Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Aged 22 months in 100% new French oak, the medium ruby colored 2016 Pinot Noir 4 Barrel gives up spiced cranberry sauce, wild blackberries, gunflint, turned earth and moss with red berries at the core plus notes of coffee, musk and Earl Grey tea leaves. The palate is medium to full-bodied, silky and nuanced, with an amazing layering of spices, earth and fruit. It has finely pixelated tannins and fantastic juicy freshness, finishing very long and very layered. Yowza! This is classic, open-knit Kosta Browne Pinot. 95 cases were made.
Internationally recognized for gorgeous, pure fruit combined with great elegance, California Pinot noir thrives among the state’s cooler, coastal zones. Characterized by eclectic flavors and aromas of strawberry, black cherry, plum and potpourri with notes of forest floor, mushroom or black tea, the best California Pinot noir boast a supple texture and good acidity, giving them the ability to improve with age.
Credited with the beginning of Pinot noir’s glory in California, two growers, Joe Rochioli and Joseph Swan in the late 1960s independently planted Pinot noir vineyards in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County. Today Sonoma County remains the leading producer of Pinot noir in the state, and Pinot noir is the leading red grape in the county, achieving its highest potential, in the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast.
Other coastal appellations where Pinot noir flourishes include Carneros, Anderson Valley and most of the Central Coast.