Community Tasting Note
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spicy1 wrote: 87 points
June 13, 2019 - Had my first bottle of Kutch in January and I was underwhelmed. This bottle wasn't quite as good. Seemed flat. Some citrus and acid but not even close to a $45 bottle. Most of the reviews are somewhere between good and great. What gives?
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2 Comments
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snipes commented:
6/15/19, 7:35 AM - A couple comments in regard to your question about what gives. Perhaps personal preferences are playing a role. You seem to have two different experiences, one underwhelming and the second not even underwhelming. Have the bottles been stored correctly since release?
Finally, an 87 in my book would equal a good bottle of wine, which is in line with your "good and great" comment. What's an 87 point bottle in your scoring system? Hopefully you don't have any more. I've been a fan of Jamie's Chards since he started releasing them, but some years I prefer more than others. If you are a Kutch fan in general perhaps try another vintage in the future. If you aren't well now you know they don't align to your preferences. Nothing wrong with that. -
spicy1 commented:
6/15/19, 8:52 AM - Snipes--thanks for the comment. For sure rating is totally subjective--whether it is wine, restaurants or movies. Wine has been stored at 60 degrees in a wine cooler since I received them from Kutch in December but shipping cross country can always be a risk. Have four Kutch Pinots and one more Chard so that will give me a clue on the possibility of shipping damage. To me 87 is a mediocre wine in my rating system (and at the low end of what I will buy)--even though CT calls it "very good" but more important is that a $45 wine getting an 87 is a terrible value or QPR. There are plenty of $12 wines with 87 ratings. But really I am just comparing the Kutch Chard with the ratings on CT--some as high as 95 and most in the 91-93 range. Personal taste could be part of that I suppose. There are Chards that are high in butter and oak, such as Rombauer that get good ratings that I find undrinkable but I understand that difference. The CT Kutch reviews make it sound like a wine I would like--and that is part of the reason I bought them in the first place--I read the reviews after seeing the good Kutch write ups by Isaac Baker (Terrorist and CT). I will admit that I think there is a lot of "grade inflation" in wine ratings over the last 10 years. Think Suckling. I also wonder if a lot of raters, who buy expensive wines, have a hard time giving the wine a mediocre rating--it requires that we admit we made a mistake buying the wine, so I always wonder how the ratings would compare if the wines were tasted blind.