N1: Round, red, and ripe, especially at first. Jammy and no tannins showing at all. After about an hour, some bite/grip appeared, and then after about 2 hours, some depth (caramel?) N2: This continued to evolve with airtime, and was nicely balanced and a little darker after two hours or so. Alcohol is a little high and not my preferred style these days but ended up in a nice place. Shame on me for holding onto this so long, but while it has past its peak, it is still plenty good. If you have any, I suggest decanting as it took some time to unwind.
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I was expecting the worst but was somewhat pleasantly surprised. There are people for whom a 15.6% ABV pinot noir will never be drinkable at any stage; but others who like the big bold pinot-as-grenache style that Kosta Browne historically represents. My tastes have certainly moved on in the last decade (I bought K-B in the '03 and '04 vintages but not since), but I opened this wine with an open mind, simply hoping it hadn't dissolved into a disjointed alcoholic mess. And in fact it hadn't -- tannins are almost nil, and acidity was just enough to hold things together, but the alcohol was noticeable only indirectly, as added body and sweetness, not as heat or burn, except for a bit of warmth on the finish. The nose and flavor profile is, as one would expect, (mostly roasted) red fruits with some dark fruits, cocoa, white pepper and vanilla ... nothing remotely mineral or herbal. Blind, I might have guessed an '03 C9dP, or an older Cali grenache. It was easy to drink as an aperitif and would probably impress one's non-wino friends. Drink up, but if you have a perfectly stored bottle you probably have another year to do so.
(Bottle purchased from the winery on release and perfectly stored since then, which was doubtless important. Surprisingly, the wine had thrown zero sediment.)
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Hot mess tonight and that has never been an issue with a KB wine for me. Fruit profile has subsided and can't conceal the high alcohol content of the wine. Still provided a typical KB nose and palate but very muted.
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This wine was like a fabulous train wreck--lots of interesting little pieces that all fall apart, but are recognizable. Out of the bottle it wqs horrible, like burnt over-ripe grapes, covered with prune syrup. It was much better later, and actually went well with Trader Joe's Coq au vin. But by itself was so clearly overpriced. I would have been happy to find this for 12 dollars in the bargin bin at bev mo, but not at this price.
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This bottle showed much better than the last bottle I consumed. While showing it's age with some browning around the edge this pinot is still showing great. The K's are still my favorite KBs (Kanzler, Koplen, & to a lesser degree the Keefer) plus the 4 but this wine is no where near over the hill. That being said if you have any of these left why wait.
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Opened and decanted about about an hour before serving. Followed over the next hour. Should've opened about five years ago. What a mess. Garnet to dark garnet color in the glass, clear hue through. Hot nose of Kirsch and pepper that carries right through to the palate. Disjointed and not enjoyable. Drink yesterday. Not rated but if I did it wouldn't be kind.
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Started off with some heat and the alcohol was noticeable but with some air it got better and was I enjoyed it. Not up to the standard of other KBs I've had.
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This wine has really lost a lot of fruit since the last bottle. I'm wondering if others are right that KBs don't age well. I'm definitely going to drink all of my '03s and '04s over the near term.
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Big style Pinot. Dark cherry and berry on the nose and palate. A bit portlike with overripe fruit. Needs to be served at cellar temperature or it can show its octane on the finish. Nice spice that would accompany spiced meat dishes.
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This is a classic example of "to each his own". PURPLE thought this wine was smooth and velvety on the palate. I couldn't get past what I considered to be nothing more than tart fruits on the palate. Opened and served immediately. Dark garnet to purple color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of mixed fruits with as I previously stated tart fruits on the palate. Medium acidity, tannins and body. Medium finish as well. Drink over the short term. I'm firmly convinced at this point that Kosta Browne wines are truly better when they are drank young, preferably within 3 years of release.
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Bordeaux, CA Pinot and Couple of Others (PDH, New York City): This was great. Right up my alley. Other notes say that earlier this year, this was an alcoholic mess. Not anymore. Lots of fruit, the alcohol wasn't out of whack at all. Thanks for this, Steve.
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What a difference from the last bottle! Rich black cherry and raspberry aromas and intense flavors on the palate with a silky mouth feel and incredibly long finish with cherry liqueur notes. Hid the ETOH well.
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Unfortunately, this is the first bottle of this wine I've opened, so I can't weigh in too well on the recent discussions of the quick and recent change (decline) in this wine. The nose is deep and dark with many woody fragrances. There is still some nice acidity and richness in the mouth feel, some cherry and cranberry and dark chocolate. These are not typical pinot flavors, but KB has never been typical. The finish stays in the dark range with dried red rose and dried citrus peel, and bitterness which in no way is unpleasant. It pairs better with food tonight than previous (delicious, but much more fruity/spicey) bottles of KB.
