2006 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Russian River Valley- USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (1/1/2010)
the heat and alcohol overwhelmed the fruit initially - it took hours to balance out and for the RRV characteristics to shine through with dark cherry, cola, spice and baking powder. not at the standard set by the 2004. (89 pts.)
I don’t know how this wine is going to fall out over time. I wonder whether the alcohol will dissipate while the fruit and spice remain bright.
The 2004 RRV and Sonoma are some of my favorite wines but the 2006s are not at the same level.
I find that the KBs fare better when served on the cooler side and are given time to settle down.
You’ll be happy to know that the 2007 is outstanding. 2006 in Pinot Noir just blew hardcore, across the board. There’s no two ways about it. (I have hope only for a couple of producers that make notoriously ageworthy wines, which I will bury for 5+ years and hope sense gets knocked into them.)
The Windy Oaks and the Copain underperformed for me. Rhys is one I did buy, they can make good, ageable wine even through a nuclear winter. Scherrer I didn’t buy this vintage but they would also fall into that category.
2006 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Russian River Valley- USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (10/13/2010)
Mouthwatering aromas of black raspberries, framboise, cola and a hint of vanillin oak. Sweet on the palate with rich notes of ripe cherries. Gravelly and course on the midpalate and finish. Enjoyable for about the first hour or two but starts to decline and become disjointed by the third. (87 pts.)
I like 06 pinot in general as long as it’s from good producers. I tend toward the understated end of the continuum in my preferences…06 has been a wonderful counter point to the more traditional cali pinots and I continue to buy them…often at great discount.
I do admit that most of my friends disagree with me…
Oh, and I’ve enjoyed this KB wine the couple of times I’ve had it. Drink it up!
Are you throwing all 2006 CA pinot regardless of appellation into the same bucket? I’ve had some nice wines from a variety of producers in the RRV, Anderson Valley and Sonoma Coast off the top of my head.
The Sonoma trip I took in whatever year everyone was pouring their 2006s (2007? 2008?) pretty much formed that opinion for me, because I liked virtually none of them (bitter, angular, and green). Don’t recall drinking any Anderson Valley 2006s, I’m not a huge fan of that appellation in general anyways (although I have little experience with some of the hot names that have come up very recently from that area, we’ll see). The couple I had from Central California regions were also not so good. Anyways, I really like 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009 PN so far, so 2006 was a fluke, thankfully.