Interstate 5: Winos + Dan Kosta do 04. 05. 07. 08 Kosta Browne SVDs @ Craft

WINE TALK
1

“I should just get out of here and start driving south on Interstate 5.
But I need to stay near, in case you suddenly remember that I’m alive.”


I consider that I have more than just a casual amount of knowledge of British alternative music from the last couple of decades. After all, when two of one’s favorite bands are obscurities known Porcupine Tree and The Pineapple Thief, you have more than scratched the surface of alt bands. So why is it that the first time I had heard a song from The Wedding Present was earlier this year when I first listened to David Gedge’s role reversal song, “Interstate 5”? I guess that it is just further proof of hubris in the face of one’s own fallibility.

So what does all of this have to do with last night’s Xpensive Winos’ dinner with Dan Kosta? A whole wave of ideas flooded my head a few nights ago, while listening to “Interstate 5” a couple of nights ago with a surprisingly still good glass of Turley 2003 OV, but rather than rehash all of those thoughts, I will simply be glib and say that it is more than just several hundred miles of Interstate 5 that separates the often urban dystopia that is Los Angeles from the often bucolic bliss that is Sonoma County. And when I think of Sonoma County, I think of old vine zin (and some pretty good butt kicking RRV syrahs) and delicious pinot noir. For me, Kosta Browne falls squarely in the latter category.

This was the Winos’ fourth rendition of “Dinner with Dan (or Michael)” and this was the first one that, other than the starter chardonnays and the dessert wines, focused exclusively on Kosta Browne pinots. This was also the first encounter we’ve had with the KB crew since the Vintrust acquisition a few months ago (being a former M&A atty, I was not surprised that Dan was mum about the details of the deal—although my guess is that the TPG guys don’t have linger any longer on the KB waiting list—but he did indicate that there would be no price increase for at least the 2008 vintage).

Dan and I worked out the wine theme. Only Sonoma wines, from start to finish, were permitted, which eliminated a couple of KB SVDs. And other than the 2007s, all of the KBs would be SVDs. As far as vintages, I wanted to showcase a couple of vintages with a bit of age on them (2004, 2005), as well as the most recent release. And even though the 2008s were in the process of blending, he was able to secure a couple of the 08s for our pleasure.

Even though I was the titular host for last night, much of the early restaurant arrangements were handled by Stephen Gelber, who did his usual meticulous job working with Craft in Century City. A month ago, we had our Australian dinner at Craft and everything was top shelf. Last night was equally superb and extremely professional.

Onto the wines.

While we were gathering, we started with two Sonoma chardonnays, the Peay 2007 Sonoma Coast and the Kistler 2002 Durrell. I will set forth my biases upfront. Our brother Aaron Malo is a huge Kistler fan—it is his house wine. I have never been crazy about Kistler, in part because I have never been bowled over by them but likely more just to be cantankerous. We started with the Peay and I had already written the notes before the first taste—Peay slays its much more expensive competitor. Upon tasting it, it seemed that my notes would prove correct. What the Peay lacked in complexity, it made up with satisfying juicy flavors. The Kistler was a completely different animal—far more complex but at the same time less satisfying (we joked with Aaron: “Would you prefer that your spouse was more complex or more satisfying?”). However, I have to be honest; over the course of a half hour in the glass, the Kistler started opening up, like a shy flower gradually taking in a bath from the sun. In the end, it was both complex and satisfying.

The next flight started the KB-a-thon, with four 2004s (4 Barrels, Kanzler, Koplen, Cohn). I decided to throw in a 2002 Cohn (my next to last bottle from my first KB vintage), not really sure how this would perform and guaranteed to make Dan K nervous. These were served with bacon wrapped monkfish with chanterelles; I am not a great fan of cooked fin fish, but this was great. Especially when compared to the 2004s, the 2002 Cohn was lighter, less dense and ripe, with a smooth, almost planar, presentation of fruit. It was well integrated and well balanced, complex and drinking well. And the 2004s were also drinking very well, but they were the antithesis of the 2002. They were loud and proud, not ashamed of their density and upfront ripe dark fruit. However, unlike some rich pinots which seem to lack acid completely, these were not flabby and the ripeness was kept under control. Even though these all packed a punch, other than a bit of alcohol which I noticed on the nose of the Kanzler, there was no evidence of their elevated alcohol content. You may have noticed that I am talking about them as a group. That is because I had a hard time telling these wines apart. Oh sure, one may have had a bit more cola, another a bit more sassafras, but these were nuances that would be beyond a casual drinker, which I was last night. In the end, I probably would choose the 2004 Cohn out of the bunch, since there was something about it that seemed even more hedonistic, but all were drinking very well, assuming you like the style (for a dissenting opinion, see what Bennett Traub ultimately posts). I don’t see the 2004s evolving into anything more complex than the juicy deliciousness that they now possess and it is possible (although not certain) that they could fall off a cliff in 12 to 24 months, but last night, they were well within my wheelhouse.

