Kutch coming 1-28

Let’s hope there’ll be money left by then.

Jamie,
Is this your last Savoy?

Yes P. My last vintage with Savoy is this release. Not surprisingly for me it’s my best (and that’s not because it’s my most recent release). In the first 2 vintages I found that I couldn’t get what I wanted out of the site with my placement in the vineyard & the material I was working with. The diversity, exposure & clones are radically different throughout Savoy and there is a pecking order of clients. That said, in 2011 I threw a hell mary and put 80% wholecluster on the fruit I produced wine from and it really added complexity and depth to the wine. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the info Jamie since I was thinking of passing on the Savoy as it has been my least favorite of your wines, but sounds like I should grab a few of this last go round.

The good news is Savoy was replaced with another great vineyard in 2012 - Hirsch. I will leave it there for now as Hirsch hasn’t even finished ML yet.

Jamie, Looks like all of your vineyards will be on the Sonoma Coast. Any plans to go back to RRV by finding a good site in Green Valley?

“…good news”?? That qualifies as awesome news!!!

I hope you actually threw a “hail Mary.” As in Doug Flutie:)
A “Hell Mary” might bring some problems – just sayin’

Peter,

I have found the RRV to be too warm and the soils too deep and rather common (goldridge). The wines come out “typical” and sugars bump before phenolic s are there. Green Valley is better but my preference is still the high altitude ridges on the Sonoma Coast.

Good catch Ted. I looked twice when I wrote it and should have Google checked myself.

I couldn’t agree more.

Looking forward to trying some of your wines. Looks like I’ll need to empty the coin jar!

forgot I signed up for the list.
Time to ransack HRH’s purse

OTOH most people seem to love Dehlinger, even those that love Sonoma Coast stuff in general.

I have followed Jamie’s wines from almost the beginning. IMHO the wines have gotten better and better with each vintage now that Jamie seems to have found the style he wants. Very few producers are in the “click full allocation” button and proceed, but this is one of them.

I’ve made up my mind to buy Kutch and Carlisle for this season. Will also stick with two high flyer mailers. I want more space and money for retail wines and the budget is as always limited.

Jamie,
This sure does. I’m in.
Paul

Although Jamie’s comments might certainly ruffle some winemaker feathers, there sure seems to be a lot of bottled evidence to back up what he’s saying. I also wonder how significant the prevalence of Pommard clones in RRV (and yes, the Sonoma Coast) vineyards is. Is it purely coincidence that many of, in my opinion, the most unique, interesting, and ageworthy pinots (Mount Eden, Littorai, Swan, Rhys, and others) come from vineyards planted to selections of plant material rather than a handful of clones? In typing this I’m realizing that almost all of my favorite Cali pinots can be traced back to the original Martin Ray vineyard (now Mount Eden), so perhaps that’s where the secret lies.

Ugh…
Hope I have some cash left over after berserkerday…

Peter - sticking with Anthill?

Don’t think so for 2011.