Founders Dan Kosta and Michael Browne started with humble beginnings working together in a local restaurant. Later, on a more serious note, they teamed with Chris Costello to create a business plan and scrape together 19 investors and were off to the races. They were late to bottle the 2003 vintage, resulting in longer ripening of the fruit, more aging in barrel and microfiltration. What evolved was a wine of elegant intensity, which the critics loved. Demand soared and the waiting list grew to 3 years. In 2011, their Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir was named #1 Wine of the Year, by Wine Spectator.

In recent years, there have been a series of owners with the latest in 2018 when the Duckhorn Group purchased the winery. The wine appears to be evolving from its early, iconic hedonistic style to a more graceful profile. Exclusively Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, they have expanded beyond Russian River to Sonoma Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands, Santa Rita Hills, and Anderson Valley.

The 2019 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is from a selection of ocean influenced vineyards. Sites in the south are along the Petaluma Wind Gap and in the north by true coastal areas. The result is a wine that is dark and dense with meaty aromas and notes of blueberries, spice, and forest floor. The palate is full and forward, mirroring the aromas. Notes of oak peek through in a long and layered finish.

By Michael Yang