With stuffed quail with chestnuts and squash (another winner) we served five 2005s (4 Barrels, Miron, Kanzler, Keefer, Koplen). While I found it tasty, the Keefer was the outlier here, with more of a focus cherry flavors. In general, perhaps as a result of the vintage or a conscious winemaking decision (or more likely both), the 2005s spoke more of acid and structure than the 2004s. Mind you, these are not some lean and mouth puckering wines that one can find in Burgundy, but I feel that what is viewed (perhaps unfairly) as more mainstream pinot flavors are more apparent in the 2005s. The 4 Barrels, the Kanzler and the Koplen were delicious (and fairly similar, although the 4 Barrels seems a bit oakier and the Koplen IIRC was a tad richer), but the Miron stole the show. Unfortunately, Miron was a one-off effort, with a sub-100 case production, so there is not a lot of it floating around. But it was an OMFG wine, with rich berry and dark stone fruit that continued to assault you (in a good, dominatrix kind of way), buttressed with great acid structure and a mineral complexity that ran down the middle of the wine. I think that it, as with all of the other 2005s, will be long lived, but it is so delicious now that if you’ve got one, pop it. Along with one of the 2007s, it was easily WOTN.

The first half of the 2007s (RRV, Sonoma Coast, Kanzler, Amber Ridge) were served with rack of pork with pistachios and pistachio butter (farkin delicious). As Aaron Malo remarked, “I feel that the forces of evil have conspired to keep me away from pig and pistachio dishes for 40 years. Where has that been for the first four decades of my life?” I too dig the pig, from head to trotter, and this was a particularly synergistic rendering of my favorite animal. I found these wines tight and in need of air, particularly the appellation wines. I wish that I could remember more about Kanzler and Amber Ridge, but at this point, I was still in a swoon over the extra Miron that I had poured for myself. Plus, I was busy getting every bit of porcine essence off my plate.

The final KB course was three 2007s (4 Barrels, Koplen, Keefer) and two 2008s (Amber Ridge, Kanzler), served with a great nicely rare and tender lambchop (even the fat on the chop was delicious) and braised lamb sirloin with grilled marinated peppers (which I have never heard of before and I am a bit of a chilehead). Both the Koplen and the Keefer were more open than the wines in the prior flight and have the potential to be great achievements, with rich fruit, medium density on the mouth and great structure for a long life—they were starting to develop flavors beyond a fruit attack. Don’t touch these for 18-24 months if you want to see them as they ultimately can be. As good as these two are, all of the talk quickly shifted to the 4 Barrels. This wine has it all and has the potential to be in a few years what the Miron currently is. It, like the other 2007s, is still a bit primary, but its greatness was readily apparent. I don’t want to give a bum’s rush to the 2008 samples. While I found the Kanzler a bit under-developed, the Amber Ridge was surprisingly good, maybe not with the level of complexity found in the 2007s, but hey it is after all a barrel sample.

At this point, Craft was going to bring out their typical after dinner platter of small Toll House cookies, brownies and a couple of other chocolate goodies, but Tobie, Craft’s events planner, seeing that everyone of us had pretty much licked all of our plates clean was concerned that we didn’t get enough food so indicated that the chef was going to provide us an additional dessert gratis in addition to the typical platter. Out came four unusual house made ice creams, apple crisp and beignets. With these delights, we served the 2006 Littorai Lemon’s Folly, a late harvest Sonoma gewurtz, and the 2005 Holdredge Gracie’s Cuvee Late Harvest Pinot Gris. I have had better bottles of the Holdredge, so perhaps this was an off-bottle, but the Littorai was like a lithe ballerina, dancing across one’s tastebuds with light citrusy sweetness and acidity.

All in all, we had a great time. Thanks Dan!

