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Bonaccorsi, Ojai, Sea Smoke, Loring, Kosta Browne named by Wine Spectator as the Magnificent 30 Pinot Noir Producers in CA!!! Wine Spectator.

Kosta Browne named #7 in WS 2006 Top 100 wines. Kosta Browne Winery

Pinot Noir
Russian River Valley 2004
California
1,020 cases made
Tasting Note
Dan Kosta and Michael Browne have joined the ranks of California 's most accomplished Pinot Noir producers since arriving on the scene 10 years ago. Kosta Browne is red-hot, with six of its seven 2004 Sonoma Pinot Noirs garnering classic scores. The Russian River bottling is a blend from four vineyards: Cohn, Koplen, Amber Ridge and Bly.

Wine Spectator Online

Dan Kosta and Michael Browne raise the bar for Pinot Noir in California

Posted: Tuesday, May 30, 2006

By James Laube

For the second vintage straight, Kosta Browne has run the table. All six of its 2004 Sonoma Pinot Noirs earned outstanding marks. Five were simply extraordinary, with ratings at 95 points or higher. One, the Kanzler Vineyard bottling, earned a 98-point rating, putting it in the kind of rarified air of the ultra-elite.

Perhaps I'm more impressed by Dan Kosta's and Michael Browne's achievements than I am surprised. All six of their 2003 Pinots were sumptuous, too, with the Kanzler again the star.

They are able to create, through careful vineyard choices and precision farming (or farming management) and winemaking, deliciously rich and compelling wines. At times, the strength of each vineyard's personality shines through, as it does with Kanzler, Cohn, Koplen and Amber Ridge. Often just as compelling are the broader appellation wines, from both Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast.

I'm also starting to believe, thanks to them and many others (Loring, Marcassin, Patz & Hall) that we have entered a new era for California Pinot Noir.

These won't be easy wines to find. But they are well worth the hunt.

The good news is team Kosta Browne is intent on growing. Next year, the 2005 vintage will yield some 5,000 cases, they estimated, and they hope to grow to 10,000. It's an ambitious goal, but a great one for those who cherish great Pinot Noir.

In 2005, they added two Santa Lucia Highlands vineyards, Garys' and Rosella's. Best to get on their mailing list. Pronto.

Wine
KOSTA BROWNE Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Kanzler Vineyard 2004
An amazing wine, rich, opulent, riveting style, with layers of black cherry, blackberry, cola, sassafras and hints of mineral, pebble and sage. Deeply concentrated, long, rich and persistent, with flavors that coat the palate. Firmly tannic, too, giving it great structure. Best from 2007 through 2014. 430 cases made. —J.L.

KOSTA BROWNE Pinot Noir Russian River Valley Cohn Vineyard 2004
An extraordinary Pinot. Broad, rich and opulent, with a firm tannic backbone supporting ripe black cherry, blackberry, mineral, sage, herb and tea notes that border on syrupy. Tightens up on the finish, with ripe tannins giving it a rich, complex aftertaste. Drink now through 2010. 330 cases made. —J.L.

KOSTA BROWNE Pinot Noir Russian River Valley 2004
Tremendous Pinot. Ripe, intense and opulent, with tiers of fresh berry flavors. Lots of blackberry, black cherry, wild berry and raspberry fruit with a rich, loamy earthiness woven in. Finishes with a long, persistent, fruity aftertaste and ripe, complex tannins. Then a fine burst of blueberry. Drink now through 2011. 1,020 cases made. —J.L.

KOSTA BROWNE Pinot Noir Russian River Valley Koplen Vineyard 2004
Ripe and fleshy, intense and concentrated, with red cherry and black cherry candy flavors that are pure and delicious. On the long finish, hints of nutmeg join a medley of berry fruit and spicy nuance, giving you lots of subtle nuances to discover. Drink now through 2011. 210 cases made. —J.L.

KOSTA BROWNE Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 2004
Explosive fruit takes off, with a rich, elegant, deftly balanced delivery of ripe cherry, plum, loamy earth and mushroom notes that are intense and concentrated yet supple and harmonious. Finishes with a burst of flavor yet maintains its elegance. Drink now through 2011. 1,010 cases made. —J.L.

