Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/789891
March 2017 WINES&VINES 29 WINEMAKING Kosta Browne Kosta Browne produces elite Sonoma County Pinot Noir and Chardonnay under the Kosta Browne and CIRQ brands. Started 20 years ago by partners Michael Browne and Dan Kosta, Kosta Browne owns 80 acres of vineyard split between Cerise and Keefer Ranch and purchases fruit from 49 additional growers. As with Rod- ney Strong, I was able to get the perspective of their viticulturist and their winemaker, Sam Ausburn and Nico Cueva, respectively. Cropping level: Ausburn noted the impor- tance of the vine being in balance with the fruit it is supporting. The vine needs proper nutrition to support the canopy throughout the growing season. He observed that a defi- ciency will cause a late-season vine weakening or crash. Kosta Browne will balance out vigor variations within the vineyard by pruning or fertilizing differently. Vineyard health measurements: Cueva collects data on all grapes, purchased or owned. He analyses potassium levels, especially on Chardonnay. Having built a substantial database of Chardonnay potassium levels, he now watches for a drop-off that indicates, "You need to get ready to pick." While not everyone can afford the advanced equipment and methods that Kosta Browne uses, Ausburn advised small growers to buy some inexpensive moisture probes to identify where the vineyard is drying out and collect data at least weekly. Harvest decisions: As Rodney Strong does, Kosta Browne emphasizes bringing fruit in at a cool temperature and sorting. Cueva explained, "We hand-harvest all fruit at night and sort ev- erything at the winery," starting at midnight, and bring the grapes to the winery between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. Either he or Ausburn show up at the beginning of every picking, providing instruc- tions and inspection at more than 50 picks per harvest. While this is a huge time commitment, they believe it pays off later with better wine and fewer winemaking problems. The hand-harvested grapes are sorted using a Key Industries shaker table and a Pellenc optical sorter and destemmer, which Cueva noted "has exponentially increased our quality." They also will use cluster sorting for lots where whole- cluster fermentation is done. Both Cueva and Ausburn recommended that the winemaker spend time being selective during picking—or, as Cueva put it, "have an OCD standard for pick- ing. There is less need to sort if you can be on it at harvest." Essentially it builds quality into the process with cleaner ferments and better wine. While both Ausburn and Cueva think these are great tools, they believe the best tool is still human eyes, walking through the vineyard and looking at vine canopy and fruit. Cueva takes spending time in the vineyard a step further, pointing out that one of his best vineyard "tools" is simply a strong, experienced cellar team. The low attrition rate among production staff allows him to spend more time walking the vineyards all year long, which results in better quality. As a winemaker, he understands that he can have a greater impact on quality in the vineyard than in the cellar. What impressed me was his deliberate linking of creating a good workplace with low employee turnover and improved wine quality. Advanced technology: Kosta Browne uses NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) aerial imagery to analyze vineyard canopy growth and block variation. Cueva talked about the goal of dry farming if at all possible, and Ausburn believes that deficit irrigation plays an important role in fruit qual- ity. While Ausburn uses pressure bombs, he is impressed with new water-management tech- nology developed by Fruition Sciences, noting that their "sensors have given us the ability to look at the vine more closely. We are able to make more precise irrigation decisions." Cueva explained that to minimize the negative effects of the time delay from harvest to processing, his people are now experiment- ing with sorting fruit in the vineyard, cooling it with dry ice and then dumping it directly into a fermentation tank.