2

One part from your descriptive notes resonated with me. That being “You may have noticed that I am talking about them as a group. That is because I had a hard time telling these wines apart.” We did a similar tasting of all of the KB 2003s, 2004s and 2005s this summer and this was the general feeling among most of the 20 or so in attendance. Big, bold, well-made wines but lacking in any differentiation.

I will add that I opened a 2003 Cohn, my last, last night, and it falls right in between your description of the 2002 and 2004 you tasted. IMO opinion it is drinking very well and I would not hesitate to open more of them if I had them, sooner rather than later.

3

Walter,

Thanks for sharing notes from a seemingly wonderful evening . . .

A couple of questions:

Were both Dan and Michael at the dinner or just one or the other?

What were their reactions to the wines? Just looking for more insight on their part than anything else - likes and dislikes; noticing things not noticed before/etc . . .

Most importantly, how does one break into the Xpensive Wino Fraternity?!?!?!?!?

Cheers!

4

Larry - I think it involves goldfish, sheep, a diving mask/snorkel, blow up dolls, duct tape, absinthe and other assorted accoutrements. Of course just rumors since I haven’t experienced it first hand.

Walter - The Keefer is a very distinct vineyard to me. Perhaps my favorite RRV site. So I’'m not surprised it stood out. I also have a bottle of the Miron and after tasting it in barrel, I convinced Michael to make sure it was in my allocation. These 2 bottlings remain my favorite SVDs to date.

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Larry, it was only Dan. They can stand only so much of us (kind of like exposure to mercury) so they trade off every year. This was Dan’s turn in the barrel, so to speak. Dan was very happy with the 2002 Cohn, the wine about which he was most apprehensive. He was generally very happy with the way that the 2004s performed and probably mentioned a lot of other stuff that I cannot remember. As far as initiation into our sacred brotherhood, I am, of course, sworn to secrecy, but let me say that it involves a series of unspeakable acts–it is a gauntlet that few sane men would attempt to cross and the few that do rarely emerge with their wits intact.

6

Great notes!

I may start to drink my small stash of 04 SVs based on recent notes I have read…

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Nice notes, Walter, as is your wont. A light night by Wino standards. Did Bennett like any of the wines?

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We kept Bennett far away from Dan. My guess is that even Mikey (I mean Bennett) liked the Miron and the 07 4 Barrels but was not a fan of the 2004s.

9

Drinking an 07 Peay chard is infanticide. It’ll be smoking in about 3-4 years!

10

[rofl.gif] [rofl.gif] [rofl.gif]

I have been a bit lazy and not added anything…I will add some comments soon. However, the wines showed very well and I am sure even Bennett will have some positive things to say! [wink.gif] [stirthepothal.gif]


Cheers!
Marshall [cheers.gif]

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Larry,
Three year waitlist. But a $500 donation could help bump you up!

12

A great night. My thanks to all the winos, but especially Stephen and Walter for making it happen. These guys have been great supporters of KB and the frank and objective discussion was very gratifying. Marshall and Bennett left with very few cuts and bruises, as did I! [pillow-fight.gif] This is a great group of palates. I respect greatly the feedback and in most cases, I agreed with the sentiments of the group during our discussion. I look forward to it next year when we have yet another vintage behind us. Thanks again Winos! Cheers! [welldone.gif]

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Virtually no bruises at all!! grouphug
In actuality, I was very impressed with the wines and really enjoyed all the honest and spirited conversation throughout the evening. In all honesty, I have been a KB drinker for at least 5 vintages and consider them to be one of my favorite California pinots. They certainly have a distinct style and you can debate the style ad infinitum. They remain a bit controversial and in some cases polarizing but that just adds to the appeal. Although I enjoy aged Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Rhones; I also enjoy the exuberant fruit of well made California pinot noir… even one considered a bit over the top by some people. As I mentioned to Dan, I am not a member of the “either/or” school of wine drinkers…liking one style does not preclude liking different styles for different occasions.

As to the wines, the 2005 Miron was clearly my favorite of the evening. I wish I had more but it is a tiny, one time production. Overall, I found the 2004 wines to be very good but I liked the 2005’s better. The '04s seemed a bit similar, as if they were vintage driven while the '05s highlighted the characteristics of the specific vineyards. I will say that the Kanzler and Koplen seem to be my favorites each year. When we got to the '07s, I noticed a bit of a stylistic change as the wines appeared to be showing less alcohol and a bit more minerality. I would be in no particular hurry to drink the 2007’s.

