Kosta Browne California Pinot Noir Wine Tasting - Friday, January 10, 2025 - 7:30 PM and all the Kosta Browne wines in the store on SALE!!
Be careful to trust a person who does not like wine.
Karl Marx
I will have to agree with Marx on this subject and I will add this caveat for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Lovers- Do not trust California oenophiles that do not like the wines of Kosta Browne Winery.
We just received a bunch of older vintage wines from Kosta Browne winery and with this recent acquisition we may have the largest collection of elite California Pinot Noir on planet Earth! We have over 80 different wines in stock from Kosta Brown winery at the moment! So, if you can’t make the tasting, I have included all of the wines in stock from this legendary California winery on this offering on SALE!
The fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $275 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.
Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Wine Tasting
Friday, January 10, 2025
7:30 PM
2013 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
2013 Kosta Browne Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir
2014 Kosta Browne Gary's Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands
2014 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
2015 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
2017 Kosta Browne Bootlegger's Hill Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
2018 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
2018 Kosta Browne Treehouse Vineyard Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
2019 Kosta Browne Gary's Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands
2019 Kosta Browne Kanzler Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Menu
French Bistro Salad: Bibb Lettuce, Walnuts, Tarragon, Chives with Hardboiled Egg and Shallot Vinaigrette
Chinese Style Crispy Duck Pancakes
Beef Bourguignon
Apple and Cinnamon Creme Caramel Gateaux
The fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $275 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.
A bit about Kosta Brown Winery:
The story of Kosta-Browne begins with two friends, Dan Kosta and Michael Browne. The year was 1997 and the buddies both were working at John Ash & Co., a popular restaurant in Santa Rosa, California. Dan was the general manager; Michael was the sommelier. But their real passion was something bigger, bolder, and more brazen than anything either ever had done: They wanted to create Pinot Noir. The catch: Neither gentleman had experience making wine. What ensued was a tale of perseverance, dedication, and hard work. That, and of course, a little bit of pinot noir.
Once Dan and Michael agreed to make wine together, they realized they needed money to bring the dream to life. So they started saving. Dan proposed saving $10 apiece every night on those nights when the duo worked together. Looking back, he says, “The amount was something that wasn’t going to kill us but something that was going to push us to keep going.” As Dan and Michael socked away their hard-earned cash, they stashed the money in an envelope that they kept in Dan’s desk drawer. Over the course of a few months (working anywhere from three to five nights a week), they amassed about $1,000, still a few hundred bucks short of their goal. Thankfully, a chef at the restaurant kicked in the difference and Dan and Michael were on their way. The next step: Purchasing equipment and grapes.
With $1,400 in the bank, Dan and Michael managed to buy a half-ton of pinot noir grapes from Everett Ridge, in the Russian River appellation. The next challenge: Actually making the wine. Neither man had problems using other people’s equipment for most of the winemaking, but Michael insisted on purchasing a used barrel and his own hand-cranked de-stemmer/crusher. Finding the barrel was easy; finding the other tool proved to be a bigger challenge. Finally, with harvest approaching, they bought the device from a friend. All told, Dan and Michael estimate they spent about $400 of their cash on equipment and about $1,000 on grapes. Once the wine was in the barrel, they made enough labels for 24 cases. Those early labels read KOSTA BROWNE. They looked eerily like the ones we use today.
Dan and Michael poured most of that first barrel for VIP customers at the restaurant. When the barrel was almost empty, the duo decided it was time to raise some more money. This time they didn’t pool tips; instead, in 1999, Dan and Michael secured some angel investments from friends and family and made 3,400 cases of sauvignon blanc from Lake County. As Michael explains, this move made sense because sauvignon blanc grapes were cheaper than pinot noir, the wine didn’t need barrels to age, and he and Dan could turn around the product quickly. “It was a quick strike,” he says. It also was a decent hit; the wine sold well enough to get the brand moving, almost exclusively through distribution.
The following year—2000, to be exact—Michael set out to follow his dream and make more pinot noir. Because Kosta Browne was so young, because it wasn’t well-known yet, Michael experienced a certain degree of difficulty getting good grapes. After weeks of networking, Michael convinced John Ferrington, the former assistant winemaker at Williams Selyem, to connect him with the owners at Cohn Vineyard, a source for one of Williams Selyem’s single-vineyard designate wines. Always the charmer, Michael convinced the Cohns to sell him grapes. The good news: Finally, our winemaker could make more pinot. The bad news (at least for a startup winery running low on cash): That pinot needed time to age.
