e TophT100WineOf TheYear

Our Annual Roundup
Of the Year’s Most Exciting Wines
the selection to just four.

that continues to struggle, wine lovers are reaching

Italy is back on track after its depleted group of last year. Tuscany

a little deeper into their pockets to enjoy top quality

leads the way again, primarily with the excellent 2006 vintage forwines. Nonetheless, value-oriented wines are still very

Brunello di Montalcino. In France, the Rhône Valley stole the spotlightmuch in demand. These trends, along with strong regional vintage vari-based on the stellar 2009 harvest, while Beaujolais also made its markations, are reflected in Wine Spectator’s Top 100 for 2011.

with a pair from ’09.

What is consistent is the quality of the 100 wines our editors selected

Both Argentina and Australia lost ground compared with last year,

this year. The average rating is 93 points. The average price has dipped,

while Chile, whose presence was strong a year ago, dropped off the list

however, to $44, compared with $48 last year.

altogether. This paved the way for a New Mexican sparkler to debut inDuring the course of the year, Wine Spectator editors blind-tasted

the Top 100, and Greece makes a return.

more than 16,000 new releases. Of these, more than 5,400

No equation determines the final selections; these choices

rated outstanding (90 points or higher on our 100-pointreflect our editors’ judgment and passion about the wines
tasted by Wine Spectator in 2011.

scale); these were the initial candidates for our Top
nal selections: quality (as represented byContents

wines, see this issue’s Buying Guide. Seniorscore); value (as reflected by release price);

48 Wine of the Yeartasting coordinators Alison Napjus and

50 Top 100 At A Glance

MaryAnn Worobiec, tasting coordinatorber of cases imported); and an X-factor

53 Profiles of Wines Nos. 2 to 100

dinator Augustus Weed and assistantwe call excitement.

58 Top 100 By Region And Variety

tasting coordinator Margaret Raber,100. We apply four criteria to determine the fi-availability (measured by case production, or, for international wines, the num-California dominated again this year,

For complete tasting notes of the Top 100

Nathan Wesley, associate tasting coor-plus associate editors Tim Fish, Mitch

increasing its presence to more than a61 Wines of the Year 1988 to 2010

quarter of the list on the strength of the64 10 Years of Top Tens

tant editor Ben O’Donnell contributed2009 vintage for Pinot Noir and 2008

108 100 Top Values of 2011

to the profiles. We hope you enjoy thefor Cabernet Sauvignon and blends.
In fact, there were so many outstanding

161 Top 100 Tasting Notes’09 Pinot Noirs it was difficult narrowing

165 Classic Scorers of 201146

Wine Spectator • DEC. 31, 2011 – JAN. 15, 2012

Frank and Jennifer Fiedler and assis-exciting group of great values, new labels and proven names that make up Wine
Spectator’s 2011 Top 100.

opposite: Hector SanchezW

hat a difference a year makes. Despite an economy

WineOf TheYear

Kosta Browne
Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 200995 $52 5,818 cases madeBy James LaubeO

ne of the biggest stories coming out of California inrecent years is the steady rise of Pinot Noir. Considered the most challenging of grapes to master, Pinot
has found a comfy home in the Golden State, and settled into an amazing groove. Central to that story has been theimprobable ascent of a small winery in Sonoma, started more thana decade ago by two restaurant waiters who pooled their nightly
tips with the dream of one day making their own wine.
In the late 1990s, Dan Kosta and Michael Browne were working
at John Ash & Co., in Santa Rosa, Calif. Each night after workthey’d each put $10 into a white envelope and stash it in a drawer,
figuring that once they had enough money, they’d start makingwine. That day came in 1997. They took the $1,300 they’d savedand bought a half-ton of Pinot Noir, an old stemmer-crusher anda used oak barrel.
With no formal winemaking training, Kosta, then 25, and Browne,
29, stumbled along a path of trial and error, learning as they went.
In 2000, they bottled their first Pinot under the Kosta Browne label.
Their first vintages weren’t terribly inspiring. The wines reflected
their makers’ inexperience and the inherent challenges of the demanding Pinot grape. Some wines were rustic. One flirted with aflaw. But in 2002, one of their four Pinots broke the ice. They’d founda go-to vineyard, which has proven to be one of their stars.
That Pinot (93 points, $48 on release), from Kanzler Vineyard,
near Sebastopol, exhibited the kind of purity of flavor, richness,

depth and finesse that has become Kosta Browne’s signature style.
In 2003, they bottled seven Pinots, all outstanding or better, followed by eight different Pinots the following year, again all excellent. Since 2002, they’ve made 66 wines that have earned 90 points
or higher. In 2009, the greatest vintage yet for California Pinot Noir,
this dynamic duo made 11 outstanding Pinots and their first Chardonnay, including the extraordinary Pinot from the Sonoma Coast
that is Wine Spectator’s Wine of the Year for 2011.
Kosta Browne’s string of great Pinots is amazing by any measure.
They don’t own a single vine and make wine in a makeshift, rented
warehouse in Sebastopol. Browne is the mastermind winemaker,
ultimately proving that if you pay attention to the details, fromsourcing great grapes to meticulous winemaking, something beautiful can emerge. Kosta oversees the sales and marketing side; mostof the 15,000-case production is sold direct to consumers. Early on,
Chris Costello joined the winery and became an integral part of thebusiness as Kosta Browne took on new investors to raise money toadd vineyard sources and buy new barrels and other equipment.
In 2009, Kosta and Browne sold majority control to Vincraft, reportedly for close to $36 million, as a way to refinance debt andbuild for the future. They still own just shy of half, and paid off someof their previous investors with proceeds from the sale. Since then,Vincraft has brought in a skilled management team and plans areunder way to build a winery in the small, west Sonoma town of Sebastopol, which lies near many of the label’s vineyard sources.
“Never in a million years would I have ever imagined this,”
Browne says, reflecting on his winery’s startling success. TheSonoma Coast bottling in particular showcases his talent and the48

Wine Spectator • DEC. 31, 2011 – JAN. 15, 2012

Ripened Pinot grapes

Sara sAnger

Kosta Browne Pinot Noir aging in barrel

Sara sAnger

Dan Kosta (left) and Michael Browne

quality of his grape sources. Making a few hundred cases of great
Pinot is hard enough; making nearly 6,000 cases of great Pinot isan admirable accomplishment.
Early on, Browne knew 2009 would be a great vintage. As hebegan to taste through barrels of different lots, he discovered thatone blend in particular not only worked beautifully, but kept getting better every time he put together a mock blend for blind tastings against KB’s single-vineyard wines. “Every time, that winecame out near the top,” Browne says. “It was pretty amazing. It
just kept getting better.”
The wine comprises fruit from three vineyards: Gap’s Crown, fromwhich the winery makes an individual bottling; Terra de Promissio,
near the winery; and a new site, Walala Vineyard, located in thenorthernmost reaches of Sonoma Coast. The vineyards share a close
proximity to the Pacific. But Walala added a red fruit component
that gave the wine a brightness and clarity, says Browne. The wine
spent about a year in new oak before being released early in 2011.
Sonoma County has long been one of California’s most prizedwinegrowing regions, famous for its diversity of appellations and grape
types. But Pinot Noir, a wine many considered least likely to succeed,has become Sonoma’s signature red. Leading that parade is Kosta
Browne, proving how far dreams can carry you.

DEC. 31, 2011 – JAN. 15, 2012 • Wine Spectator

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