One last point which we discussed was ageabilty of these wines. Since KB is such a young winery, we really do not know what will happen to these wines at age 10 or 15…Will they be great? Will they fall apart? Who knows? It is all speculation. In most cases, the wines are so delicious early (and there is nothing wrong with that), that people do not tend to hold them for extended periods. The 2004’s as Walter mentioned, seem to be optimal right now…5 years from vintage. Personally I believe the '07s just might be a good vintage to experiment with…put a few away and see what develops.

In conclusion, let me thank Walter and Stephen for putting this evening together and Dan for subjecting himself to our group during the holiday season. [welldone.gif] I look forward to more “spirited” evenings with the Winos in 2010 and beyond! [winner.gif]


Cheers!
Marshall [cheers.gif]

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why nothing from 2006?

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Paul, I wanted to try older vintages and felt that 2004 and 2005 would be (i) fairly available in our group (there are a couple of us who got on the KB list starting with the 2002 vintage, but most of the group first started buying with the 2004s or 2005s) and (ii) drinking very well. And Dan wanted to try the recent releases, thus the 2007s. We just no longer have the intestinal fortitude to drink more than 2 bottles per person so something had to give and that something was a flight of 2006s, which we had done at our last dinner. Further, I feel that the 2006s will need more time to come into their own. Maybe next year’s KB dinner.

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Walter, well done. Good to see Dan mix it up with you. We did the Michael version earlier in the year with he and Shane down and I do think the 2007s will be great wines, even better than they are now. Like G2, I also have one Miron left, which I will save for some occasion when it can be appreciated besides other than just me. On the 2005s, it’s probably time to revisit these again in the cellar. I opened an 05 RRV 2 weeks ago and I don’t see that wine aging much longer and I think these wines in the early vintages are best drunk young and youthful. With the 2007s, there may be indeed some age markers to watch and as I said, let the 2007s see where they go. Clearly IMO the best vintage for KB since they got the thing going.

Plz keep us in mind when you do the next Officer dinner.

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Hard to believe that it’s been four years since we began our annual tradition of hosting a dinner with Dan and Michael (alternating years), but I’m glad to see we’ve gotten somewhat wiser as we’ve gotten older, paring down the wines from 48 at the original Pinot-a-Palooza to a very manageable 22 this night. Dan is a passionate and enthusiastic guest host, and it’s always interesting to get his perspective in counterpoint to the winemaker.
My take on the wines:
The Peay chard did nothing for me and while the Durrell was not one of my favorite Kistlers, it did set a proper and high tones for the pinots to follow.
The '04 KB’s are in fine form right now, and I have no reason to believe they will get any better, so if you have them, I would recommend drinking up. I preferred the Kanzler in the flight. The '02 was a curio; I didn’t expect it to show anything at all, but it was quite pleasant.
The '05 flight was excellent, and worked much better with the food; the quail dish was superb. The Miron was the far superior wine in the flight, a wine of sterling complexity and rich fruit, and is now in harmonious balance. Easily the WOTN. The Kanzler is also excellent right now, and while I detected a slight VA in the Koplen at first, it blew off after a bit and the wine was very fine. The Keefer had a little of that medicinal cherry quality, but it was much better than bottles I’d opened previously.
The '07s are showing remarkable promise, with what seemed like an acid boost and more structure. In the first round of '07s, the Kanzler once again was the front-runner, showing more nuance and complexity than the others. I thought the pork dish was very good, and the pistachio element flavorful, but I didn’t care for the oranges and citrus sauce accompaniment. I never understand why chefs like to add fruits to meat dishes in wine tastings.
The next flight was also excellent and the wines show great promise. The '07 4-Barrel and the '08 Amber Ridge are going to be fantastic wines, and I think they have the potential for a fair amount of aging. I look forward to tasting the rest of the '08 KB portfolio. I loved the lamb course with these wines.
All in all, a stellar way to cap off another great year for the X-Pensive Winos. Kudos to Tobie and her crew at Craft for another well-done event. Special thanks to my co-pilot Walter for doing the heavy lifting on this one and for the well-written notes, as usual. And to Dan of course, for bringing the treats and for putting up with us, again.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to one and all.

18

Our pleasure Dan. Thank YOU!
Happy Holiday and a Healthy New Year to you and your family, and to Michael and his family.