And I’ll be seeing you on Friday!
I’ll be seeing neither of you. Too bad we missed you by a few days, Bud. Would dig to meet you some day…next time I hope.
Looking forward to it, Todd. I’ll be the one wearing the Berserkers t-shirt. 
Agreed. Kelly said a number of good things about you!!
I overwhelm her with my handsome Todd French-like looks.
That is such an awesome experience, I really enjoyed the notes. Thanks for sharing it.
Let’s keep going, as I need to catch up to Brig, or he to me…? We’ll finish at some stage together…
Saturday (CIRQ)
I won’t cover all of the CIRQ story, as Brig covered that ground well earlier, along with his photos and video shoot earlier in the thread. I do want to say that it’s been several years since I have seen Michael Browne (MB), as we did a # of visits together in past years when he was up at Kosta-Browne. I met MB in 2003 or 2004, first when the wines were a tiny operation at Freeman Winery, then later when they moved to Deerfield Ranch winery, then later to the place off Hwy 116. It is at that time I stopped buying KB, as my palate shifted and I went exploring other things.
I remember many days back in 2007-2009, when visiting KB and either Shane or MB would climb through racks of KB barrels and we would do 40-50 and I would have to raise the white flag and tell MB I had to eject from the gauntlet. We did a few dinners here at my house over the years too, as he would come down with the wines and we’d get it cracking over a meal. Good times.
So, knowing we were going north to do this Blitz, I sent him a note and we caught up. We connected and set the visit, which as Brig notes in his narrative is still the early days of the new journey for CIRQ, post the final separation from KB.
As with Michael, there is a candidness mixed with a down-to-earth cool, and LOTS of energy that flows through passion. I love passion, I am attracted to people who authentically exude it–this too is MB and I have always dug this about him.
Between the 2017 barrels we did–about 15 I would guess–and the finished wines, we got a good look at the CIRQ future and I plan to stay with MB as he rides CIRQ through and starts to exert full control over all the decisions. Ultimately, it is great to see him running and calling his own shots, with his big vision to see stuff, turn it upside down and then do it his way. I love that, and I appreciate his friendship and tremendous success that he architected. A CIRQ order is ahead of me at some point, I know.
As for the barrels we tasted, they are in MB’s style–lush, with beautiful fruit and acids, and they exhibit the classic MB touch of texture. As he says, he wants the wines to ‘travel’ across the palate and these 2017 barrels did a lot of that, which we really enjoyed. Damn good, and while they are not in the vein of Rhys or Kutch, more like the lushness and colors of Rivers-Marie, they are damn good.
Bravo Michael. Keep doing what you do and do it well, as you always will.
JULY 2018 CIRQ VISIT - Cirq Winery In Windsor (7/28/2018)
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2016 Cirq Pinot Noir Bootlegger’s Hill - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
From shiner, with only a silver marker imprint on the outside to label the wine. Crunchy with raspberry and cherry, along with a nice plushness. Finishes with a light cedar, dark raspberry, spicy and lively acid. There is length and balance here. Excellent. -
2016 Cirq Pinot Noir TreeHouse - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Intense fragrance. Pure pomegranate, cranberry that both have an excellent depth and balance. This one is about pure red fruits, finishing with a seductive tone, along with a medium plus weight. Gorgeous. -
2012 Cirq Pinot Noir TreeHouse - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley
Plush and round. There is an evenness here, a linear quality that made me stop and pause. Lightly roasted red fruit of cherry and a spicy quality, with a tangy acidity in the finish. I found this wine also showing some aged quality, to mean that the primary fruit is moving away and the wine is settling into an older wine that is showing some cool development.
Posted from CellarTracker
Excellent notes, everyone!!! Thanks for sharing your trip experiences with the rest of us!
The fact that Mr Officer is playing around with Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir surprised me big-time!
I would have guessed that he’d be experimenting with a Rosé or Lodi Zin or a sparkling wine…
I’ve bugged Mike a couple of times to make a Rosé, a true white zin. Think retro. It’d sell. He said zin rose sucks. LOL
I’m sure he could spare some Mourvèdre/Grenache/Cinsault
I’m so far behind on notes… Here are pictures from our visit with Kelly at Switchback. She’s great. We geeked out over the Petite vines. Mike D loved it even more. That guy knows old vines.