Waiting for wine to age can get dull, and in early 2001, Michael decided he’d pass the time by writing a formal business plan. He studied business books. He read through plans friends gave him. Finally, over the course of a weekend, he put together a plan of his own. He printed it out at the Kinko’s on 4th Street in downtown Santa Rosa. Dan took the finished plan to his father, Tom, to ask for advice. Eventually, Dan and Michael ended up in a meeting with local entrepreneurs, Rick Markoff, Jim Costello and his son, Chris. After spending time with the guys, they were all intrigued. Then they tasted the 2000 Cohn. They were hooked, and agreed to form a partnership.
Chris’s first act on behalf of the fledgling partnership was to work with his father and Rick to rewrite Michael’s business plan. With the right plan in hand, the challenge was three-fold: To line up investors, to make more pinot noir, and to figure out how to sell it. Michael and Dan were optimistic this next phase would take months; the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, slowed the industry to a halt, and the next chapter took three years. There’s no way to sugar-coat it—this time was a slog. Michael’s broken-down Volkswagen Jetta became the company car, and he drove it all over the San Francisco Bay Area to drum up support. Jim leveraged his network hard to entice investment. After three years of meetings, rewrites and a restructuring, the team had raised just short of $1 million from 19 investors.
The leaders of the new partnership, and Jim in particular, recruited nearly every one of this crew personally, by sharing the vision, enthusiasm, determination, and dedication to quality exuding from both Dan and Michael. The group became known as the “Founder Investors.” Without them, Kosta Browne likely wouldn’t have made it through this difficult time. Bankruptcy certainly was an option—Michael and Dan mentioned it frequently but refused to give up. Chris remembers he felt the same way. “I thought of backing out numerous times, but I never did,” he says. “Michael’s enthusiasm and determination and Dan’s likability and charisma kept me involved.” Michael channeled a different kind of inspiration—in one particularly disheartening stretch, he pictured himself in a rhinoceros costume, barreling his way through the realities that were holding him back. In the end, the team was committed to making great wine. Their perseverance was about to pay off.
From the very beginning, Michael’s goal with his pinot noir was to get at least one 90-point score. With this in mind, in 2005 he made a decision that would change the history of Kosta Browne forever. He was late to bottle the 2003 vintage that year, so he implemented a micro-filtering technique that eliminated the possibility of bottle fermentation, removed doubts, and preserved the integrity of the wine. These simple differences in protocol—longer hang-time for the fruit, more aging in the barrel, micro-filtering—resulted in an elegant intensity upon which critics seized in reviews for that vintage. Wine Spectator gave the 2003s two 95s, as well as three other scores of 90 or higher. They were unprecedented scores for a winery as small as Kosta Browne. And the scores changed everything. Michael admits he was “terrified” when he heard the news, and wondered: “How the hell am I going to keep this up?!” Chris remembers him being white as a ghost when he arrived at the winery that morning, and screaming with glee when he heard the news.
From there, the name of the game at Kosta Browne was growth. With growing numbers of collectors and connoisseurs becoming interested in Kosta Browne, demand skyrocketed, and our brand set off on the path toward becoming the fan favorite it is today. Vintages sold out. The list to be on our list grew. Michael and Dan found themselves in the difficult-but-not-shabby position of telling friends and customers that they’d have to wait for the opportunity to purchase wine. It all added to the mystique. We were able to move into our own dedicated winery facility, still nothing fancy but a place that was just for us. We had the tools to continue to make great wine and keep our fans happy. Almost overnight, Kosta Browne became a cult sensation. It was an overnight success that took eight years to happen. The rest, as they say, is history.
In 2011 they were named Wine Spectator’s #1 Wine of the Year with their 2009 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. It was an honor that could only fuel their steadfast dedication and focus on quality. They remained committed to embracing innovation, pushing boundaries and always welcomed unconventional approaches in the cellar to make irresistible Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines of elegant intensity.
These varieties reflect their growing conditions and winemaking approaches like no other and thus the obsession with capturing the individual expression of the state’s finest growing regions—the rugged and diverse Sonoma Coast, the foggy Russian River Valley, the chilly Santa Lucia Highlands, the coastal proximity of the Sta. Rita Hills and the wild, untamed Anderson Valley.
Through the artful blending of their vineyard sites and their individual blocks and rows, they strive to create the purest expression of each appellation’s unique personality. Even though they sold out in 2018 to the group that owns Duckhorn winery but the goal has not changed, they are still focused on making the best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the top vineyard sites in California.
All the Kosta Brown wines in the store on SALE!