KOSTA BROWNE Pinot Noir Russian River Valley Amber Ridge Vineyard 2004
Firm, intense and concentrated, with a strong tea-laced tannic backbone and tightly wound black cherry, wild berry and raspberry fruit. Hints of mineral, pebble, herb and sage join in on the finish. Drink now through 2011. 212 cases made. —J.L.

Wine Spectator Online

2005 California Cabernet Barrel Tasting

A preview of the vintage finds elegant and balanced wines, but there are some weak links

Posted: Friday, May 19, 2006

If 2005 is to end up being a sensational year for Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, as so many producers insist it will, the wines will have to make a stronger impression than they did in my preliminary blind tasting in Napa this week.

Most of the 50-plus barrel samples were indeed tasty enough for me to give them projected rankings in the outstanding range, or 90 to 94 points on the Wine Spectator 100-point scale. Another handful of wines—Gemstone, Snowden and Tor—were close in quality, bordering on 95-plus scores, and could move into the classic range when released. (A half a dozen samples appeared to be spoiled, and so were not reviewed.)

Overall, my tasting can be viewed as good news for California Cabernet drinkers. As a group, the wines show bright, ripe, vivid Cabernet fruit flavors, excellent balance and a sense of elegance and grace. The tannins are ripe, balanced and integrated.

But as a whole, the 2005 Cabernets are notably different than wines made in years such as 2004, 2002 and 2001. The 2005s do not show as much depth, plushness, concentration or range of flavor as past vintages have displayed at a similar stage of development. This may be both a function of the vintage and the result of a deliberate attempt by winemakers to ease off on superripe wine and soaring alcohol levels.

So for me, for now, 2005 appears to be an outstanding vintage that will have plenty of time to prove itself. But I'm not convinced at this time that it is a watershed year or that it will be appreciably better than 2002 or 2004.

My tasting notes, which follow, include a score range indicating how I expect the wines, based on the barrel samples I tried, to rate as finished products. However, most of these wines won't reach the market for another two years, and that will be a much better time to evaluate them.

GEMSTONE Cabernet Sauvignon Yountville 2005

92-94

Superrich and stylish, with tiers of black cherry, plum and boysenberry, giving this wine an almost syrupy texture. Plush and concentrated, the flavors coat the palate. —J.L.

SNOWDEN Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2005

92-94

Superrich, plush and extracted, this is an amazingly complex and concentrated young wine, with tiers of red currant, black cherry, blackberry, anise, mineral and sage. Finishes with a long, rich and supple aftertaste that makes it close to classic. —J.L.

REALM Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Dr. Crane Vineyard 2005	92-94
Dark-hued, plush and concentrated, this wine exhibits saturated black cherry, wild berry, plum and cassis flavors that coat that palate, finishing with a long, intense and penetrating aftertaste. —J.L.

Wine Business Monthly - February 2006
The Hottest Small Brands of 2005

Thursday May 18 7:00pm
Hitching Post-Sideways dinner at Opus Restaurant
2575 W. Main St. Littleton, CO 80120 (map)
Phone: 303.703.6787

$79 excludes tax and gratuity

Course

When you consider buying the latest crop of Santa Barbara County wines, think Sea Smoke. This Santa Rita Hills producer of Pinot Noir shone consistently in my most recent tastings, along with Foxen, Babcock and Badge.

For lovers of California Pinot Noir, this is the time of year to give serious thought to buying Santa Barbara futures. The annual sale of this Central Coast region's wines, starting this week, is an excellent buying opportunity, especially for securing some of the best and hardest-to-find bottlings.

Every year, Santa Barbara retailer Wine Cask screens hundreds of local wines and narrows them down to offer as futures. The full catalog is listed at www.winecask.com, and you can either order the wines online or purchase tickets to Wine Cask's public tasting on April 22. (The March 11 sale has sold out.)

This week, I wrapped up two days of blind tastings at Wine Spectator's Napa office, where I tried 57 wines, most of them barrel samples from the 2004 and 2005 vintages. Because the wines aren't finished yet, I have given them projected ratings—with scores in ranges—based on how they showed now and my expectations of how they will rank when bottled.

