Blogs

This has to be one of the strangest years on record in Northern California.  We had virtually no rain in March.  Then we had record-setting frost.  Now we have record-setting fires.  I remember living in Northridge in 1993 and 1994.  Within one year, we had the worst fires, floods and of course a 6.7 magnitude earthquake.  The trifecta.  2008 in Sonoma County just seems like one of those years.  Let's just hope we don't have that earthquake.   

I have to admit that I am not what you would consider a cheese afficianado. Sure, I love cheese, but I rarely remember what the heck that really good one was last weekend.  However, the way I see it, ignorance is bliss.  Since I have little capacity to remember, I'm always re-discovering!  Anyway, I'm not a complete moron when it comes to cheese, but I do find that I like what I like and I live by very few rules, much like I do with wine. 

Since I can remember, going back to my restaurant days, most white table cloth restaurants have been hosting various forms of the “Wine Dinner.” Most of the time, these dinners are put together in order to showcase a certain winery, highlighting the presence of the winemaker or principle, for an evening of carefully planned food pairings. Sometimes, the Wine Dinner can take odd turns, however, with awkward or uninspired food pairings, no winery representation, or just plain complacency. In the last ten years, those wine dinne

I'll be the first to admit that my blog entries have been kind of, well...soft. I've just been having fun thus far. I hope you have too. But in the last couple of weeks, a certain topic has come up too many times for me not to open it up for discussion. On Chuck Wagner's blog over on Wine Spectator's site he discusses the concept and the merits of that elusive idea of terrior. I suppose that the issue of terrior and that now cliche "sense of place" have been around since the dawn of winegrape cultivation.

Well, as most of you know, we have just begun our spring offering. This will last until February 26th. I stated in my last entry that this is my busy time of year. I can tell you now that I am confirming this!! But I am not complaining. In the last couple of days, we have gotten so many orders and emails that at one point, our server crashed. Here's my little secret: I thought that was pretty cool (giggle, giggle). Seriously, we have been working tirelessly to make everyone happy and the fact that folks appreciate our work makes me, well....giggly.

Now that the holidays are over, we quickly turn to the new year. Lots of things are happening at Kosta Browne. In fact, we're so busy, I don't see my partners all that much. I'll be honest. I haven't had a good conversation with Michael Browne since blending. That was December. Now it's crunch time at the winery as Michael and Shane wrap up bottling. A quick note: this is like Finals for Michael. Maybe it's more like a thesis.  All of that work for 16 months and now the final blends go under cork.

I just spent a little time with a couple of winemakers from the Russian River Valley. Of course, I don't think of them as winemakers. I think of them as my friends. Not to name names, but a couple of weeks ago, John Holdredge of Holdredge Winery, Bob Cabral from Williams Selyem and I had a great time drinking Pinot, Zin, and anything else we could find. We found some Gaja and some 94 Warre's Port.

We are right in the middle of our bottling season at the winery. Michael and the crew have the 2005 Russian River and Sonoma Coast Pinot Noirs under cork and the 2006 Rose under screw cap (I love the packaging!). Next week, they will bottle the single vineyard Pinot Noirs. As I was cruising through the winery today, I had butterflies in my stomach, just as I always do this time of year. Preparing for a release is like preparing for your baby to come. What's it going to look like? How will it age? Will it be liked?

Well once again, it is that time of year again when the corks are popping and wine gets consumed at our household every night without fail. After all, when the sun is setting at 4:30 p.m., what is one suppose to do? The holiday season just begs for cellar-raiding. Inevitably, there are going to be many of you that are going to open some Kosta Browne. Now that we are starting to acrue a bit of a track record, some of the KB wines being opened could be as much as 6 years old. Hard for me to believe. It seems like we just made that 2000 Cohn Vineyard! But let's make a deal: I'll let you know how my KB's are tasting as I open them and you tell me how your's are drinking. I'll start.

As you probably know by now, the countdown is on for Crush in Sonoma County. As I sit writing this, I can look out my window and look at the dark purple of Pinot Noir. There are nets over the vines to protect the fruit from birds, a sure sign that crush is right around the corner. You get the picture. But what you may not get is what crush TRULY means. If you aren't in the wine country now, let me try to get you the REST of the picture.

The shadows in September are a bit longer, as the sun sinks a bit farther to the south. I noticed this especially yesterday when the noontime sun was in my eyes. I can smell the coming of harvest in the dry air. Apples which have long fallen from the trees emit a sweet, ripe aroma of apple pie. It's getting darker earlier. And of course, football season has started and there is a hell of a wild card race going on in the National League! I always hope that the Giants last longer than crush! Dodger fans need not reply.