California Pinot Noir named wine of the year

Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 2009 - Wine of the Year 2011

A California Pinot Noir produced by a small Sonoma winery that doesn’t own a single vine has been named Wine Spectator magazine’s Wine of the Year.

The Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 2009 was chosen from among 16,000 wines reviewed in blind tastings this year. Wines were judged on quality, value, availability and an X-factor the editors call "excitement."

The 2009 Sonoma Coast  -- which got top marks for its score and reasonable price -- is a blend of grapes from three vineyards found in the southern part of the Sonoma Coast and the northwestern reaches near Annapolis.

A sip starts with aromatics like cherry and ripe cranberry, followed by black plum, sage and herbes de Provence which then carry over hints of cocoa, lavender and rose in the background.

Described as a wine with dark red and blue fruit notes that melt into a creamy black cherry and cranberry finish, the award-winning Pinot Noir is said to begin intensely, followed by a slow release of flavors which lead to a lingering finish.

Meanwhile, part of the winery’s appeal, add the magazine’s editors, is the history behind the Kosta Browne winery, which began with two ambitious servers who pooled their tip money together to make their winemaking dreams come to fruition.

Eight months later, Dan Kosta and Michael Browne saved enough to buy a half ton of Pinot Noir, a used barrel and an old hand-crank stemmer-crusher which would lead the pair to produce 66 wines that have earned top marks among wine critics over a decade.

The grapes come from vineyards across California including growers from the Russian River and the Sonoma Coast.

Their winning Pinot this year scored 95 points and was released for $52 (€39).

The full list of the Top 100 will be published in the December/January issue of Wine Spectator, available on newsstands beginning on December 6. The 2011 list includes wines from 12 countries, with an average score of 93 points and an average price of $44 (€33).

Wine Spectator’s top 10 wines of 2011 include:

1. Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 2009
2. Hall Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Kathryn Hall 2008
3. Domaine Huët Vouvray Moelleux Clos du Bourg Première Trie 2009
4. Campogiovanni Brunello di Montalcino 2006
5. Dehlinger Pinot Noir Russian River Valley 2008
6. Baer Ursa Columbia Valley 2008
7. Quinta do Vallado Touriga Nacional Douro 2008
8. Domenico Clerico Barolo Ciabot Mentin Ginestra 2006
9. Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage La Guiraude 2009
10. Château de St.-Cosme Gigondas Valbelle 2009