If you had to remember just one Pinot Noir name for this year's sale, Sea Smoke would be it. Sea Smoke winery's three bottlings—Botella, Southing and Ten—were similarly delicious, demonstrating once again the strength of this impeccably groomed vineyard, whether its grapes are in the hands of Foxen or of Sea Smoke winemaker Kris Curran.

What impressed me most about the Sea Smoke bottlings is that they showed more individual character than they have in past years. The Botella bottling (92–94 points, ), is one of the greatest buys from California today. While both the Southing (89–91,) and Ten (92–94, ) bottlings also offer depth and complexity, the Botella should be the wine you stockpile.

A one-time opportunity to meet six of the premiere US Pinot Noir producers:

§ Brian Loring from the Loring Wine Company
§ Dan Kosta from Kosta Browne winery
§ David O’Reilly from Owen Roe, Sineann, and of course, O’Reilly’s
§ Peter Cargasacchi from Point Concepcion, both a grower and winemaker
§ Jim Prosser from JK Carriere
§ Andrew Vingiello from AP Vin

There will be three Pinot Posse events:

March 14th – A Winemakers Dinner featuring the entire Posse @ Table 6 Restaurant
6th & Corona
Denver , CO
$100 plus tax and tip
call Table 6 @ 303-831-8800 for reservations. Limited to 50 people.

March 15th – 1st Annual Pinot Summit @ Larkspur Restaurant
458 Vail Valley Dr .
Vail , CO 81632
9.30 am - 11.00 Seminar
11.15 Lunch
The Cost which includes multiple wines and a 3 course lunch is $85.00- inclusive.
For reservations please call Larkspur directly @ 970-479-8050. Event limited to 50 people.

March 16th – A Winemakers Dinner featuring the Posse, sponsored by Vino
345 Anglers Drive
Steamboat Springs , CO
Please contact VINO for more information and reservations @ (970) 875-1183

Mark Estrin, a partner of Red Car, did pass away after a long battle with brain cancer. As he did everything in life, he left us with gentleness and grace. Mark and I started Red Car together back in 2000. His sense of joy and humanity was always an inspiration to me. I will miss him deeply.

Pax to the Max
New Sonoma vintner off to a stellar start with Syrah

James Laube, WINESPECTATOR

Posted: Tuesday, May 03, 2005

With only a trio of vintages in bottle, Pax Mahle has come close to running the table with outstanding wines. Fifteen of the 16 wines I've reviewed have earned outstanding marks.

Serious Syrah lovers should be on heightened alert for his wines, for they are consistently excellent, distinctive and reasonably priced, given the high level of quality.

A self-described wine geek who once worked in the retail trade, Mahle, 34, has embarked on an ambitious campaign to capture the essence of hillside-grown, low-yield Syrah vineyards, mostly from small parcels in Sonoma County.

Many of these vineyards were either ignored, overcropped or used for blends with other wines rather than farmed for low yields and concentrated wines, Mahle says.

Mahle, who makes his wine in Sonoma, says he is inspired by many wines, and has a fondness for Pinot Noir, Burgundy and Rhône renditions, notably those of the Northern Rhône. He counts among his favorites Chave, Chapoutier and Thierry Allemand.

"My philosophy is [based] on the fact that no one was using these small vineyards in Sonoma and Russian River valleys and [weren't] focusing on them and making them purely and honestly," he says. He followed the progress of Alban, in Edna Valley, and Ojai, which bottles single-vineyard Syrahs from Santa Barbara, as models. He also likes what cool-climate grapegrowing gives him. A cool climate "enables us to limit crop and control grape ripeness," he says.

While he likes the power in his wines, he also aims for elements of finesse and grace. He is especially proud of his work with Walker Vineyard in Russian River Valley. It's a sort or reclamation project. Wines from this site were often made from low-sugar, underripe grapes, he says. By thinning and letting the grapes get riper without overdoing it, the vineyard produces very rich and concentrated Syrah

With so many different bottlings--including seven vineyard-designated Syrahs--you need to pay close attention to the fine print on the labels.