Dude, if you would retire and give up working, you’d have more time for making the proper commitment to tasting notes and trip reports.
![[rofl.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/a/a7452fcd8e675af869f8da01174474a545b03944.gif "rofl"){kind=small}
That’s one of the reasons I retired when I did!!
Thanks guys for brightening my day with this great thread. Enjoyed the spectrum/variety of styles you guys highlighted. Will have to remember to look at this thread again next time I head up to that area.
The last stop was back in SF with Jamie Kutch. Jamie has been down to SoCal a number of times for events like Falltacular, Kutch wine dinner events, and even as a guest for dinner and wine. He invited the Blitz to his house, he must be crazy, to taste through some soon to be released Kutch and a barrel/shiner samples plus the lineup from Joanne, Model Farm. We were joined by associate Blitz member Alan R, Joanne (assistant winemaker) and Sean, and Jamie’s friends Chris and Lina.
We showed up and he said “shhh… the kid is sleeping” come up the back stairs through the garage. Okay, the garage has a vintage '73 #007 Lotus Esprit, a '76 lime gree turbo Porche, and a '77. Motor head alert.
We started with cocktail made from a 40 y/o bottle of campari Jamie had picked up. Back then they used crushed bugs to color it. You can see in one of the pictures the difference. That was a yummy drink. We ran through the line up chardonnay and pinot noir and the chardonnay and syrah from MF. Notes will follow soon.
Then Jamie dropped off a few bottles and said “anybody good at opening old bottles?” Nice! picture below. A '94/'78 Dehlinger and '78 Chalone. We had those with dinner and they were terrific. In what has become a tradition Jamie took the sabre to a magnum of champagne, 2008 Pierre Peters, but being the ever thoughtful host he asked Chris if he’d like to have the honors. He was shocked, not a wine geek, he had never heard or seen a sabre job so Jamie ran through the instructions and we all watched as Chris blasted the cork out Jamie’s front door to the cheers of all in attendance. Unfortunately, I thought I was videotaping it but come to find out I only took a picture and it was of the floor. There’s a reason I’m not a professional photographer.
Since Brig is running with the last piece, let me wind in my final comments relative to our remaining visit, which was Kutch.
Sunday KUTCH
I made it a point to visit Jamie, as last year when I started doing these annual trips again, I stopped by the winery and tasted through all the 2016s with he and Joanna Wells, who is both his assistant winemaker and also has her own project, Model Farm (which I have notes on as well below). However, they both live in the city of San Francisco and it made little sense to see them drive all the way to the winery in Sonoma to meet us when our group had to take a Sunday flight back home anyway to the OC. So, Jamie made the cool offer for us to end the trip with him, on Sunday at his home.
On Sunday morning, I packed up the Blitz Crew, we hit the Dodge Grand Caravan and we made our way down to Jamie’s pad to do the tasting. The fog had blown in and the wind was gusting so rather than do the backyard, we simply all corralled ourselves in his pad and did all the wines inside. Joined by his wife, Kristin, who I had yet to meet, and his son, who is a 3 year old dancing machine who models himself after the moves of Michael Jackson.
A Brig said, we did a selection of things. We did all the Chards, 2014 through the yet to be finished 2017 (which I did not taste). We did a couple of the 2016s, which shown below will be the wines in the upcoming Kutch release, and we did all of the 2017s from shiners, as those wines are final blends ready to be bottled in a few weeks. We also did the Model Farm wines, which to clarify are made by Joanna Wells, who is Jamie’s assistant winemaker, and her husband, Sean Castorani, who is the assistant winemaker at Rhys. They are both smart people, they know wine and they are developing their influence, voice and craft. We then closed with some champagne, which you saw as the sabered 2008 mag of Pierre Peters Chetillons. Nothing like doing that to close the day and fly home.
I really think the world of Jamie’s wines, and of him personally. He is warm and generous, yet he is also candid and direct and so I appreciate these qualities and I find them in his wines. The wines show a purity and honesty, yet they can be firm and present. Call that bullcrap if you like, but the wines do remind me of Jamie and how he rolls. They squarely sit in my cellar as some of the best wines I own, especially the beauty that is the Bohan and Falstaff plots–those wines are genius.