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After about 30 minutes started to show wonderfully with rich silky black cherries and raspberries with mineral notes culminating in a long tasty finish. But after about 2 hours the ETOH which was previously in check started to be out of balance with noticeable heat on the finish.
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Nice bottle of wine, but drink 'em up sooner rather than later. Opened up, poured in a glass, and it was HOT -- alcohol all over the place. I thought this was going to be the affirmation of those who are in the "2003 KB's are over the hill" camp. 15-20 minutes later, the heat was gone and this was sweet RRV fruit along with some leather, cola, and spices. While I enjoyed it, I don't think it's headed in the right direction, so pull them from your locker or cellar, stand them up, and pop them this year.
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Tasted at a Kosta Browne winery visit; The showing of this wine makes me wonder about bottle variation. This bottle showed "sweet" with a completely clipped finish. Worse was the complete lack of fruit and harsh bitterness on the finish.
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Taken to FMIII's Good, Bad and Ugly tasting. Did well...up there among the winners, which was tough, given the 100 or so bagged wines out there....Very expressive, cola/cherry bite. I didn't get to try much of it, but what I did try I did like...
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Very dark ruby with a little browning. The first whiff was bourbon and pruny fruit. Followed by earthy, pruny fruit flavors and some persistent heat on the finish. It settled down after 30 minutes revealing very dark aromas and flavors of cola, blackberry, mahogany and a saline note. The finish showed a little fresher. This wine has moved in the wrong direction over the last couple of years and is about to fall off a cliff. Drink immediately.
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This wine is not what it once was. I am quite certain of the provenance of this bottle so that's not an issue but the bottle I'm noting here wasn't very good. Pruny, sweet, with rich mocha and no acidity. Based on this weekend's bottle, I plan to work through my remaining bottles quickly. What a shame, as this wine at its peak was one of my favorite pinots I have ever tasted.
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"Wines We Covet" (The Primes): Lordy, this is why we drink pinot, right? Huge, expressive nose of cherry, earth, cola, vanilla. Fruit-forward for sure, wrapped in a layer of silk that guides that power across the tongue with true grace. Nasally-challenged as I am, there were still opulent notes of spice and black fruits and cola and the finish was the perfect finish to a great song.
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OK, so this is one of those confounding experiences. I like a wine, really like a wine, to the extent I call it one of my icons of all time favorites, recalling 2-3 experience of loving the wine. Then, I attend a wine dinner where the same wine is poured and I am turned off by it--tasted hot and cloaked in alcohol. Feeling disappointed and a little stung, I rely back on a different tasting environment and commit to trying the wine yet again to see if indeed I can settle on a perspective.
So, here we are. Two nights after being disappointed by the heat of this wine, I open yet another one tonight from my cellar, trying to settlemy own dissonance. The bottle has been uncorked for about 90 mins, and I have kept it cool, not cold. At cool, I get lots of rapsberry infused fruit, a dollop of black cherry, red apple and a mineral finish. Beautiful heavier kinds of flavors, with just a terrific wet stone feel. No heat, no problem. Indeed, a CA style with the weight and forward flavors but just delicious.
What the hell? Tomorrow I will do another glass and see what I find.
Night 3--so the end is near....tonight I pour an 8 ounce glass, removing the wine from the cellar and then sipping this amount over about 90 mins as the wine goes from about 55 degrees to the final temp of room, which tonight is about 77. Throughout this span, I find a small amount of heat at the final room temp, but that is no surprise, actually. At this temp, shouldn't any pinot show it's dark underbelly? The wine shows a raspberry jam, black cherry and minerality. Clearly big boned and large with red fruit and a heavier palate, the wine stands up for me. After all of this, I would I have now gained a complete view of this wine and continue to hold it in high regard.
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OC Wine Dinner (Antonellos - Orange County, CA): While I am generally a very big fan of these wines, I have to say that I found this particular bottle a little disappointing -- disappointing not because I found the wine to be poor, but rather because it did not give me that "OMG this rocks!" reaction that I usually get with KB, especially the SVD wines. They have set the bar very high for me, and so one cannot help but have very high expectations whenever their wines are brought to the table. That said, this wine did exhibit a very appealling nose of plum, dark cherries, brown sugar, and dried herbs. On the palate, far from being thin or acidic, this wine expresses rich yet slightly monolithic flavors of dark cherry and cocoa. Finishes a bit on the hot side. Still a nice drink, however, and one that I would not hesitate to try again.
