I love to talk about wine with people who share my passion for it. We open bottles, we trade stories about travel and soil types, terroir and residual sugar, and we talk of taste and food and restaurants. We recommend wines to one another, we drink, and we learn a lot.
In Wine Talk, I introduce you to friends, acquaintances, and people I encounter as I make my way around the world, individuals who love wine as much as I do, who live to taste, who farm and make wine. Whether my subject is a sommelier, a collector, a winemaker, a chef, a buyer, or an avid drinker of wine, you’ll appreciate their insight, and I hope you’ll learn something from them as well.
Pinot Noir is loved by many drinkers of wine, for good reason. It can, when handled properly, produce wines that are aromatic in a profound manner, silky and supple, and sublime on the palate and in the brain and soul. As the great Henri Jayer said, “Pinot must be full and fleshy, fat and concentrated, but discreet, supple, and soft at the same time, and it must have definition.”
In America, which produces some great examples of Pinot Noir, Kosta Browne made its name with the grape. Dan Kosta and Michael Browne founded the brand in 1997, and the duo’s 2009 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir won Wine Spectator‘s Wine of the Year award in 2011. Kosta Browne was bought by Texas Pacific Group in 2009, and then in 2014 by J.W. Childs Associates in 2014. The two founders parted ways with the winery after the latter deal. In 2018, Duckhorn Wine Co. purchased Kosta Browne and owns it still.
Julien Howsepian, the subject of this edition of Wine Talk, worked as a harvest intern at Kosta Browne for the 2012 vintage, and impressed Michael Browne and winemaker Nico Cueva (more on him below). They offered him a permanent position for the next harvest, and he has been the head winemaker at Kosta Browne since 2019. He has a French father and a Dutch mother, has a degree in viticulture and enology from the UC Davis, and was raised in Northern California’s Bay Area. Needless to say, he loves Pinot Noir. But he also has a soft spot for Chardonnay.
I write about Kosta Browne’s Burgundy Series recently, and hearing what Howsepian had to say about his ventures there was the catalyst for wanting to feature him in Wine Talk. Let’s see what’s on his mind.
James Brock: Tell us about three wines you think are drinking well at the moment. What makes them worthwhile? How about a food pairing for each one?
Julien Howsepian: 2010 Kosta Browne Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noir. We featured this wine recently at our 20-year partnership working with the Franscioni and Pisoni families in Santa Lucia Highlands, and this wine was screaming. It had 40 percent whole cluster and was so complex and fresh for being almost 15 years old. Something simple like stewed trout in tomato sauce would be killer with a wine like this.
Next, the 2021 Kosta Browne Gap’s Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir is a classic Kosta Browne wine. 2021 was an incredible vintage, a perfect growing season that produced wines with excellent aging potential but that are also fresh and elegant young. Being a year with slightly elevated acidities, I would love to pair it with a pork tenderloin with a cherry reduction sauce.
2019 Domaine Chanson Clos de Feves 1er Cru Pinot Noir is an excellent wine from a resurgent iconic producer in Burgundy. Still affordable, 2019 was an excellent year in Burgundy, producing approachable wines that are really hitting their stride. This would be great with a terrine and baguette. Bon appetit!
JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why.
JH: I would love to add Gaja Barbaresco San Lorenzo to my personal collection. I visited many years ago and have loved the wines ever since, but rarely get the chance to enjoy them. Sometimes wine takes you on an adventure back in time, and that was a formidable trip to Italy and the rest of Europe, both personally and professionally.
JB: What is your favorite grape, and why? If you don’t have a single favorite, tell me about one that you are especially passionate about.
JH: This one is an easy one for me: Pinot. Pinot Noir offers a lifetime of exploration through all the great growing regions of the world. The endless expressions of terroir, the ageability, the diverse food pairings … it’s the heartbreak grape for a reason. It’s just a lot of fun to try everyone’s different takes on how to make Pinot. And of course, there’s always Blanc de Noirs, so you know, there’s that to enjoy, too!
JB: How about one bottle that our readers should buy now to cellar for 10 years, to celebrate a birth, anniversary, or other red-letter day?
JH: As mentioned, I think 2021 was an incredible vintage for California Pinot, so I would recommend the 2021 Kosta Browne Cerise Vineyard Pinot Noir. Cerise Vineyard is located in Anderson Valley, which is a small appellation in Mendocino County. Cerise Vineyard is a unique hillside vineyard in a unique appellation, producing wines that are lower in alcohol, higher in tannin and not as fruity as most other California Pinots. And I think it’s perfect to age because the aromas will evolve beautifully as the tannins integrate over time. The 2021 is tasting phenomenal today, but I think its best days are still ahead. (Editor’s Note: Duckhorn Wine Co.’s purchase of Kosta Browne included Cerise Vineyard.)
JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle (outside your home and workplace)?
JH: One of the most classic and best restaurants for ambience and food in Sonoma County is Underwood Bar and Bistro in Graton. Graton is a tiny, rural, unincorporated town whose downtown stretches all of one block, but Underwood is like stepping into a restaurant bar in the middle of a happenin’ city. Usually quite busy but rarely overcrowded, it’s frequented by many winemakers, grape growers, and others alike.
JB: If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?
JH: Wine is a magical, mysterious product that is ingrained in our DNA. It’s also sometimes hard to understand and can be a little intimidating or pretentious. But wine is meant to be enjoyed, to be shared with food, family and friends. It enriches our lives in many ways, and is not meant to be taken too seriously. There’s a niche for that, but what matters most is that you love it, it is as simple as that and nothing more.
JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?
JH: I remember the first time I tasted a Vincent Dauvissat Chablis Premier Cru. I certainly didn’t understand or appreciate it, because at the time I didn’t think it tasted like much. But my good friend and boss at the time, Nico Cueva, who would become my wine mentor, explained to me how to appreciate a subtle and elegant wine, and that wine doesn’t have to punch you in the face to be good. A wine can be ultra-refined, delicate, all about finesse and subtlety. And the way that wine evolved in the glass was remarkable, so after that I was hooked on Chardonnay.
JB: What has been the strangest moment/incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?
JH: I’m having a really difficult time thinking about the strangest moment, but one story comes to mind. I had a work dream one night during harvest that we were sorting fruit and there was a ton of garlic mixed in, but we couldn’t keep up with removing all the garlic. I ran up to find the winemaker who was in his office, which was dimly lit, and after telling him what was happening, he simply said, “Let the gold through.” I told the team my dream the next day, and everyone thought it was odd and funny. A week or two later, we were sorting a Pinot block from Anderson Valley, and there was a lot of Chardonnay mixed in. This block had some errant Chardonnay interplanted, and when I texted the winemaker about what to do, he responded, “Let the gold through.” It was a pretty funny moment, and very strange to have somehow foreseen that a bit.
JB: What is your dream wine-tasting and touring locale?
JH: Argentina. I visited when I was in my 20s, but it was not a wine-related trip. The mountain backdrop to the wine country looks spectacular, and I love mountains. I’ve also never given the proper time to explore the wines of Argentina, so I’m sure I’d love them if I could find the time to take up another region.
JB: Your favorite wine reference in a work of literature?
JH: Favorite wine book: Phylloxera: How Wine Was Saved For the World, by Christy Campbell.
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