Enjoy the notes and thank you Jamie, Joanna and Sean, and the gang for a great Sunday afternoon.
JULY 2018 KUTCH VISIT - Jaime’s Pad in SFO (7/29/2018)
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2016 Kutch Chardonnay Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Pear, apple with a nice push of lemon chew, that evolves to more of a distinct lemon with air. Like with the bottle I tasted this past February during Falltacular, it brings a richness yet there is acidity here to balance the fruit with the citrus tones in the finish, along with some light mineral. Not as chiseled as the 2014, and more inclusive in the way it will appeal to more than just the geek. -
2016 Kutch Pinot Noir Signal Ridge Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino Ridge
Last tasted this a year ago from tank, just prior to it being bottled. I find the aromatics at this stage still shy, with a brisk cherry, raspberry, strawberry and a lightly jammy purity into the finish. The acidity is zippy, with the wine at this stage showing a good red-fruited spine. It’s interesting as a # of the Kutch wines we tasted with Jamie have this gentle purity of fruit that I really like, the jammy note as I call it. And it’s not a gooey or overdone sweetness but instead this experience of purity. Really like it. -
2016 Kutch Pinot Noir McDougall Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Last tasted a year ago just before bottling and at that time, it was already in my view drinking nicely. Roll forward to the bottle yesterday, some of the stems are lifting still in the wine’s aromatic, giving it a nice signature. Purple fruit, which is my way of saying mix blue/red/black. Dark plum, blueberry and the same sexy purity that has a little jammy presence in the finish, akin to the Signal Ridge. -
2014 Kutch Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
This wine continues to be such a rock star of a Chardonnay. That lightly smoky aromatic of reduction, with a pre fruited lemon and honey palate, then the long, flinty finish. The core is citrus, tangerine and just pure. Still one of the best CA Chards I have ever tasted and it’s aging along beautifully. -
2017 Kutch Pinot Noir Bohan Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Will be bottled in 2 weeks so this is the final blend. This wine can be nailed with one word…BITCHEN. Rose petal and crushed rock aromatics. A gentle but balanced palate of strawberry, raspberry of wonderful purity, then the same crushed rock in the finish. Ethereal stuff, and the reason why I drink pinot noir. This is the real deal, and I continue to love the gentle yet beautiful way Bohan gets made in Jamie’s hands. -
2017 Kutch Pinot Noir Graveyard Block Bohan Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
A new cuvee for Jamie, will be bottled in 2 weeks so this is the final blend. Without a label yet, I can’t show one but the way to think about this wine is to see it as a portion of the Bohan vineyard, situated near the other Kutch Bohan rows. Yet, near this Graveyard Block is an actual tombstone, so hence the name. Jamie also feels these rows show a different quality for Bohan, and of note, this block he destems, which is unlike the main Bohan that is 100% whole cluster. So how did I distinguish the two in terms of preference? I still like the main Bohan, as the stems give that wine a beautiful lift, whereas this distinct block has a more red fruited note without the other aromas I like so well. The palate here is more suave too, richer a more forward raspberry. The finish does show similar to the other Bohan, giving off the crushed rock note so the main difference for me is mainly the more overt nature of the fruit, which I don’t mind but the other Bohan for me is just more ethereal. -
2016 Kutch Chardonnay Trout Gulch Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
This cuvee is completely Trout Gulch, which coincidentally was the smaller component of Jamie’s outstanding 2014 SCM chardonnay that is so lights out good. This Trout Gulch though was made in a very small amount and was sold to Europe so I am not even sure there is much to buy, if at all. Yet, Jamie poured it and we gave it a whirl. Lime, mint, some lemon and good deep tones of citrus and light honey. I liked this but it’s not anywhere near the depth and brilliance of the 2014 SCM. -
2017 Kutch Pinot Noir Signal Ridge Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino Ridge
Will be bottled in 2 weeks and this is the final blend. Red apple, strawberry, with a juicy profile. The drinks pure, just as the other 2017s do for me, showing that lightly jammy quality in the finish. My notes on this say seductive, which is a little different than how I saw the deeper spine of the 2016 that we had earlier in the tasting. This is good, we’ll have to see how it rounds out once it gets under cork. -