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OC Wine Dinner--"Pair This" (Antonello In Costa Mesa): I've not been shy over the past couple years of how much I have loved this wine, calling it one of the best pinots (like the 2002 SS Ten) that I have ever enjoyed. That said, I was very enthuiastic that Paul H. posted he would bring a pair of these to the event. Being the first wine of the flight of 6 pinots, I dug in. Sweeter flavors, bold with blackberry, generous, weight and some raspberry on the finish. However, I gotta say the heat for me was offputting. The nose and the palate showed it. We kept these cool but I indeed sensed the alcohol that left me disappointed. Having a couple of these in my cellar, I want to pop another soon and drink over 2-3 nights and then decide whether I have bestowed the right status of icon to this wine.
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Given some recent TNs disparaging this wine, I decided to open one of mine. Poured a small glass after pulling from the cellar, decanted the rest and stuck it in the fridge because the room temp was about 75. Initial nose and taste was luden's cherry cough drops and alcohol. I poured another glass with dinner (pasta w/pesto, pancetta, peas and cherry tomatoes) and it gained some depth with a darker profile but still showed a fair amount of heat. Based upon the TNs I expected some heat but the it tasted much better than those reviews. Surprisingly, the next two glasses showed no heat at all. It had completely dissipated. Maybe it was because we were sitting on the patio in the cool autumn-like temps (a la Jason Hagen's testimonial) but the wine developed some minerality and complexity. I'll give my last bottle a year or two to see if it comes together like this did over the course of the evening.
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Upon taking a few sips, after letting the bottle breath for an hour or so and keeping it at cellar temp if not a bit colder, the alcohol was front and center and I am not very sensitive to alcohol. I immediately glanced at the label and it certainly confirmed what my palate was telling me...15.6%. Things did not improve on day 2, which was not surprising, and it is evident based on this bottle that this wine is not aging well at all and If you have any I would drink them sooner than later. Obviously the polar opposite from the first bottle I opened in March. The '03s are continuing to be my least favorite vintage of CA pinot. I have not opened any of my '04 KB's yet but based on this experience I think I better as I am worried about ageability of these high alcohol wines.
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Wine tasted from bottle at cave temperature. TN driven from bottle being open 2 hours. Funny, when we had the 2005 Koplen uncorked, I told Mike about how much I really just fell for the 2003 at our recent OC KB offline. Well, out came the 2003 and out came the cork. Dig that. Crushed berry, minerality and structure on pop and pour. After the 2 hours, now shows as it did for me recently, with lush, rich and just sexy with a finishing back end of minerals and some grip. This wine is gonna go and get better with more time. If that was even plausible, I'll look forward to that experience again.
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After 2 hours of decanting, the nose was dark cherry and spice. The mouthfeel was exquisite, and the finish contained hints of vanilla to go along with the dark cherry flavors.
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Believe-it-or-not....my first V-Desig KB! Decanted for 1 hr., more the better.
Deep dark spiced wine, rich ripe blackberry, black cherry, wildberry fruit....very dusty/powdery cab-like tannin, smoked cherry wood, sarsaparilla, cherry liqueur. Very intense wine...reminds me of the Sonoma on steroids! Powerful florals, tingly acid, rich earth tones....all in their own place, just needs time to mellow out. Too bad this is my only bottle. This should be even better in a couple years. Great wine!
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Fantastic wine that needs to be decanted if drinking in the next year. The nose on this was very closed and really did not start giving up much until around 5 hours after decanting. The palate is a wonderful expression of well balanced elegant CA pinot which surprised me as the appellation wines have showed much more hedonistic with a darker fruit profile. This wine remained unchanged the next night so I plan to wait on my next bottle for a couple more years. Bravo!!!
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Decanted one hour. Aromas of dark cherries, plums, spice and vanilla/mocha. Rich palate with good structure that does lack some focus however. Nice complexity. Drank over two nights without much change.
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(at Charleston – Baltimore) Ripe, but complex nose – really kind of cool. Huge candy palate with ripe fruit, cola and medicine. Good, but needs more bottle time. (16+)
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Opened and poured two tastes for Michael and I to start off Valentines' Day dinner. Initial taste was fairly sharp dark fruit, plum. It hit its stride at almost exactly the one hour mark, not decanted but by then about half the bottle had been enjoyed. Michael's comment was "Wow, too bad we can't drink good wine every night." Long finish, wonderful Pinot nose. There is this wonderful mix in your mouth of sweet fruit with a sour overlay that all says yum!! This is one delicious wine!
