TN: 2006 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

  • 2006 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (3/29/2019)
    Decanted for an hour and then followed for two hours. This is really, really good. Light Barolo violet nose. Smooth, just starting to take on some of the tertiary flavors of age. I guessed it was a 2005 Hospices Premier Cru. Red fruit. Very long finish. No Calif pinot funk. Great balance with an almost velvety mouth feel. Some spice and a bit of acidity. Will probably last another decade. (93 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

Big fan of KB in 03,04,05…but 06 showed a LOT of alc heat for me. Stopped buying after that vintage.

My experience was exactly the same - except that I started with 04 and stopped after 06. I thought there was too much disjointed alcohol and too much coca cola. I do not know what happened to those two flavors, but after a decade, they seem to have integrated very well. I thin it’s another example of the American immediate gratification problem. We expect “our” wine to be great right off the bottling line but we have no problem with maxims like “never touch a Bordeaux that’s less than 20 years old.”

I only started buying with the 2009 vintage so I can’t comment on anything older, but I’ve had some really great results from 6-year old KB. Lots of spice and complex/layered fruit. I’m still buying the appellation wines. Cheers!

I think the 2006’s, more than any vintage of our wines, needed time. It was certainly not the best vintage, but time and patience did reveal some cool stuff, and I think you nailed the profile.

I too recently opened up a couple of these 2006 wines - a Russian River Valley and a Sonoma Coast. They were both drinking well, with a nod to the SC over the RRV by most at the table. Both were definitely ‘ripe’ but spoke beautifully of the rich fruit and spice quality I have always associated with KB. Glad I have a few more if each to try down the line.

Cheers

Been buying since 2013 and out of appelation wines by far my favorite is the St. Lucia Highlands. It just seems to have more fruit that meshes well with the cola and spice and keeps that really soft mouthfeel. I haven’t tried the single vineyard but I have some Gaps and Keefer at home, that was all I was offered in my first year this year getting single vineyards.

That’s a good thing since I’m an aspiring to be dog groomer and it’s not recommended .

Tell us how you really feel [snort.gif]

To each their own, my friend.

Cheers!

+1

Wow that’s quite a first post. Especially after the wine maker took time to weigh in. Welcome [snort.gif]

Shane left around 2012.

Fyi… Dan wasn’t the winemaker.

Which wine would you wash your dog in exactly?

Just guessing.

Shane was probably assisting Michael at that time. If not, then Shane was not too far off from joining the picture.

Dan, good to see you posting and still around. Hope life is treating you well.

A wonderful first post.

If you happen to own any well-stored bottles that you want to pour down the drain, I would be happy to pay shipping costs to get them to New York.

Shane was just brought in that year, IIRC. And as Dan pointed out, 2006 was not a great vintage to begin with what with hot weather streaks and botrytis setting in. Add to that Kosta-Browne moving temporarily to the Deerfield cave, which itself was undergoing construction back then, and it seems that 2006 KB did turn out great DESPITE all the obstacles.

This comment really identifies a crucial point. Dan says, “needed” time. There is an important difference between “needed time” and “improves with time.” There are a lot of wines that taste good right out of the bottle but after 10 years in the bottle are even better. I can’t tolerate current vintage Bordeaux. It feels like someone is drilling a hole in my head with a jack hammer. I do not know what this wine tasted like in 2008 or so, as I did not write a contemporaneous note. I did like the 2006 Koplen. But patience is usually a virtue, especially with red wine. Premox in white Burgundy, of course, is another story entirely.

In the old days of KB we cherished the Kanzler Vineyard P/N. Alex Kanzler did his final internship under Shane and is now the winemaker at Kanzler Vineyards, which makes its own wines now. He is doing an outstanding job and if you liked the KB wines, you should seek out and try the Kanzler wines.