2017 Kutch Pinot Noir Falstaff Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Like with all the 2017s we tried, this is the final blend, to be bottled in 2 weeks. This is the most intense of the 2017s, with structure that is evident. Red and blue fruited with a really beautiful concentration. So, if we join the structure with the depth of the fruit and its intensity, I find a flamboyance to this wine that was unlike the other 2017s, too. It has the purity, intensity and raw guts to be a great Falstaff. Loved this wine. -
2017 Kutch Pinot Noir McDougall Ranch - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
This was the final 2017 I tried, which was from final blend, to be bottled in 2 weeks. As Dougie can be, this is generous and dark raspberry fruited with depth and intensity. Delicious acidity and a ripe watermelon to go along with the raspberry fruit. Whereas 2017 Falstaff is intense with energy and structure, this is intense with the darkness and powerful kind of fruit that is often Dougie. Dug this one. -
2016 Model Farm Syrah - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast
Drank with the winemakers, who are Sean (assistant at Rhys) and Joanna (assistant at Kutch). They make it together, from a small vineyard in the Petaluma Gap area. They farm the entire small 2 acre plot themselves, organically take care of it and do everything in the vineyard from start to end. They then take the fruit, show it to neutral wood and 100% whole cluster, add nothing to it and bottle it. 12.75% ABV. Pure frigging syrah is what this is. Has the lift of the whole cluster so don’t think green or stemmy, but instead think purple flowers and lavender. Red and blue fruited with medium weight. Delicious wine and really pure and clean. An easy buy again this year when they get it released here soon. -
2016 Model Farm Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
I own some of this wine so it was good to retaste it again. There will be no MF Chard in 2017, as they simply could not find the time to add this to their plates of things to do. So, we may see a 2018 but for now, this is it for the next 18 months or so. Lemon oil, tangerine, lime, jasmine flower and pear. Delicious and medium weighted with a nice brushing of citrus finish. Sean works for Rhys and Joanna for Kutch, and so if you like white wines in the style of these wineries, then directionally you get a similar experience here. This is well made and easy to enjoy. -
2008 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
From mag, sabered off and then into glasses, courtesy of Jamie. Lemon, apple, bread dough/yeasty with great concentration. Tastes like pure chardonnay, with a saline and lime finish. Dee-lish.
Posted from CellarTracker
Oh, and some photos. The Campari, which was from the 1970s and beautiful to drink. Then my hand tattoos, courtesy of Jamie’s son and then of course, Chris sabering the Chetillons mag.
If you plan one of these tastings on Veterans Day weekend, I’d be happy to join you; as my wife will be away. 
Great notes. I tasted with Mike C. and Mai Madigan in his old place several years ago.
Dan, just come to socal and we’ll punish you. Lol
Great thread boys! Sorry to be so late to comment, glad I did the advance scouting
Brig, LOL—the Pinot and Cab from Carlisle…I was sworn to secrecy on that, it’s to celebrate Mike’s 20th year making wine.
Brian–awesome performance on the R-M Chard blind taste test—totally rock!
Have many similar pics of Rhys in my camera card 
I, too, like the way they’ve chosen to move with the Alesia label.
So happy I have still 4 or 5 of those 14 Kutch Chards. Such amazing wine. I’ll pop my notes in here for comparison from my visit with Jamie and Joanna. Hadn’t realized you’d never met Kristin, Frankie–glad you got that opportunity.
KUTCH WINES
I have made no bones about being close to Jamie for a long time–more than 12 years now. A big smile and bearhug started our day just right. His synergy with assistant and winemaker in her own right, Joanna, is amazing and we had a great morning together. 6 years from now? Jamie sees himself continuing with the stability he has built with his growers in the vineyards he pulls from. He wants to continue to capitalize on the international market, which has taken note of the wines—he told me that in the distribution sphere of sales, 8x more is going international now than U.S. for him. He also longs to have his own full winery, which he sees as achievable in that time. Jamie agrees that scores—at least low-to-mid 90s—matter less now and the only attention-getters are at the 97 or above range. He also plans to stick to the program–Pinot and Chard. He’s at about 3,000 cases at present.
