Kutch Falstaff Vineyard
Pinot Noir
Sonoma County
2016

The producer

Kutch, a Sonoma-based winery, specializes in producing remarkably well-made Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from California's cooler regions. Founded by the enigmatic Jamie Kutch, an ex-Wall Street trader, the winery's inception was sparked by a transformative dinner party where a bottle of Kosta Browne’s Pinot Noir ignited Jamie's passion for wine. This newfound interest led him to San Francisco, where he balanced his day job with weekend vineyard visits, absorbing the intricacies of fine winemaking. After six months, Jamie left his trading career to fully dedicate himself to his new project, Kutch, producing exceptional wines under his own name.

The wine

Kutch, a Sonoma-based winery founded by former Wall Street trader Jamie Kutch, excels in producing exceptional Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from California's cooler regions. Jamie's passion for winemaking was ignited by a bottle of Kosta Browne’s Pinot Noir, leading him to San Francisco to immerse himself in the wine trade. Balancing his day job with weekend vineyard visits, he quickly transitioned to full-time winemaking within six months. Kutch wines are celebrated for their meticulous craftsmanship and ability to capture the essence of Sonoma's terroir, making them a standout choice for enthusiasts of fine Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.