2009 Pinot Noir Kanzler

Kosta Browne is one of the great American success stories of the last decade. Longtime friends Dan Kosta and Michael Browne discover a shared passion for Pinot Noir while working together at a local restaurant. They start with a tiny amount of homemade Pinot Noir, grow gradually, acquire some financing along the way, work their tails off and one day the mailing list requires a five year wait for the vineyard designate wines. Of course I am simplifying, but Kosta Browne is the type of entrepreneurial success that can only happen in this country. Over the years the winemaking approach has developed a bit, and the wines are now quite a bit more finessed than they used to be. Toast levels have come down. Some lots are fermented in open top wood vats, an approach that seems promising based on the wines I tasted. A number of the wines were fermented with whole clusters, as noted below. The Kosta-Browne Pinots are notable for their exuberant fruit. The wines are incredibly attractive when young, which is when I prefer to drink them.

I asked Michael Browne how he thought his winemaking was evolving and he responded that "we're obviously more tuned in as far as the winemaking goes; that's a function of building experience. And we're also tuned into the vineyards more than ever, which is also a matter of familiarity, which takes time." As to the wine style here, Browne said that he's "not interested in turning aircraft carriers around; the goal is to maintain our style but to work toward more finesse and more clarity."