The 2011 Chardonnay One Sixteen comes across as a bit compact and energetic in this vintage. Lemon pastry, white flowers and crushed rocks all come to life in the glass. The 2011 is all about energy, dynamism and length. In that sense, it is a typical wine for the year, long on persistence, but with a little less mid-palate generosity than other years. Some of the fruit was fermented in concrete eggs, a recent arrival to the winery. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2016.
Kosta-Browne is one of those places that always seems to be buzzing with a positive vibe that is hard to fully describe, but that I am sure informs these exuberant, deeply expressive wines. I arrived for my tasting as the winery was completing their move to new, spacious digs at The Barlow, a large facility food/wine industrial park facility in Sebastopol that also houses Pax Mahle's winery plus a number of restaurants, markets, cheese shops, coffee houses and sellers of other local food specialties that will move in shortly. The Barlow is still undergoing its build out, but it will be very interesting to see how the project develops in the coming years. As for the Pinots that have made K-B so famous, the wines keep getting better and more refined with each passing vintage. One big development is the acquisition of Gaps Crown by investor Bill Price, who is also an owner of Kosta-Browne, which means that Gaps Crown now becomes essentially an estate vineyard, although I am told contracts with other growers who purchase fruit will remain in place. It-s all part of the constant energy that seems to be an essential part of K-B-s DNA.
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