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This wine rocked tonight! Even though it was decanted for an hour, it took a while in the glass for the nose to catch up to the palate which was just delicious from the the get go. Then aromas of cherries (at first Bing, later sour), cola, rootbeer, cinnamon, burnt brown sugar, vanilla and orange peel wafted through in waves. A great Valentine's day treat which paired perfectly with pan-seared duck breast in a dried cherry/balsamic compote. Yumm.
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OC Kosta Browne Pay It Forward Offline (Sage in Newport Beach, CA): Oh my god. Probably similar "aha" experience that I had about three months ago when I tried a line-up of high-end petite sirahs, i.e. the 2002 Pride. This 2003 KB Koplen was my WOTN, hands down. The nose is full of sexy, perfumey deep dark fruit. My TN says "dark as hell", with an underline. Cola, dark plum, plum compote, cherry and still shows some structure. Next to the 2004 Koplen I had last year at our KB OL, this 2003 is the best KB I have ever drank and maybe the best CA pinot noir I have ever been blessed to try. Just a friggin' beauty and work of art.
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Wellfleet Dinner (The Fish Guy Market - Chicago, IL): Medium ruby in color. The nose pops with bright red fruits, cola and spices. The palate is high toned and complex. Cherry fruits, herbs and minerals intermingle. Silky tannins provide dimension and grip to the pure fruits. Well balanced and long. This is terrific.
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Initially thick, jammy, and full of rasberry and dark fruits. Excellent, reminds me of Kistler pinots made before the 2001 vintage. After a couple hours open in the bottle started to lose some of the fruit and taste more oak and vanilla. Not sure there is much reason to wait at this point.
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Huge nose of dark fruits, raspberry and cola. Thick and viscous but with a surprisingly lively finish. Added a nice vanilla and spice edge an hour after opening. A big boisterous wine that is easy to enjoy. Seems ready to go to me.
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I was wowed by my first tasting of this. full and fruity. But after about 15-20 min it got hot and unbalanced. the fruit seemed to go on vacation,leaving nothing but alcohol
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didn't decant so only had a glass or 2 the first night. and finished it off the second.
dark and thick in appearance... big, concentrated and yummy. deeply flavored, can taste some vanilla and big black cherry and very light baking spice, some cola but that really runs it's course as vanilla. it had a great mouth feel, not yet satiny, but substantial. give it some time and it may reach that. medium finish.
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had for my parent anniversary - big nose; black cherry, cola notes, JC noted some vanilla. Decanted for 1 1/2 hours before drinking. Overall - "Yummy!" and "Too bad we can't get any more"
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Dark purple in color. This was such a big wine with incredibly concentrated dark fruit flavors, caramel and a touch of vanilla. Even with the immense structure of the wine it was unmistakeably fine Pinot Noir. It was so balanced that the 15.6% alcohol was barely evident. The acidity kept it finishing clean and may point to improvement in the celar. "Young and brawny". [$48 on release and should benefit from time in the cellar. Decanted one hour and needed another.]
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3/1/2020 - sjtave Likes this wine:
N1: Round, red, and ripe, especially at first. Jammy and no tannins showing at all. After about an hour, some bite/grip appeared, and then after about 2 hours, some depth (caramel?)
N2: This continued to evolve with airtime, and was nicely balanced and a little darker after two hours or so. Alcohol is a little high and not my preferred style these days but ended up in a nice place. Shame on me for holding onto this so long, but while it has past its peak, it is still plenty good. If you have any, I suggest decanting as it took some time to unwind.
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3/4/2016 - ParisWino wrote: 89 Points
I was expecting the worst but was somewhat pleasantly surprised. There are people for whom a 15.6% ABV pinot noir will never be drinkable at any stage; but others who like the big bold pinot-as-grenache style that Kosta Browne historically represents. My tastes have certainly moved on in the last decade (I bought K-B in the '03 and '04 vintages but not since), but I opened this wine with an open mind, simply hoping it hadn't dissolved into a disjointed alcoholic mess. And in fact it hadn't -- tannins are almost nil, and acidity was just enough to hold things together, but the alcohol was noticeable only indirectly, as added body and sweetness, not as heat or burn, except for a bit of warmth on the finish. The nose and flavor profile is, as one would expect, (mostly roasted) red fruits with some dark fruits, cocoa, white pepper and vanilla ... nothing remotely mineral or herbal. Blind, I might have guessed an '03 C9dP, or an older Cali grenache. It was easy to drink as an aperitif and would probably impress one's non-wino friends. Drink up, but if you have a perfectly stored bottle you probably have another year to do so.
(Bottle purchased from the winery on release and perfectly stored since then, which was doubtless important. Surprisingly, the wine had thrown zero sediment.)