2015 Kosta Browne One Sixteen Chardonnay Russian River Valley
Price: $120.00 Sale Price: $95.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2016 Kosta Browne Observations El Diablo Chardonnay Russian River Valley
Price: $155.00 Sale Price: $125.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2016 Kosta Browne Observations Mount Carmel Chardonnay Sta Rita Hills
Price: $145.00 Sale Price: $115.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2016 Kosta Browne Cerise Vineyard Chardonnay Anderson Valley
Price: $150.00 Sale Price: $120.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2020 Kosta Browne One Sixteen Chardonnay Russian River
Price: $111.00 Your Price: $97.68 Quantity in Stock: 2
2012 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
Price: $150.00 Sale Price: $120.00 Quantity in Stock: 2
2012 Kosta Browne Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
Price: $140.00 Sale Price: $115.00 Quantity in Stock: 2
2012 Kosta Browne Gap's Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Price: $175.00 Sale Price: $145.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2012 Kosta Browne Kanzler Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Price: $185.00 Sale Price: $155.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2012 Kosta Browne 'Koplen Vineyard' Pinot Noir Russian River
Price: $175.00 Sale Price: $145.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2012 Kosta Browne Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir Green Valley California
Price: $175.00 Sale Price: $145.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2012 Kosta Browne Giusti Ranch Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
Price: $165.00 Sale Price: $135.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2012 Kosta Browne Gary's Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands
Price: $170.00 Sale Price: $140.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2012 Kosta Browne Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir
Price: $125.00 Sale Price: $105.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2013 Kosta Browne One Sixteen Chardonnay Russian River
Price: $115.00 Sale Price: $96.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2013 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Price: $150.00 Sale Price: $120.00 Quantity in Stock: 2
2013 Kosta Browne Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir
Price: $125.00 Sale Price: $105.00 Quantity in Stock: 2
2013 Kosta Browne Gap's Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Price: $185.00 Sale Price: $155.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2013 Kosta Browne Giusti Ranch Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
Price: $165.00 Sale Price: $135.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2013 Kosta Browne Gary's Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands
Price: $175.00 Sale Price: $145.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2013 Kosta Browne 'Koplen Vineyard' Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
Price: $175.00 Sale Price: $145.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2013 Kosta Browne Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir Green Valley Russian River
Price: $175.00 Sale Price: $145.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2013 Kosta Browne Kanzler Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Price: $185.00 Sale Price: $155.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2014 Kosta Browne Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir Green Valley
Price: $175.00 Sale Price: $145.00 Quantity in Stock: 2
2014 Kosta Browne Gap's Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Price: $175.00 Sale Price: $145.00 Quantity in Stock: 2
2014 Kosta Browne Kanzler Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Price: $185.00 Sale Price: $155.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2014 Kosta Browne Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir Russian River MAGNUM
Price: $325.00 Sale Price: $264.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2014 Kosta Browne 'Koplen Vineyard' Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
Price: $175.00 Sale Price: $145.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2014 Kosta Browne Gary's Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands
Price: $175.00 Sale Price: $145.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2014 Kosta Browne Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir
Price: $125.00 Sale Price: $105.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2014 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Price: $140.00 Sale Price: $120.00 Quantity in Stock: 4
2015 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Price: $150.00 Sale Price: $125.00 Quantity in Stock: 3
2015 Kosta Browne Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir
Price: $125.00 Sale Price: $105.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2015 Kosta Browne Gap's Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Price: $175.00 Sale Price: $145.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2015 Kosta Browne Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir Green Valley Russian River
Price: $175.00 Sale Price: $145.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2015 Kosta Browne 'Koplen Vineyard' Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
Price: $175.00 Sale Price: $145.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2015 Kosta Browne Gary's Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands
Price: $170.00 Sale Price: $140.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2015 Kosta Browne Giusti Ranch Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
Price: $165.00 Sale Price: $135.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2015 Kosta Browne Kanzler Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Price: $185.00 Sale Price: $155.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2016 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
Price: $150.00 Sale Price: $120.00 Quantity in Stock: 2
2016 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Russian River
