2017 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 750 ml

We've spent six long years waiting for Kosta Browne, and we're thrilled to announce our first-ever allocation: a glorious Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir from the producer synonymous with cult Burgundy varieties on the West Coast.

Kosta Browne’s bread and butter, of course, is Pinot Noir, and it’s as great as ever. One of the wines that lured us into the wine world ages ago—and has earned Wine Spectator’s #1 Wine of the Year—is Kosta Browne’s Sonoma Coast Pinot, and this year’s release is incredible. The 2017 Sonoma Coast Pinot earned 96 points from Dunnuck, and shows classic rich and deep dark fruit flavors like blackberry and Bing cherry, all with a hint of rosemary and perfectly integrated oak (from 40% new-oak aging).

Obviously we're thrilled to tell you about this allocation. We're less excited to tell you how limited it is: A skilled delivery guy could probably move the whole thing with a couple of trips with a hand truck. We’ve got our white gloves on (figuratively), but there won’t be close to enough to go around. So don’t hesitate—this might be the only time that waiting is not a part of the Kosta Browne experience.

Here’s the short history of Kosta Browne: From ten bucks a night to thousands on the waiting list.

Kosta Browne was hatched when Dan Kosta and Michael Browne were working at Sonoma County restaurant John Ash—and neither had experience making wine. They started by putting $10 each in an envelope on nights they worked together, and after a few months they had a thousand dollars. After one of the restaurant’s chefs ponied up $400 more, they set off to buy grapes and gear.

Their first grapes came from Russian River and sapped most of their funds. The rest of the money they used to buy two things they didn’t want to borrow: a used barrel and a hand-cranked destemmer/crusher. Their first effort yielded one barrel (just 24 cases) of Pinot, which they poured for VIPs at John Ash.

Over the next five years, they persevered, scouring Northern California for grapes and capital. Their huge breakthrough came in 2005, when Wine Spectator crowned two of their 2003 Pinots with 95-point scores and named the Sonoma Coast bottling the #11 wine on their king-making Top 100 list. Almost overnight, the challenge changed from keeping afloat to keeping up with demand.

Kosta Browne climbed Spectator’s Top 100 rankings: The Russian River took #7 in 2006, and the Sonoma Coast landed at #4 in ’09 and claimed the top spot in 2011. And the demand? The queue to get on their mailing list is now endless. You might have a better shot at Packers season tickets. But you’ve got no need to sign up if you’re one of the Wine Access members who takes advantage of this first-ever offer.