2016 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Treehouse Vineyard
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Tasting notes
Brought up in 45% new oak, the 2016 Pinot Noir Treehouse Vineyard comes from a site in the Russian River that has slightly redder soils, which always seems to give wines from this site more minerality as well as higher acidity. This 2016 offers a fresh, focused, yet seamless style to go with a huge bouquet of cassis, underbrush, violets, and hints of blood orange. On the palate, it’s medium-bodied, has beautifully integrated acidity, and a pretty, pure, graceful profile. Give bottles a year or two and it should keep for a decade.
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Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
Aged 16 months in 55% new French oak, the 2016 Pinot Noir Treehouse Vineyard is medium ruby-purple with a perfume of cranberry sauce, rhubarb and red berry jam hints with tree bark, underbrush, tobacco leaf and black cherries. The palate is medium to full-bodied, silky, rounded and slowly gains in amplitude in the mouth, giving up red then black fruits, spices, earth and savory notions. It has a sturdy frame of very finely grained tannins and juicy acidity to call you back for another sip, finishing long and nuanced. 1,300 cases produced.
Brought up in 45% new oak, the 2016 Pinot Noir Treehouse Vineyard comes from a site in the Russian River that has slightly redder soils, which always seems to give wines from this site more minerality as well as higher acidity. This 2016 offers a fresh, focused, yet seamless style to go with a huge bouquet of cassis, underbrush, violets, and hints of blood orange. On the palate, it’s medium-bodied, has beautifully integrated acidity, and a pretty, pure, graceful profile.
The 2016 Pinot Noir Treehouse is fiercely tannic and forbidding. Powerful and dense in the glass, the 2016 is shut down to a degree I have not seen in any other wine – bottled or barrel sample – that I have tasted from this site. The tannins will have to soften a great deal for the fruit to emerge. If that happens, the Treehouse may merit a more positive note in the future, but I am not sure the 2016 will find that balance.
About the producer
Kosta Browne is one of California's most acclaimed wineries, renowned for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that express the character of top vineyard sites across Sonoma and beyond. Combining meticulous sourcing with thoughtful winemaking, the wines offer richness, precision, and remarkable sense of place.