone. This is loaded with stem, firm tannins and youthful exuberance. She's wound up right now but great potential. With all that, still holding a medium plus finish right now. This will be awesome.

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• 2012 Kutch Pinot Noir Falstaff Vineyard

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Blind. Much darker than the next vintage. Big powerful nose, the most unique of all the pinots for the evening. Loved the moss or fur aroma too, fun just to swirl around and sniff. Great balance of red fruit and acid. Long finish with distinct cherry and raspberry. I'm a sucker for this wine and it's obvious the vineyard is special.

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• 2013 Kutch Pinot Noir Falstaff Vineyard

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Blind and paired against the '12. Great wines, no amazing wines.
  
  Lighter in color than previous vintage. Palate and nose showed a sweet red fruit and molasses note. Very gentle mouthfeel. Medium plus finish. This was popular.

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• 2013 Kutch Pinot Noir McDougall Ranch

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Blind and paired with the previous vintage. Damn these are dark for pinot. So much so that I thought I was drinking syrah until someone said "you know these are all pinots, right?" Yeah, yeah, sure, of course. Oops.
  
  Nose starts out a little muted but the dark fruit flavors are present with good balance on the palate. Another long finishing wine with a red berry flare.

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• 2012 Kutch Pinot Noir McDougall Ranch

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  Blind and paired with the '13. I think I enjoyed the '12 better but it's a close call as others preferred '13. As mentioned before, I thought these were syrah but enough of that nonsense. Really dark, deeply saturated color. Good nose. Mineral, musk, and red and black fruit make for a great combination. Extremely long finish, longest of the evening.

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• 2012 Riverain Syrah Cardiac Hill Bennett Valley

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Bennett Valley

  Pop n pour. Crazy dark colored core with a rim of magenta where the wine meets the glass. I swirled this around in the glass to aerate and noticed the legs were very prominent, not that they were unusually large but they stuck around for a long time as we were working our way through a huge Kutch lineup. I wrote this note over an hour with the same pour and the wine really moves around or evolves over time which I guess is expected with such a young wine. The aromas are blue fruit and an unmistakable black olive which everyone at the table identified. Palate is driven by some red and blue fruit initially but after time the blue really runs the show. The oak shows as charcoal or graphite, very linear across the palate. FMIII and I debated an iron note, his take, but I was leaning towards a rusty nail or iodine and all are fair takes. Might be even more acidity at this stage than the '11 which was also superb. Lots of complexity here. The finish lengthen over the hour, quite impressive, but the youth is exposed with prickly tannins and a dry note. This is approachable at this point but I'd open the night before or in the morning for the next year.
  
  I bought some...

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