#1 Wine Spectator Top 100 (2011 edition - 2009 vintage)
#11 Wine Spectator Top 100 (2005 edition - 2003 vintage)
 
96-Points by Jeb Dunnuck.
The 2021 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast is floral with perfume and ripe red berries, as well as notes of framboise, rosemary, and incense. Offering fantastic balance, with fine tannins, fresh seamless acidity, and a good purity of fruit, this is a very attractive wine now and will continue to provide prime drinking over the next 12 or more years.
 
Kosta Browne is a Sonoma-based winery specializing in single-vineyard Pinot Noir wines. It was informally founded by Dan Kosta and Michael Browne when the two pooled their tip money from restaurant work and bought some Pinot Noir grapes in 1997. Using second-hand equipment and a single oak barrel, they made their first – extremely limited – Pinot Noir.
In 1999 the pair secured financing to produce 2600 cases of Lake County Sauvignon Blanc, and Kosta Browne officially came into being, along with third partner Chris Costello, who helped with financing, in 2001. The company has now established itself as a cult winery commanding premium prices.
The majority of Kosta Browne's wine is sold to its mailing list, which has a two-year wait time to join, and an even longer period to get access to its most celebrated single-vineyard offerings. In 2009, Vincraft bought a majority share of Kosta Browne with Kosta and Browne staying on in their roles.
Vincraft's investment allowed Kosta Browne to transition from renting to owning its own winery in Sebastopol in Sonoma County. The 2009 vintage saw the addition of the One Sixteen Russian River Valley Chardonnay to the Kosta Browne collection – the only non-Pinot Noir wine in the portfolio.
The 2009 vintage also yielded the highly regarded Kosta Brown Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, which went on to be named Wine Spectator's Wine of the Year in 2011.
In 2015, the majority of shares were sold again to private equity firm J.W. Childs Associates, who bought out Vincraft in what was essentially an equity swap. Kosta and Browne maintained their shares and positions at the winery. 
Two years later, the pair stepped down from their roles (Browne had overseen winemaking while Kosta had looked after sales and marketing) and in 2019 the winery was sold to Duckhorn Vineyards.