For a study of a winemaker's hand with different vineyards, I'd recommend buying a few bottles and keeping the identities hidden. Throw in a couple of Rhône ringers to see how impressive these wines are and how they compare with their French counterparts.

My notes from the recent releases follow.

WINE OF THE WEEK, 2003 Copain Viognier Broken Leg Vineyard

S. Irene Virbila, LA TIMES

Posted: April 27, 2005

Here's a wonderful Viognier from Copain Wines in Anderson Valley, Calif. The grapes come from Broken Leg Vineyard, which takes its name from the broken leg sustained by grape grower Steve Williams when he was planting vines on the steeply canted hillside.

The 2003 has loads of varietal character. Close your eyes and you'd think you were drinking a Condrieu from the northern Rhône with its beguiling scent of flowers and ripe peaches and rich, mouth-filling texture.

Drink it as an aperitif, or with summery salads and light main courses. I like it with an omelet or a frittata. If you happen to have a black truffle on hand, all the better. Roughly chop it and throw it in with the eggs, and soft scramble them. Eat with toast and gulps of Viognier.

*Quick swirl
Region: Anderson Valley
Style: Ripe and lush
Food it goes with: With summery salads and light main courses

Jenne Lee Bonaccorsi and Brian Loring coming to Colorado for two special events…

Please join Jenne Lee Bonaccorsi of Bonaccorsi Wine Company and Brian Loring of Loring Wines as they release their latest wines in Colorado. We will be holding two winemaker dinners over the weekend of March 12^th.

Restaurant Six89
Sunday March 13^th at Restaurant Six89 in Carbondale, CO to benefit National Public Radio. For information and reservations please contact Six89 directly at (970) 963-6890.

Adega Restaurant and Wine Bar
Monday March 14^th at Adega in Denver, CO to benefit the Michael Bonaccorsi Scholarship fund at the University of California – Davis. For information and reservations please contact Adega at (303) 534-2222

WINE OF THE WEEK
2003 Sharecropper's Oregon Pinot Noir

David O'Reilly, partner and winemaker in Oregon's respected Owen Roe Winery, didn't have the money to buy the Pinot Noir grapes outright, so he proposed a novel solution, at least for the 21st century: sharecropping. He would make the wine and he and the grower would share the profits.

Hence the label Sharecropper's Oregon Pinot Noir. The 2003 vintage is a real beauty, with a lush perfume, voluptuous body and silky texture. What's not to like at this price? It has a wonderful cool-weather Pinot character, more Burgundian than typical New World exercises in the grape.

Did I mention that it's also a terrific food wine? Lay in some bottles for the holidays.

— S. Irene Virbila, November 3, 2004

2003 Copain Roussanne James Berry Vineyard WINE OF THE WEEK - LA Times
Copain Overview

S. Irene Virbila
Viognier is the one white Rhône varietal that has had a big success in California. But here's a terrific Rhône-style white that's 100% Roussanne, the grape that gives Hermitage blanc its haunting aroma. From grapes grown on the steep slopes of Paso Robles' James Berry vineyard, the 2003 Copain Roussanne has a scent of honeysuckle and white peaches. It's beautifully balanced, with a lush texture and a taste of almonds and green olives, with a drop of lemon at the end.

Drink it as an aperitif, or with smoked salmon or trout. It has the brawn to stand up to grilled prawns and other seafood, or a nice piece of halibut or sturgeon.
— S. Irene Virbila

Quick swirl
Region: Paso Robles
Style: Aromatic and lush
Food it goes with: Smoked fish, grilled shrimp and seafood, cheese

Chris Cherry, owner and winemaker of Villa Creek Cellars is, quoting Robert Parker, Jr., "One of California's young turks who is accomplishing brilliant things in Paso Robles." With their 2002 vintage Chris employed our vineyard driven, minimal intervention approach to wine making which shows through in these fruit forward, well balanced wines. As in the past, they have sought growers who are conscientious in their farming practices and who respect the relationship between the fruit and the final product.. We were thrilled to procure fruit from the the Smith family's James Berry Vineyard, one of the most stellar vineyards on the central coast, along with grapes from the neighboring Denner and Rozet Vineyards.

