2016 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Gap's Crown Vineyard
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Tasting notes
Aged 15 months in 40% new French oak, the 2016 Pinot Noir Gap's Crown Vineyard is medium ruby with a nose of Earl Grey tea leaves, citrus peel, garrigue and lavender with touches of tree bark, dried flowers, wild blackberries, blueberries and bright red berries. Medium-bodied and silky, it's perfumed and elegantly styled in the mouth with a finely grained frame and seamlessly woven freshness, finishing long with loads of perfume and spice. 3,400 cases produced.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2016 Pinot Noir Gaps Crown comes from a great, great site on the Sonoma Coast and saw 15% whole clusters and 40% new wood. It’s a deep, rich, blacker fruit-driven effort that shows more and more savory, iron, and earthy notes with time in the glass. It’s ripe and opulent on the palate, with building tannin, yet packs a wealth of fruit and texture, while still showing the more elegant, balanced style of the 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 Gap's Crown comes across as washed out, tart and lacking in depth. The very first impression is positive, but then the wine narrows fiercely through the mid-palate and finish. There is no way getting around it: this is a problematic wine.