2016 Kutch Sonoma Coast PN
This year, this is declassified fruit from McDougall, Falstaff and Bohan. Bouquet is very fresh, sweet raspberry and strawberry. To taste, there is that citrus edge to lovely, lovely fresh berry fruit. Maybe it’s this switch, but this is surely my favourite yet of the SC bottlings.
2016 Kutch Signal Ridge PN
This is Jamie’s fruit source from Mendocino. 12% alcohol, 777, 115 and 2A are the clones. Nose is active with spices and some sweet red pepper to the cherry fruit. 50% whole cluster, this is quite good, vervy with a lot of carry, if not quite to my personal like for taste profile. Very well made wine nevertheless, has a real potency.
2016 Kutch McDougall PN
Almost always my favourite of the lineup, 12%, 100% whole cluster for this and the Falstaff and all in neutral oak. 25 year vines now. Lurking baking spices in the bouquet, darker but still fresh fruit. To taste, sedate and deep but with power. What I like most about it is the feel of self-assuredness, of precision (again, not in the sense of “correct” but in the sense of focus) that this wine has. A “library” wine with whispers of all manner of berry fruit, 5 years plus will only make this more enjoyable.
2017 Kutch Falstaff PN
This will be bottled in a month. Puffs of nutmeg and, for me, bilberry galore here. Some cocoa too. In the mouth, this is also a vin de garde. Cranberry and raspberry, it has a tenacity and clinginess to the fruit. Good, but needs time to focus and integrate.
2016 Model Farm Petaluma Gap Syrah
Sean and Joanna were able to get to labeling late enough to get the new AVA included. Checks in at 12.7%. Meaty, with cedar and sandalwood sniffs. Joanna says they did a bit of wood fermenting this year. I find this very much indeed like the 14–super-grippy, clean-as-a-whistle fruit with length and acid. Like the 14, this minds me of a Cornas. Exceptional for the price and value.
2017 Kutch Bohan PN in neutral barrel
Free run juice. I am so fortunate that Jamie is willing to let me do a bit of barrel tasting. This bouquet is citrusy, already very fragrant. And goodness! usually the wild child, a finesse that I’ve never tasted in Bohan before. This is delicious already, with grainy tannins and expressive raspberry and strawberry fruit.
2017 Kutch Bohan Graveyard Block PN in neutral barrel
About 13% alcohol. The soil is very rocky for this block. It’s a 1-acre block planted in 1977. For the first time, Jamie is going to do a split release from Bohan, with this going under its separate label. on tasting this in barrel, I have to concur with and applaud that choice. A wholly different aromatic set of black fruit with bits of baking spices and some stone. Undeniable power here on the palate, with blue and black fruit for now, but promise of further layers to come. Having these in cellar side by side will be irresistible.
2017 Kutch McDougall PN in neutral barrel
Brooding for now. Dark but precise berry fruit. Mouthfilling, if a baby, with cedar box and raspberry. I do love taking the journey with a wine almost from its very beginning.
2016 Kutch Sonoma Coast Chard in neutral barrel
Jamie cautions, quite rightly, that the Chard will probably change quite significantly with further time in barrel, but I did want to taste. For now, a bit of flinty here, nutty too, and some apple nose. To taste, early of course, but already smooth and structured, on its beam. I look forward to the finished product.
2017 Model Farm 1st pick Syrah in neutral Remond barrel
About 12% alcohol. More cured meat thing here, blackberry in the main. As cool as it gets, a little gentler than some past tastes. Early days, of course.
2017 Model Farm 2nd pick Syrah in neutral barrel
Slightly more expressive and riper bouquet, with bits of red fruit. These have 9 months to go before bottling. Definitely more grip here with a nice perfumey quality to the palate. I like the idea of blending these two.
In between all this, we talked of some of the important life things. I treasure my time with Jamie and Joanna and thank them very much for making time for me.
One of these times we need to plan better to do all this together. Meantime, will see you lot at FallTac. Stay well till then.
Mike
This is one of my favorite threads of all time. I love and appreciate the commentary and the writing style. It also doesn’t hurt these are some of my favorite wines to drink.
Thank you gents! ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}