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1/12/2012 - sumshark wrote: 85 Points
Hot mess tonight and that has never been an issue with a KB wine for me. Fruit profile has subsided and can't conceal the high alcohol content of the wine. Still provided a typical KB nose and palate but very muted.
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2/5/2011 - zheem wrote: 83 Points
This wine was like a fabulous train wreck--lots of interesting little pieces that all fall apart, but are recognizable. Out of the bottle it wqs horrible, like burnt over-ripe grapes, covered with prune syrup. It was much better later, and actually went well with Trader Joe's Coq au vin. But by itself was so clearly overpriced. I would have been happy to find this for 12 dollars in the bargin bin at bev mo, but not at this price.
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11/6/2010 - Screameagle wrote: 91 Points
This bottle showed much better than the last bottle I consumed. While showing it's age with some browning around the edge this pinot is still showing great. The K's are still my favorite KBs (Kanzler, Koplen, & to a lesser degree the Keefer) plus the 4 but this wine is no where near over the hill. That being said if you have any of these left why wait.
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4/6/2010 - wineismylife wrote:
WIMLNR
Opened and decanted about about an hour before serving. Followed over the next hour. Should've opened about five years ago. What a mess. Garnet to dark garnet color in the glass, clear hue through. Hot nose of Kirsch and pepper that carries right through to the palate. Disjointed and not enjoyable. Drink yesterday. Not rated but if I did it wouldn't be kind.
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1/31/2010 - assaf wrote: 89 Points
Started off with some heat and the alcohol was noticeable but with some air it got better and was I enjoyed it. Not up to the standard of other KBs I've had.
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4/24/2009 - Screameagle wrote: 88 Points
This wine has really lost a lot of fruit since the last bottle. I'm wondering if others are right that KBs don't age well. I'm definitely going to drink all of my '03s and '04s over the near term.
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3/29/2009 - Sweet Nancy wrote:
Big style Pinot. Dark cherry and berry on the nose and palate. A bit portlike with overripe fruit. Needs to be served at cellar temperature or it can show its octane on the finish. Nice spice that would accompany spiced meat dishes.
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10/31/2008 - wineismylife wrote: 88 Points
WIML88,PURPLE92
Tasted October 31, 2008.
This is a classic example of "to each his own". PURPLE thought this wine was smooth and velvety on the palate. I couldn't get past what I considered to be nothing more than tart fruits on the palate. Opened and served immediately. Dark garnet to purple color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of mixed fruits with as I previously stated tart fruits on the palate. Medium acidity, tannins and body. Medium finish as well. Drink over the short term. I'm firmly convinced at this point that Kosta Browne wines are truly better when they are drank young, preferably within 3 years of release.
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9/25/2008 - Cheryl wrote:
Bordeaux, CA Pinot and Couple of Others (PDH, New York City): This was great. Right up my alley. Other notes say that earlier this year, this was an alcoholic mess. Not anymore. Lots of fruit, the alcohol wasn't out of whack at all. Thanks for this, Steve.
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8/18/2008 - pjhr wrote: 95 Points
What a difference from the last bottle! Rich black cherry and raspberry aromas and intense flavors on the palate with a silky mouth feel and incredibly long finish with cherry liqueur notes. Hid the ETOH well.
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6/20/2008 - fisk15 wrote: 88 Points
Just did not seem to come together, just a bunch of parts that were not cohesive. Not over the hill, but not up to par for KB.
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2/24/2008 - zheem wrote:
Unfortunately, this is the first bottle of this wine I've opened, so I can't weigh in too well on the recent discussions of the quick and recent change (decline) in this wine. The nose is deep and dark with many woody fragrances. There is still some nice acidity and richness in the mouth feel, some cherry and cranberry and dark chocolate. These are not typical pinot flavors, but KB has never been typical. The finish stays in the dark range with dried red rose and dried citrus peel, and bitterness which in no way is unpleasant. It pairs better with food tonight than previous (delicious, but much more fruity/spicey) bottles of KB.
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2/16/2008 - pjhr wrote: 91 Points
After about 30 minutes started to show wonderfully with rich silky black cherries and raspberries with mineral notes culminating in a long tasty finish. But after about 2 hours the ETOH which was previously in check started to be out of balance with noticeable heat on the finish.
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2/14/2008 - jbposell wrote:
Nice bottle of wine, but drink 'em up sooner rather than later. Opened up, poured in a glass, and it was HOT -- alcohol all over the place. I thought this was going to be the affirmation of those who are in the "2003 KB's are over the hill" camp. 15-20 minutes later, the heat was gone and this was sweet RRV fruit along with some leather, cola, and spices. While I enjoyed it, I don't think it's headed in the right direction, so pull them from your locker or cellar, stand them up, and pop them this year.
