A Tasty Beverage Or So Much More?

November 15, 2009

In what has become an annual trip over the past 3 years, the Rauber clan came together for a visit to the Russian River Valley for food, wine, and family togetherness. The group included myself, my parents, and my brother Chris and his wife, Kelly. Besides enjoying each other's company and several fantastic gastronomic experiences at local restaurants and wineries, the crown jewel and ultimate motivation for this meeting of the minds is our visit to the winery of Kosta Browne.

For a quick background on my family's connection to this distinct winery in Sebastopol I will give you the long and short of it. My brother Chris, is family friends with the original investors and continued owners of KB and we were lucky enough to be put on the allocation list at a very early stage in their production and exploration of the Pinot Noir varietal. From our first experience with the wines made by Michael Browne, we were hooked. In addition, we have been fortunate enough to spend time in the cellars with Michael to taste his creations, absorb his philosophies, and enjoy his straightforward and honest personality. One of the most enjoyable aspects to tasting wine with Michael is the way in which he talks about wine in general and most specifically the wine that is produced by his hand. Weather he is discussing the blending process in terms of symphonic assembly or physical structure, a wine may be "rocking and rolling right now," or we might be tasting some "kick-ass juice" at any point during a visit to the cellars of KB.

During our previous visit, there was discussion of making a Chardonnay, so Chris decided to bring something from our May trip to Piedmont. Because we thought that Michael would enjoy it, he brought a bottle of Aldo Conterno Bussiador 2005 to help kick off the tasting and add another dimension to the afternoon. It was a fascinating way to begin the tasting and helped direct the following discussions to a greater sense of depth and interest, in my opinion.

Within their fairly new home, the large warehouse that was formally an apple packing house, we began with an initial taste of the Bussiador and a special opportunity to taste some "kick-ass juice" that was his newest project, still fermenting Chardonnay juice from the 2009 vintage. In addition to and along with the current releases of Pinot Noirs, Michael opened up a KB Sauvignon Blanc 2000 for our educational and experiential enjoyment. Here are the bottles tasted:

-Poderi Aldo Conterno Bussiador 2005*** (wonderfully complex and rich, great acid, minerality, and balance. Really cool to revisit this wine after some Pinot Noir to see it stand up and show more layers)
-Kosta Browne Chardonnay Juice from the Martinelli Vineyard 2009
-Kosta Browne Sauvignon Blanc 2000** (showed it's age but still brought pleasure)
-Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Keefer Ranch 2007***
-Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Gary's Vineyard 2007***
-Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Kanzler Vineyard 2007***

During the barrel tasting of the 2008 Vineyard Designates there was one thing that stuck out to me, more than anything, and that fact was that this was really tasty stuff! It is an extremely rare occurrence, in my experience, that you spend a couple hours barrel tasting samples of wine and have a hard time finding a single wine that you didn't enjoy. These are unfinished wines that were also just pieces of a complete assembly yet to be orchestrated by Michael. I can honestly say that I am as excited about the upcoming 2008 vintage as I was for the renowned 2007 vintage. Barrels tasted:

Russian River

-Russian River pressed juice 2008
-Russian River 2008
-Russian River 2008
-Klopp Vineyard 2008

Sonoma Coast

-Gap's Crown Dijon 23 Clone 2008 (stood out to the rest of my family. A new Vineyard Designate for KB)
-Gap's Crown Pommard 5 Clone 2008
-Gap's Crown Dijon 667 Clone 2008
-Koplen 2008
-Keefer Ranch Dijon 23 Clone 2008 +
-Keefer Ranch Dijon 114 Clone 2008 +
-Gary's 2008
-Amber Ridge 2008
-Amber Ridge 2008
-Kanzler Dijon 112 Clone 2008 +
-Kanzler Dijon 667 Clone 2008 +
-Kanzler Pommard 5 Clone 2008 +

+ - Wine of significant interest and pleasure, look for this upon release

Food for thought - I am continually struck by the variance in barrel samples due to the oak barrel type in which it is being stored, vineyard the grapes were grown in, and clone type of the particular varietal being used. This may be getting a little geeky, but you can do a very interesting and diverse tasting of one particular wine and the only variation is the forest with which the oak barrels were taken from. Amazing. One thing to keep in mind when barrel tasting is that you are tasting unfinished wine and at best it can give you a feeling of where this wine is going and what it could someday become. Luckily for us (and Kosta Browne) these wines look to be a fantastic group of pleasure driven wines.

Good luck out there and happy tasting!


0 Stars - No rating
1 Star (*)- Not of significant quality or interest
2 Stars (**)- A notable wine of legitimate interest
3 Stars (***)- Great wine that is worth searching out
4 Stars (****)- Fantastic wine that should not be missed
5 Stars (*****)- An absolutely mind-bending wine - beg, borrow, or steal to get your hands on some of this amazing juice!

Disclaimer: This rating is based on my palate and at the given time when tasted and may differ from yours. Also, I may catch a bottle in a dumb phase or it just may not speak to me at that particular time.