Grabbed from the Avanti, thrown in the Riedel carrying case along with two glasses, and popped and poured at Blackbird in Collingswood, NJ. I always forget that Blackbird has good stems, and we really didn’t even need to bring our own, but I forgot. This has always been one of my favorite Kosta Browne’s, especially this vineyard designate from the 2005 vintage!
Gorgeous ruby color in the glass, and that creamy Kosta Browne nose that I love. Bright red fruits dominate the plate with some black cherry and strawberry, with nice hints of cola and sweet spice! On the backside of the nose however, there is still quite a bit of heat there, and I think this just needs a decent decant as it seems to settle out the longer the bottle is open. Just a bit of blueberry rounds out the backside of the palate as well.
On the palate, this fits the bill tonight. I was looking for a big bold pinot noir with flavor. I wasn’t looking for classic Burgundy tonight, I wanted an in your face, high octane wine that filled my mouth, and this was it! More cherry and cola on the palate, with a very nice creaminess to it. As high octane and fruit forward as this wine is, I really do not feel that it was terribly over-extracted in the least.
The finish however shows a bit of heat, and this makes me think that this wine just might need some more time. Yes, I know all about the 2006 vintage, and know that this wasn’t a great vintage in the least, but I still think that this wine will improve.
All in all, another pleasure from Kosta Browne, but again, the ‘06’s aren’t getting the praise that the 04’s and ‘05’s got….from me at least. Still have 2 more of these in the cellar, and we’ll give it another 18 months before we pop another one. Still a delicious wine, and the heat just needs to settle out a bit so the alcohol can integrate. 92 points! Cheers!
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