TN: 2006 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

[Mike_Maguire]

@Tom Lee

@Mike Maguire

I too got sucked into the KB frenzy, I was lucky that their inflated shipping costs and arrogance made them an easy pass.

Arrogance? Really? Dan Kosta and Michael Browne are first class all the way IMO.

Tom

Tom,
Never met the principals involved, was very putoff with their cost of shipping 6 bottles 800 miles for $50 when I have never paid more than $35 to ship a case from Cal.I emailed them that I was not happy about being gouged on shipping.Neither Dan or Michael responded,only a generic response of we are sorry to lose your buisness.Call me skeptical, but that is anything but first class.I am glad you have had better results,I on the other hand have moved on.

[Anthony_Lombardi]

@Mike Maguire

@Tom Lee

@Mike Maguire

I too got sucked into the KB frenzy, I was lucky that their inflated shipping costs and arrogance made them an easy pass.

Arrogance? Really? Dan Kosta and Michael Browne are first class all the way IMO.

Tom

Tom,
Never met the principals involved, was very putoff with their cost of shipping 6 bottles 800 miles for $50 when I have never paid more than $35 to ship a case from Cal.I emailed them that I was not happy about being gouged on shipping.Neither Dan or Michael responded,only a generic response of we are sorry to lose your buisness.Call me skeptical, but that is anything but first class.I am glad you have had better results,I on the other hand have moved on.

From the outside it sounds like they have a shipping program through a third party vendor, or they use express shipping. It also sounds like they know they can’t do much to change it, so they allowed you to move on and moved someone from their waitlist who might not care about shipping.

I don’t think it makes them any more or less classy, they just sound like businesspeople to me.

I don’t buy their wine, so I have no apology for how they make their decisions, but do see that it is not possible to please everyone.

[G_D_y_e_r]

@Anthony Lombardi

@Mike Maguire

@Tom Lee

Arrogance? Really? Dan Kosta and Michael Browne are first class all the way IMO.

Tom

Tom,
Never met the principals involved, was very putoff with their cost of shipping 6 bottles 800 miles for $50 when I have never paid more than $35 to ship a case from Cal.I emailed them that I was not happy about being gouged on shipping.Neither Dan or Michael responded,only a generic response of we are sorry to lose your buisness.Call me skeptical, but that is anything but first class.I am glad you have had better results,I on the other hand have moved on.

From the outside it sounds like they have a shipping program through a third party vendor, or they use express shipping. It also sounds like they know they can’t do much to change it, so they allowed you to move on and moved someone from their waitlist who might not care about shipping.

I don’t think it makes them any more or less classy, they just sound like businesspeople to me.

I don’t buy their wine, so I have no apology for how they make their decisions, but do see that it is not possible to please everyone.

It is arrogant as a business to assume that if you can’t make right with one customer, there will always be others in the pipeline.

$50 on 6 bottles? Come on, that’s a joke. They may not be making any money on the transaction if as you say they use a 3rd party shipper. But you have to question how it costs that much, especially when it often appears 3rd party shippers just mail everything in bulk with little logistical (weather) consideration.

Even if they want to continue on that route, it is far smarter to say a bottle is $60 + $3 shipping than $55 + $8 shipping. The customer who will pay $55 for a Power Pinot is less likely to object to a 10% increase in bottle than shipping 200% higher than the norm. Or maybe they just need to subsidize shipping outright. Regardless, they should at least make shipping appear competitive, even if their actual costs are higher. If you go to buy wine at a brick and mortar shop, they don’t itemize the costs associated with the various links in the distribution chain–mailing lists ought to have the same mindset, IMO.

[J_Singleton]

A little bit of a thread drift but $50 for 6 bottles is bad. To ruffle some feathers, I just ordered Carlisle and it was $51.60 for 8 bottles ground to VA. I shit myself when I saw that, but oh well.

