2015 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
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Tasting notes
Kutch's 2015 Chardonnay (Sonoma Coast) is a very pretty wine that straddles the line between the more reductive style of the 2014 and lusher expression found in the 2016. Lemon peel, white flowers, chalk, mint and white pepper give the 2015 brightness, aromatic lift and tension. Insistent saline notes punctuate the driving finish. Most of the fruit is from Bohan, although about 10% of the grapes came from Trout Gulch, in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
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Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Aged in French oak (25% new). This was a contentious wine for the JR.com team. Julia, Richard and Tam loved it. Brad and I found it just too austere for its own good. I'm all for refreshing wines but not if the sacrifice is fruit. The nose is certainly cool and fresh but it tastes to me underripe, possibly fuelled by the determination to be low alcohol. I felt the wine needed to relax a bit. But if you're looking for a California Chardonnay more in the spectrum of Chablis, head for this one. May I be proved wrong! (At least I'm consistent – see this tasting note from earlier this year.) (JR)
NB that alcohol level! From the Bohan dry-farmed vineyard. 25% new oak barrels. Very lively and fresh on the nose with lime aromas. Lots of acidity – so much that it's almost painful to taste at the moment. Amazingly, I may even prefer the English Chapel Down, Kit's Coty Chardonnay 2014 tasted immediately beforehand. Just a bit too tart for my taste. (JR)
The 2015 Chardonnay (Sonoma Coast) is rich, textured and impeccably beautiful. Apricot pit, peach, chamomile and wild flowers are some of the signatures in this strikingly beautiful expressive Chardonnay from Jamie Kutch. The purity of the fruit is striking, even in this slightly unsettled state just prior to bottling. The 2015 is a bit less reductive in style than the 2014, and also more inline stylistically with the Pinots than the 2014 was.