Santa Cruz Mountains Mindego Ridge Pinot Noir

100% Pinot Noir. A new wine in this range, the 2019 Pinot Noir Mindego Ridge emerges from a newer site in the Santa Cruz Mountains that has proven to be first-rate in just a few vintages. Jamie Kutch goes for a more restrained style relative to his peers here. The 2019 is taut and wiry, with tons of mineral, soil and earth inflections that build over time. Time in the glass brings out terrific fruit richness and greater depth than is evident at the outset. The Mindego Ridge is a new wine to the Kutch range in 2019, from a vineyard planted in 2009 at the high end of the fog line in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It’s a farm of real excitement within the region, and Kutch’s expression is noted for restraint among the few peers with access to the fruit. Punchdowns are by hands or feet, or both, and the after fermentation the wine is transferred to French oak barrels by gravity, where it stays without racking for around 16 months. ABV 12.5%