2016 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard

Aged 16 months in 48% new French oak, the 2016 Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard has a medium ruby color and slowly offers nuanced scents of rose petal, sage, crushed stone, Bing cherries and bright red berry fruit with accents of amaro and bitter citrus peel. Medium-bodied, it's wonderfully silky and perfumed with a gently chalky frame and addicting freshness, finishing long and nuanced. An elegant, perfumed style. 250 cases were made.

The 2016 Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard is a powerhouse effort as well as one of the gems in this great lineup. Fermented with 16% stems and aged in 50% new oak (30% of this blend was in concrete), it reveals loads of black fruits, crushed rocks, graphite, and crushed rose petals. With medium to full body, sensational depth and richness, ultra-fine tannin, and a huge finish, it’s up with the crème de la crème of this great vintage. Winemaker Nico Cueva continues to fine tune his approach at Kosta Browne, experimenting with new vinification and aging vessels. While the wines were richer and more upfront in the past, today, they have slightly more freshness and tension while not abandoning the beautiful fruit and texture that defines California wines. As I hope these notes show, these are distinctive, singular wines up there with the crème de la crème of the region.

The 2016 Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard is another wine that does not reflect its origins. Where is the richness, depth and texture of Pisoni? Nowhere. The 2016 is compact, austere and under nourished. None of those are attributes I associate with Pisoni.