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2/10/2008 - tanglenet wrote:
2nd Annual Freeman Caves Weekend for VinoCellar.com; 2/8/2008-2/10/2008 (Various Sonoma County Locations): Served as part of the 2nd Annual Freeman Caves Weekend for VinoCellar.com. Served by Michael Browne at the winery.
Dark syrupy fruit with strong raisin notes and over ripe fruit. Good.
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2/10/2008 - Winetex wrote: 86 Points
Tasted at a Kosta Browne winery visit; The showing of this wine makes me wonder about bottle variation. This bottle showed "sweet" with a completely clipped finish. Worse was the complete lack of fruit and harsh bitterness on the finish.
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2/10/2008 - Colima74 wrote: 92 Points
Taken to FMIII's Good, Bad and Ugly tasting. Did well...up there among the winners, which was tough, given the 100 or so bagged wines out there....Very expressive, cola/cherry bite. I didn't get to try much of it, but what I did try I did like...
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1/11/2008 - pgordon62 wrote: 86 Points
Very dark ruby with a little browning. The first whiff was bourbon and pruny fruit. Followed by earthy, pruny fruit flavors and some persistent heat on the finish. It settled down after 30 minutes revealing very dark aromas and flavors of cola, blackberry, mahogany and a saline note. The finish showed a little fresher. This wine has moved in the wrong direction over the last couple of years and is about to fall off a cliff. Drink immediately.
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1/6/2008 - Frank Murray III wrote:
This wine is not what it once was. I am quite certain of the provenance of this bottle so that's not an issue but the bottle I'm noting here wasn't very good. Pruny, sweet, with rich mocha and no acidity. Based on this weekend's bottle, I plan to work through my remaining bottles quickly. What a shame, as this wine at its peak was one of my favorite pinots I have ever tasted.
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1/4/2008 - olm2000 wrote: 88 Points
very nice nose and initial mouthfeel but noticeable heat on finish...not surprising considering 15.6% alcohol
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12/22/2007 - grider wrote: 93 Points
ready to drink and tasting really good. lasted a couple of days. better the 2nd after opening up.
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12/2/2007 - ruddy wrote: 95 Points
"Wines We Covet" (The Primes): Lordy, this is why we drink pinot, right? Huge, expressive nose of cherry, earth, cola, vanilla. Fruit-forward for sure, wrapped in a layer of silk that guides that power across the tongue with true grace. Nasally-challenged as I am, there were still opulent notes of spice and black fruits and cola and the finish was the perfect finish to a great song.
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9/10/2007 - Frank Murray III wrote:
OK, so this is one of those confounding experiences. I like a wine, really like a wine, to the extent I call it one of my icons of all time favorites, recalling 2-3 experience of loving the wine. Then, I attend a wine dinner where the same wine is poured and I am turned off by it--tasted hot and cloaked in alcohol. Feeling disappointed and a little stung, I rely back on a different tasting environment and commit to trying the wine yet again to see if indeed I can settle on a perspective.
So, here we are. Two nights after being disappointed by the heat of this wine, I open yet another one tonight from my cellar, trying to settlemy own dissonance. The bottle has been uncorked for about 90 mins, and I have kept it cool, not cold. At cool, I get lots of rapsberry infused fruit, a dollop of black cherry, red apple and a mineral finish. Beautiful heavier kinds of flavors, with just a terrific wet stone feel. No heat, no problem. Indeed, a CA style with the weight and forward flavors but just delicious.
What the hell? Tomorrow I will do another glass and see what I find.
Night 3--so the end is near....tonight I pour an 8 ounce glass, removing the wine from the cellar and then sipping this amount over about 90 mins as the wine goes from about 55 degrees to the final temp of room, which tonight is about 77. Throughout this span, I find a small amount of heat at the final room temp, but that is no surprise, actually. At this temp, shouldn't any pinot show it's dark underbelly? The wine shows a raspberry jam, black cherry and minerality. Clearly big boned and large with red fruit and a heavier palate, the wine stands up for me. After all of this, I would I have now gained a complete view of this wine and continue to hold it in high regard.
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9/9/2007 - Paul Lin wrote: 88 Points
OC Wine Dinner (Antonellos - Orange County, CA): While I am generally a very big fan of these wines, I have to say that I found this particular bottle a little disappointing -- disappointing not because I found the wine to be poor, but rather because it did not give me that "OMG this rocks!" reaction that I usually get with KB, especially the SVD wines. They have set the bar very high for me, and so one cannot help but have very high expectations whenever their wines are brought to the table. That said, this wine did exhibit a very appealling nose of plum, dark cherries, brown sugar, and dried herbs. On the palate, far from being thin or acidic, this wine expresses rich yet slightly monolithic flavors of dark cherry and cocoa. Finishes a bit on the hot side. Still a nice drink, however, and one that I would not hesitate to try again.
