A beautiful and elegant Pinot Noir nose of red cherries, raspberry, kirsch liqueur and ripe rhubarb, giving an overall exotic and herbal complexity. Whole bunch fermentation has built structure and tannic elegance with pale colours and balanced alcohol. A truly delicious Pinot that has excellent value for money. The vineyard is less than four miles from the coast, at an elevation of 300m above sea level, allowing these grapes cool nights needed to create fresh acidity. Ex-NASDAQ trader Jamie Kutch is without doubt a winemaker to watch.

The 2015 Pinot Noir McDougall Ranch has turned out even better than I expected. Today, the McDougall is quite closed in on itself, but that is probably a very good sign for its potential longevity. Blood orange, sweet red cherry, mint and rose petal notes lead into the textured, dense finish.