Kosta Browne Winery : Sta Rita Hills Pinot Noir 2016

A Sta Rita Hills Pinot Noir with Structured Tannins and Hints of Minerality

First established in 1997 by Dan Kosta and Michael Browne, the Kosta Browne Winery produces award-winning Pinot Noir wines in California's Sonoma region. The team sources grapes from some of the best terroirs of three famous appellations – the Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley and Santa Lucia Highlands. The Kosta Browne collection includes a wide range of beautiful Pinot Noir wines, including appellation wines and single-vineyard cuvées from family-owned vineyards and Kosta Browne's own estate vines. The Sta Rita Hills Pinot Noir 2016 is an appellation wine made from grapes sourced from La Encantada, John Sebastiano and Vineyard Francesca in the Sta Rita Hills appellation, considered one of the world's best cool-climate growing regions for Pinot Noir. The microclimate here is formed by tectonic plate movements that have caused mountains to rise and rotate, creating a transverse range. Marine sediments deposited here added calcium to the soil and the cool coastal fog funnels into this region and allows for a gradual ripening of the fruit. The grapes were fermented 1.5-ton open tops and 5-8-ton open top stainless steel tanks with 7% of the grapes fermented with whole clusters. Around 47% of the wine aged in new French oak for 9 months.

When tasted, the Sta Rita Hills Pinot Noir 2016 by Kosta Browne Winery reveals a soft and very elegant nose, with plenty of red fruit aromas, including pomegranate, along with white tea and raspberry. On the palate, this Pinot Noir wine is bright and very energetic, offering structured tannins upon a subtle minerality. The flavours of this wine are presented in complex layers of fruit, with hints of truffle, ripe Bing cherries and dried figs.