WINE OF THE WEEK - 2002 Radio-Coteau Timbervine Russian River Valley Syrah|
Radio-Coteau Overview

What a beautiful mouthful! This wonderfully complex Syrah from winegrower Eric Sussman and Radio-Coteau channels the northern Rhône in every nuance. Deep ruby and wildly aromatic, it packs masses of vivid fruit — mostly blackberries and blueberries. The grapes come from a steep vineyard on the slopes of Black Mountain in the Russian River Valley. The cool climate there produces a wine with a long lingering finish of spice and smoke. Radio-Coteau's lush 2002 Pinot Noir from the Hellenthal vineyard on the Sonoma Coast is a killer, too. Look for both of these wines on local restaurant wine lists, or order directly from the winery. Radio-Coteau it should be explained, is a colloquial expression from France's Rhône Valley that means "broadcasting from the hills," or word of mouth. And that's just how Sussman's wine has found its audience. —S. Irene Virbila, LA Times

Quick swirl
Region: Sonoma
Style: Full-bodied and complex
Food it goes with: Grilled and braised meats, wild game and duck or pigeon

Wells Guthrie's Copain Wine Cellars may be in the heart of Sonoma, but Guthrie's heart is often in France. "My motivation for the whole thing was falling in love with the wines of the Rhône," he explains. The "whole thing" in this case included leaving his job at a wine magazine and moving to the northern Rhône, where he worked at Chapoutier for two harvests and tagged along with another famed producer, Jean-Louis Chave. He founded Copain in 1999, after a short stint working for star consultant Helen Turley. As Guthrie says, "I'm trying to keep one foot here and one in the Rhône, to make wines that hem in the ripe fruit we get here and have the elegance of great European wines." A case in point is his Côte-Rôtie-esque Eaglepoint Ranch Syrah (this year's best Syrah over $20)—which, like the Pinot Noirs, Viogniers, Roussanne and Zinfandel he makes, is a small-lot, single-vineyard wine. Copain is small, producing 3,200 cases, but starting it was pricey—so pricey that Guthrie and financial partner Kevin McQuown decided to lease a winery and rent it out to other winemakers. As a result, the winery is like an incubator for fellow artisan producers, including DuMOL and Pisoni. Meanwhile, Guthrie continues his search for the perfect vineyard sources. "The French have had hundreds of years to get it just right," he says admiringly. "We are infants in the winemaking world."

Copain is open to the public by appointment @ 707-541-7474

Mike Bonaccorsi, a relative newcomer, has a pair of brilliant Pinots, and a great Pinot value in his Red Monkey bottling. Bonaccorsi, buys his grapes, and his Santa Rita Hills bottling, something to behold for its dense, rich layers of flavor. Both wines are among the best Pinots I’ve tasted from California.—J.L.

Highly rated Saxum 2001 Syrah, Syrah Paso Robles James Berry Vineyard Bone Rock 2001, is now available.

An impressive display of rich, zesty wild berry, raspberry jam and blackberry flavors, framed by firm acidity and integrated tannins and finishing with a long, concentrated aftertaste that keeps revealing new flavor facets. Ample tannins for short-term cellaring. Drink now through 2012.—J.L.

Posted: Tuesday, December 16, 2003

Each year, Wine Spectator names the 100 most exciting wines we tasted over the previous 12 months. This is a short list of top wines, great values and high points in the year of wine. The most noteworthy of them all merit a spot in the highest tier, the Top 10.

The 2003 list, published in the Dec. 31, 2003 - Jan. 15, 2004 issue of Wine Spectator, reflects the proliferation of high quality wines from around the world.

As in recent years, the Top 10 is dominated by reds, with the exception of one white, from Germany's exceptional 2001 vintage.

In 2003, Wine Spectator editors tasted more than 12,500 wines, more than ever before. Of these, more than 2,500 rated utstanding, scoring 90 points or higher on our 100-point scale. These were the initial candidates for our Top 100 list. Our final selections were determined on four criteria: quality (as represented by score); value (as reflected by release price); availability (measured by case production or the number of cases imported); and an X-factor we call excitement.