Kosta Browne Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir 2018
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Jeb
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Wilfred
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Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Bright fruits highlighted by fresh strawberry, red cherry, and cranberry, accentuated by fresh basil and a hint of pot de crème. Focused, linear entry, with a subtle yet excellent tension.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills was 90% destemmed and brought up in mostly neutral oak (French and Austrian). Its ruby/purple hue is followed by a beautiful bouquet of ripe strawberry and raspberry fruits interwoven with plenty of spice, flowery incense, and violet nuances. Ethereal, medium-bodied, and elegant on the palate, it has a terrific sense of balance, integrated acidity, and a great finish. It's not a blockbuster Pinot by any measure yet has complexity, balance, and length. I'm a big fan.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Kosta Browne Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir is stylish, well-balanced, and a food-lovers' dream. TASTING NOTES: This wine shows aromas and flavors of bright cranberries and strawberries. Enjoy it with grilled, wild salmon fillets. (Tasted: June 13, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills is a lovely wine whose aromas open gently to crushed strawberries and raspberries, tea leaves, dried orange peel and rose petals. The palate is light to medium-bodied, juicy, elegant and perfumed, with a very long, elegant finish and satiny texture.
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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.”
A superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.