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9/8/2007 - Frank Murray III wrote:
OC Wine Dinner--"Pair This" (Antonello In Costa Mesa): I've not been shy over the past couple years of how much I have loved this wine, calling it one of the best pinots (like the 2002 SS Ten) that I have ever enjoyed. That said, I was very enthuiastic that Paul H. posted he would bring a pair of these to the event. Being the first wine of the flight of 6 pinots, I dug in. Sweeter flavors, bold with blackberry, generous, weight and some raspberry on the finish. However, I gotta say the heat for me was offputting. The nose and the palate showed it. We kept these cool but I indeed sensed the alcohol that left me disappointed. Having a couple of these in my cellar, I want to pop another soon and drink over 2-3 nights and then decide whether I have bestowed the right status of icon to this wine.
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8/17/2007 - JFish wrote:
Given some recent TNs disparaging this wine, I decided to open one of mine. Poured a small glass after pulling from the cellar, decanted the rest and stuck it in the fridge because the room temp was about 75. Initial nose and taste was luden's cherry cough drops and alcohol. I poured another glass with dinner (pasta w/pesto, pancetta, peas and cherry tomatoes) and it gained some depth with a darker profile but still showed a fair amount of heat. Based upon the TNs I expected some heat but the it tasted much better than those reviews. Surprisingly, the next two glasses showed no heat at all. It had completely dissipated. Maybe it was because we were sitting on the patio in the cool autumn-like temps (a la Jason Hagen's testimonial) but the wine developed some minerality and complexity. I'll give my last bottle a year or two to see if it comes together like this did over the course of the evening.
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8/15/2007 - RussW wrote:
Upon taking a few sips, after letting the bottle breath for an hour or so and keeping it at cellar temp if not a bit colder, the alcohol was front and center and I am not very sensitive to alcohol. I immediately glanced at the label and it certainly confirmed what my palate was telling me...15.6%. Things did not improve on day 2, which was not surprising, and it is evident based on this bottle that this wine is not aging well at all and If you have any I would drink them sooner than later. Obviously the polar opposite from the first bottle I opened in March. The '03s are continuing to be my least favorite vintage of CA pinot. I have not opened any of my '04 KB's yet but based on this experience I think I better as I am worried about ageability of these high alcohol wines.
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4/30/2007 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Wine tasted from bottle at cave temperature. TN driven from bottle being open 2 hours. Funny, when we had the 2005 Koplen uncorked, I told Mike about how much I really just fell for the 2003 at our recent OC KB offline. Well, out came the 2003 and out came the cork. Dig that. Crushed berry, minerality and structure on pop and pour. After the 2 hours, now shows as it did for me recently, with lush, rich and just sexy with a finishing back end of minerals and some grip. This wine is gonna go and get better with more time. If that was even plausible, I'll look forward to that experience again.
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4/24/2007 - sumshark wrote: 92 Points
Nice bottle of wine, maybe opened too early. Allow at least two hours for the wine to start to show well.
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3/30/2007 - budman wrote: 93 Points
After 2 hours of decanting, the nose was dark cherry and spice. The mouthfeel was exquisite, and the finish contained hints of vanilla to go along with the dark cherry flavors.
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3/26/2007 - Mrbuzz wrote: 96 Points
Believe-it-or-not....my first V-Desig KB! Decanted for 1 hr., more the better.
Deep dark spiced wine, rich ripe blackberry, black cherry, wildberry fruit....very dusty/powdery cab-like tannin, smoked cherry wood, sarsaparilla, cherry liqueur. Very intense wine...reminds me of the Sonoma on steroids! Powerful florals, tingly acid, rich earth tones....all in their own place, just needs time to mellow out. Too bad this is my only bottle. This should be even better in a couple years. Great wine!
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3/19/2007 - RussW wrote:
Fantastic wine that needs to be decanted if drinking in the next year. The nose on this was very closed and really did not start giving up much until around 5 hours after decanting. The palate is a wonderful expression of well balanced elegant CA pinot which surprised me as the appellation wines have showed much more hedonistic with a darker fruit profile. This wine remained unchanged the next night so I plan to wait on my next bottle for a couple more years. Bravo!!!
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3/14/2007 - thomaskeil wrote: 92 Points
Decanted one hour. Aromas of dark cherries, plums, spice and vanilla/mocha. Rich palate with good structure that does lack some focus however. Nice complexity. Drank over two nights without much change.