Price: $135.00 Sale Price: $115.00 Quantity in Stock: 2
2016 Kosta Browne Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir Russian River
Price: $164.00 Sale Price: $134.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2016 Kosta Browne Gap's Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Price: $149.00 Sale Price: $119.0 Quantity in Stock: 1
2016 Kosta Browne Cerise Vineyard Pinot Noir Anderson Valley
Price: $190.00 Sale Price: $160.00 Quantity in Stock: 3
2016 Kosta Browne Kanzler Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Price: $185.00 Sale Price: $155.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2016 Kosta Browne Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir Russian River MAGNUM
Price: $325.00 Sale Price: $264.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2016 Kosta Browne 'Rosella's Vineyard' Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands
Price: $165.00 Sale Price: $135.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2016 Kosta Browne Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir Green Valley California
Price: $175.00 Sale Price: $145.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2016 Kosta Browne Observations Mount Carmel Pinot Noir Sta Rita Hills
Price: $185.00 Sale Price: $155.00 Quantity in Stock: 2
2016 Kosta Browne Gary's Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands
Price: $175.00 Sale Price: $145.00 Quantity in Stock: 2
2016 Kosta Browne 'Koplen Vineyard' Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
Price: $175.00 Sale Price: $145.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2016 Kosta Browne Giusti Ranch Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
Price: $165.00 Sale Price: $135.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2016 Kosta Browne Bootlegger's Hill Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
Price: $230.00 Sale Price: $190.00 Quantity in Stock: 2
2016 Kosta Browne Gary's Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands MAGNUM
Price: $255.00 Sale Price: $224.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2016 Kosta Browne Treehouse Vineyard Pinot Noir Russian River Valley MAGNUM
Price: $390.00 Sale Price: $329.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2016 Kosta Browne 'Rosella's Vineyard' Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands MAGNUM
Price: $275.00 Sale Price: $234.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2016 Kosta Browne 'Koplen Vineyard' Pinot Noir Russian River MAGNUM
Price: $300.00 Sale Price: $244.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2016 Kosta Browne Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir
Price: $125.00 Sale Price: $105.00 Quantity in Stock: 3
2017 Kosta Browne Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir
Price: $115.00 Sale Price: $90.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2017 Kosta Browne Cerise Vineyard Pinot Noir Anderson Valley
Price: $164.00 Sale Price: $134.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2017 Kosta Browne Treehouse Vineyard Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
Price: $194.00 Sale Price: $164.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2017 Kosta Browne Gary's Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands MAGNUM
Price: $255.00 Sale Price: $224.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2017 Kosta Browne Bootlegger's Hill Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
Price: $215.00 Sale Price: $179.00 Quantity in Stock: 6
2018 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
Price: $120.00 Sale Price: $99.00 Quantity in Stock: 9
2018 Kosta Browne Gary's Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands
Price: $160.00 Sale Price: $129.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2018 Kosta Browne Treehouse Vineyard Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
Price: $230.00 Sale Price: $189.00 Quantity in Stock: 11
2018 Kosta Browne Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Sonoma County
Price: $139.00 Sale Price: $109.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2018 Kosta Browne Bootlegger's Hill Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
Price: $235.00 Sale Price: $184.00 Quantity in Stock: 12
2018 Kosta Browne Gap's Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Price: $179.00 Sale Price: $149.00 Quantity in Stock: 2
2018 Kosta Browne Kanzler Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Price: $155.00 Sale Price: $124.00 Quantity in Stock: 3
2018 Kosta Browne Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir
Price: $109.00 Sale Price: $89.00 Quantity in Stock: 5
2018 Kosta Browne Sta Rita Hills Pinot Noir
Price: $115.00 Sale Price: $94.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
2019 Kosta Browne Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir
Price: $120.00 Sale Price: $95.00 Quantity in Stock: 3
2019 Kosta Browne Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
Price: $120.00 Sale Price: $99.00 Quantity in Stock: 10
2019 Kosta Browne Gap's Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Price: $180.00 Sale Price: $149.00 Quantity in Stock: 2
2019 Kosta Browne Mount Carmel Pinot Noir Sta Rita Hills
Price: $185.00 Sale Price: $154.00 Quantity in Stock: 2
2019 Kosta Browne 'Rosella's Vineyard' Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands
Price: $165.00 Sale Price: $134.00 Quantity in Stock: 2
2019 Kosta Browne Gary's Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands
Price: $170.00 Sale Price: $139.00 Quantity in Stock: 4
2019 Kosta Browne Pisoni Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands
Price: $150.00 Sale Price: $119.00 Quantity in Stock: 2
2019 Kosta Browne Rita's Crown Pinot Noir Sta Rita Hills
Price: $164.00 Sale Price: $134.00 Quantity in Stock: 2
2019 Kosta Browne Kanzler Vineyard Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
Price: $165.00 Sale Price: $134.00 Quantity in Stock: 10
2019 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
Price: $120.00 Sale Price: $99.00 Quantity in Stock: 3
2022 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Russian River
Price: $126.00 Your Price: $110.88 Quantity in Stock: 4