Kosta Browne Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir (1.5L Magnum) 2016
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Jeb
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James
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Spectator
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
A blend of untamed herbs and vivid red fruit. Aromas of freshly peeled apples with wet minerality. Notes of vanilla and mint. Provocative and polished, with a silky, lingering finish.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
From a mix of Garys’, Rosella’s, and Soberanes vineyard (there’s also a tiny amount of Pisoni), the 2016 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands leads with its beautiful fruit and has lots of blueberries, cherries, spices, and candied violet-like aromas and flavors. Drink this medium-bodied, seamless.
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James Suckling
Aromas of dried strawberries, plums, cedar and cream follow through to a full to medium body with round and velvety tannins. Very juicy and delicious. Tight and beautiful. Why wait on this?
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Wine Spectator
Racy, filled with well-structured crushed red fruit and spice flavors that are backed by crunchy acidity. The lithe finish offers a lively minerality, with saline hints.
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Founded in 1997, Kosta Browne is one of North America’s most revered wineries, recognized for making some of the world’s finest Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. Located in Sebastopol, Sonoma County, and guided by an acclaimed team that includes renowned Winemaker Julien Howsepian, Kosta Browne makes appellation and single-vineyard wines from the most coveted cool-climate vineyards across the Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast, Anderson Valley, Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Lucia Highlands appellations. In addition to partnering with the finest growers in California, Kosta Browne has an estate program that features 170 acres of vineyards through ownership or long-term leases that includes the Cerise Vineyard in Anderson Valley, Keefer Vineyard in the Russian River Valley, and a prized section of the Gap’s Crown Vineyard on the Sonoma Coast. Kosta Browne has earned a place on Wine Spectator’s annual list of the world’s “Top 100 Wines” seven times since 2005, including “Wine of the Year” in 2011.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Perhaps the most highly regarded appellation within Monterey County, Santa Lucia Highlands AVA benefits from a combination of warm morning sunshine and brisk afternoon breezes, allowing grapes to ripen slowly and fully. The result is concentrated, flavorful wines that retain their natural acidity. Wineries here do not shy away from innovation, and place a high priority on sustainable viticultural practices.
The climatic conditions here are perfectly suited to the production of ripe, rich Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. These Burgundian varieties dominate an overwhelming percentage of plantings, though growers have also found success with Syrah, Riesling and Pinot Gris.