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2/25/2007 - dbkitc wrote:
(at Charleston – Baltimore) Ripe, but complex nose – really kind of cool. Huge candy palate with ripe fruit, cola and medicine. Good, but needs more bottle time. (16+)
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2/14/2007 - BonnieM wrote:
Opened and poured two tastes for Michael and I to start off Valentines' Day dinner. Initial taste was fairly sharp dark fruit, plum. It hit its stride at almost exactly the one hour mark, not decanted but by then about half the bottle had been enjoyed. Michael's comment was "Wow, too bad we can't drink good wine every night." Long finish, wonderful Pinot nose. There is this wonderful mix in your mouth of sweet fruit with a sour overlay that all says yum!! This is one delicious wine!
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2/14/2007 - meinertz wrote: 94 Points
This wine rocked tonight! Even though it was decanted for an hour, it took a while in the glass for the nose to catch up to the palate which was just delicious from the the get go. Then aromas of cherries (at first Bing, later sour), cola, rootbeer, cinnamon, burnt brown sugar, vanilla and orange peel wafted through in waves. A great Valentine's day treat which paired perfectly with pan-seared duck breast in a dried cherry/balsamic compote. Yumm.
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2/9/2007 - budman wrote: 93 Points
Awesome cherry nose. Palate was more ripe cherry, with some vanilla and a hint of spice. This wine wowed everyone at the table.
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2/4/2007 - Frank Murray III wrote:
OC Kosta Browne Pay It Forward Offline (Sage in Newport Beach, CA): Oh my god. Probably similar "aha" experience that I had about three months ago when I tried a line-up of high-end petite sirahs, i.e. the 2002 Pride. This 2003 KB Koplen was my WOTN, hands down. The nose is full of sexy, perfumey deep dark fruit. My TN says "dark as hell", with an underline. Cola, dark plum, plum compote, cherry and still shows some structure. Next to the 2004 Koplen I had last year at our KB OL, this 2003 is the best KB I have ever drank and maybe the best CA pinot noir I have ever been blessed to try. Just a friggin' beauty and work of art.
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11/30/2006 - Nanda wrote: 93 Points
Wellfleet Dinner (The Fish Guy Market - Chicago, IL): Medium ruby in color. The nose pops with bright red fruits, cola and spices. The palate is high toned and complex. Cherry fruits, herbs and minerals intermingle. Silky tannins provide dimension and grip to the pure fruits. Well balanced and long. This is terrific.
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9/14/2006 - luko wrote:
Initially thick, jammy, and full of rasberry and dark fruits. Excellent, reminds me of Kistler pinots made before the 2001 vintage. After a couple hours open in the bottle started to lose some of the fruit and taste more oak and vanilla. Not sure there is much reason to wait at this point.
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7/14/2006 - pgordon62 wrote: 91 Points
Huge nose of dark fruits, raspberry and cola. Thick and viscous but with a surprisingly lively finish. Added a nice vanilla and spice edge an hour after opening. A big boisterous wine that is easy to enjoy. Seems ready to go to me.
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4/5/2006 - goofy Yno wrote: 85 Points
I was wowed by my first tasting of this. full and fruity. But after about 15-20 min it got hot and unbalanced. the fruit seemed to go on vacation,leaving nothing but alcohol
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2/19/2006 - shaferguy91 wrote: 91 Points
Decanted 3 hours.
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2/18/2006 - AlexRed wrote: 91 Points
didn't decant so only had a glass or 2 the first night. and finished it off the second.
dark and thick in appearance...
big, concentrated and yummy. deeply flavored, can taste some vanilla and big black cherry and very light baking spice, some cola but that really runs it's course as vanilla.
it had a great mouth feel, not yet satiny, but substantial. give it some time and it may reach that. medium finish.
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12/29/2005 - Florida Keys Girl wrote: 93 Points
had for my parent anniversary - big nose; black cherry, cola notes, JC noted some vanilla. Decanted for 1 1/2 hours before drinking. Overall - "Yummy!" and "Too bad we can't get any more"
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12/28/2005 - Winetex wrote: 92 Points
Dark purple in color. This was such a big wine with incredibly concentrated dark fruit flavors, caramel and a touch of vanilla. Even with the immense structure of the wine it was unmistakeably fine Pinot Noir. It was so balanced that the 15.6% alcohol was barely evident. The acidity kept it finishing clean and may point to improvement in the celar. "Young and brawny". [$48 on release and should benefit from time in the cellar. Decanted one hour and needed another.]
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7/17/2005 - jamiekutch wrote:
Leaving NYC and moving to San Francisco; 7/16/2005-7/17/2005: Biased.. Loved it
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