Recent, High-End, West Coast Pinot Noir, February 12, 2009

We tasted a great group of 11 pinot noirs in February, including four wines from Kosta Browne, but some of the big guns did not quite live up to their reputations. Kosta Browne did very well overall, taking first place with the 2004 Amber Ridge Vineyard and fourth with 2006 Kanzler Vineyard. The Kosta Browne 2005 Garys' Vineyard tied for fifth and the very highly rated Kosta Browne 2004 Kanzler finished seventh. Second place went to the 2005 Ambullneo, Mastiff Cuvée. The top two wines stood out from the pack.

Three of the top four wines were from Sonoma County - two from the Russian River Valley and one from the Sonoma Coast - and the other was from Los Carneros, which straddles the southern part of Sonoma and Napa. Three Oregon wines finished at the bottom of the rankings. The complete results, along with the critics' scores, are listed below.

1. 2004 Kosta Browne, Amber Ridge Vineyard, Russian River Valley (WS 93, WA NR) (3 firsts, 3 seconds, zero thirds, 4 fourths, 25 points)
2. 2005 Ambullneo, Mastiff Cuvée, Los Carneros (WS NR, WA 92) (2/3/3/0, 23 points)
3. 2005 Chasseur, Freestone Station, Russian River Valley (WS 91, WA 94) (2/1/0/1, 12 points)
4. 2006 Kosta Browne, Kanzler Vineyard, Sonoma Coast (WS 92, WA NR) (2/0/1/1, 11 points)
5. Tie - 2005 Kosta Browne, Garys' Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands (WS 93, WA 86) and
2006 Laetitia, Reserve, Arroyo Grande Valley (WS NR, WA NR, Wine Enthusiast 95)
7. 2004 Kosta Browne, Kanzler Vineyard, Sonoma Coast (WS 98, WA NR) (0/0/3/2, 8 points)
8. 2006 Talley, Rosemary's Vineyard, Arroyo Grande Valley (WS 94, WA 89+) (0/1/2/0, 7 points)
9. 2005 Argyle, The Nuthouse, Willamette Valley (WS 93, WA 95) (0/1/1/0, 5 points)
10. 2006 St. Innocent, Anden Vineyard, Willamette Valley (WS NR, WA 92+) (0/0/1/0, 2 points)
11. 2004 Archery Summit, Arcus Estate, Willamette Valley (WS 94, WA 88) (0/0/0/1, 1 point)