[Tom_Lee]

@G. D y e r

@Anthony Lombardi

@Mike Maguire

Tom,
Never met the principals involved, was very putoff with their cost of shipping 6 bottles 800 miles for $50 when I have never paid more than $35 to ship a case from Cal.I emailed them that I was not happy about being gouged on shipping.Neither Dan or Michael responded,only a generic response of we are sorry to lose your buisness.Call me skeptical, but that is anything but first class.I am glad you have had better results,I on the other hand have moved on.

From the outside it sounds like they have a shipping program through a third party vendor, or they use express shipping. It also sounds like they know they can’t do much to change it, so they allowed you to move on and moved someone from their waitlist who might not care about shipping.

I don’t think it makes them any more or less classy, they just sound like businesspeople to me.

I don’t buy their wine, so I have no apology for how they make their decisions, but do see that it is not possible to please everyone.

It is arrogant as a business to assume that if you can’t make right with one customer, there will always be others in the pipeline.

Don’t imply that this was KB’s intent just because a couple people in the thread suggested this.

Tom

[Russ_Williams]

@K. R. Baker

You’ll also notice how alcohol levels have come down since the early days of KB. The fruit bomb era in pinot is over.

i wish the was the case, but a recent bottle of 2008 kosta browne keefer pinot would say otherwise. overripe and over boozed.

The fruit bomb era in pinot is over??? Really…since when???

Kevin - I didn’t know you were still buying KB. What up with that??

[gene_keenan]

@Tom Lee

@Mike Maguire

I too got sucked into the KB frenzy, I was lucky that their inflated shipping costs and arrogance made them an easy pass.

Arrogance? Really? Dan Kosta and Michael Browne are first class all the way IMO.

Tom

Have to agree with that 100%. Nothing but first class all the way.

[K_R_Baker]

Oh i didn’t buy it. You should know better than that.

Regarding their customer service, they always treated me very well.

@Russ Williams

@K. R. Baker

You’ll also notice how alcohol levels have come down since the early days of KB. The fruit bomb era in pinot is over.

i wish the was the case, but a recent bottle of 2008 kosta browne keefer pinot would say otherwise. overripe and over boozed.

The fruit bomb era in pinot is over??? Really…since when???

Kevin - I didn’t know you were still buying KB. What up with that??

[Glenn_L_e_v_i_n_e]

@loren.grossman

Glenn,

It is silly to suggest this is a style that applies only to the 2006s. The 07s are very similar in style. Perhaps the vintage may be better, but the wines are stylistically not very different. Same can be said for the 2005s. Btw, if you want to buy my 07s (and 06 svds) at cost, just PM me. Same applies to 07/08 Rivers Marie and Sojourn. And Aubert (chards too). Let me know.

Going back to my two posts above I don’t see myself making commentary upon style but I’ll stand my thoughts that the 2005 KB Pinot Noirs can, and have, aged gracefully. I had a Keefer this past summer that any reasonable drinker would admit evolved with bottle age. I’ve not had any 2007 KB wine yet.

Please PM with any aged Aubert or R-M Chard you might still want to part with, there are some R-M PN I’d be interested in as well.

[Paul_L_i_n]

• 2006 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (2/1/2011)
  Black cherries, maraschino cherries, and cola nut on the nose. Bright and lively palate of black raspberries and SweeTarts candies but suffers from a medicinal edge and some heat on the finish. The wet 2006 vintage seems to have been KB’s Achilles’ heel, and I have my doubts about further aging. Probably best to drink up while the fruit is still there. Same score as two previous bottles. (86 pts.)

[gene_keenan]

I had a 06 rrv. I opened it and forgot about it until three days later which point it was really singing.

[J_Singleton]

@gene keenan

I had a 06 rrv. I opened it and forgot about it until three days later which point it was really singing.

Yeah… my RRV was singing too, but kinda like this. Just fast forward to the 35 second mark where it’s not choppy. You’d hate to ruin this gem.