Saturday, November 24, 2007

Holiday Treat

To celebrate making it through Thanksgiving me and the other managers shared a bottle of the Kosta Browne 2005 Koplen Vineyard PN. This bottle is one of the best I have every had. I am not normally a great fan of CA pinot noir, although I don't usually drink the really good stuff either. But this one really stood out.
To begin with I would have been happy just getting a sniff of this wine. The nose is so expressive: mixed dark berries and cherries that are so lively in the glass. You can tell it is young, fruit packed wine right away. But then on the palate the wine takes on a complexity that really focuses all of the fruit. And it is so velvety. Just coasting of your palate to a beautiful long finish. And at 15.3% alcohol you don't even notice.
It is a wine like this one that stays on my mind for a week. It is not only the good juice but also the story behind it. The winery was brought together by two sommelier restaurant workers saving up their tips who first started making wine very simply and in small amounts. Then they finally went all in and after what I would imagine to be a lot of hard work here it is. Only after 10 years of making wine they are being praised in every publication I have found, and it is not BS.
Makes you dream. If they can do what they did with no previous wine making experience....

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