Kosta Browne Winery Goes Global: What Drove This California Winery To Craft Wine In Burgundy

Forbes

07-07-2025

Julien Howsepian, Head Winemaker at Kosta Browne, Studying the Soil in a Burgundy Vineyard ALBIN DURAND
Why would a highly successful California pinot noir producer suddenly adjust their business strategy and begin making and importing pinot noir wine from Burgundy? Since 1997, Kosta Browne winery, located in Sonoma County, has focused on producing luxury wines from some of the most legendary pinot noir and chardonnay vineyards in California. However, in 2020, they formed a partnership with a Burgundian négociant to produce wine in Burgundy and import it in bulk for finishing, aging, and bottling in Sonoma County.
'As far as we know, we are the only California-based winery that is implementing this strategy,' said Julien Howsepian, Head Winemaker for Kosta Browne, when I visited him at the winery recently.
'The idea came about in 2020 during the pandemic when consumers were buying a lot of wine, but then the wildfires hit. We realized we were at risk of losing our grapes, so we started considering new ideas,' Julien explained.
However, since embracing innovation and pushing boundaries was already part of the winery's DNA, instilled in the company by founders Dan Kosta and Michael Browne, two waiters who pooled their tip money to make the first barrel of wine, crazy ideas were not so foreign.
'Dan and Michael were always dreamers, and Michael Browne, especially, wanted to make wine from Burgundian grapes, but it was very difficult to get the fruit here,' Julien added.
It turns out that Burgundy will not allow its wine grapes to be shipped out of France without losing the Burgundy designation. However, it is possible to produce wine in Burgundy, bottle it in the U.S., and maintain the prestigious appellation. Given that Julien Howsepian is half French, with contacts who live in Burgundy, he was able to identify a Burgundian négociant /producer, who was willing to work with them.
Fortunately for Kosta Browne, they had access to the strong legal team of Duckhorn winery. Duckhorn had purchased Kosta-Browne in 2018, and Neil Bernardi, MW, who was VP of Winemaking for Duckhorn at the time, was an enthusiastic proponent of the Burgundy idea. (In 2024, the Duckhorn portfolio was acquired by private equity firm Butterfly, for $1.95 billion.)
'The contract was negotiated out over Zoom in 2020, but we are required to keep the name of our Burgundian partner anonymous,' said Julien.
The timing was perfect because that year, Kosta Browne realized that it couldn't produce wine from many of its California vineyards due to smoke taint. So Julien flew to Burgundy and tasted through hundreds of wine samples before he selected the five Burgundian wines Kosta Browne imported for the 2020 vintage.
Gallery Tasting Room at Kosta Browne, Overlooking the Small-Lot Fermentation Room Troyce Hoffman Kosta Browne Customer Response to Burgundy Wines
As a luxury wine producer, Kosta Browne sells the majority of its wine on allocation to a membership list of consumers. The preferred member pricing range is from $90 to $145 per bottle, and the ability to purchase some of these wines requires that consumers be placed on a wait list.
So I asked Julien what the response was to Kosta Browne suddenly introducing a Burgundy Series?
'We sold out in two days!' he responded with a big smile. 'We had 4,000 cases and offered it on a first-come, first serve basis.'
The only problem was that the following year, in 2021, Burgundy vineyards were hit by very bad frost and lost over 50% of their crop in some areas. 'We couldn't import as much wine from Burgundy, and some of our members were disappointed because we could only offer them 4 bottles on allocation instead of a case of wine.'
Fortunately, the 2021 crop in California was bountiful, but due to the need to age the wine for 12 to 24 months, it was not immediately available.
Since that time, Julien has been overseeing winemaking production in both California and Burgundy. He has become more fully engaged with the winemaking in Burgundy, flying to France several times per year to work with their partner to select the grapes, barrels, and participate in the winemaking – just as he does in California.
After the wine is crafted in Burgundy and aged in barrel for some time, it is shipped in container to California, where Julien and his team ensure that it finishes aging and is then bottled under the 'Kosta Browne' name.
When asked about the impact of the tariff situation, Julien responded that they are currently paying the 10% U.S. imposed tariffs on products imported from France, but are hoping it will go away.
Kosta Browne Burgundy Wine Series for 2022 Kosta Browne Tasting The Wines of Kosta Browne
Kosta Browne only produces pinot noir and chardonnay, which are available in five different series to consumers: Appellations Series – wines from the well-known California appellations of: Russian River Valley, Anderson Valley, Sonoma Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands and Santa Rita Hills. Starting in 2022, Kosta Browne started making wine in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, for this series. Estate Series – special wines made solely from vineyards owned and farmed by Kosta Browne Single Vineyard Series – wines produced from famous vineyards in California Burgundy Series – wines produced in Burgundy and imported to the U.S. for final aging and bottling Observation Series – a very limited experimental group of wines, available only to members who visit the winery
I was able to taste and analyze 13 wines with Julien, from all five of the series. For this article, I will focus on tasting notes from the Burgundy Series, but the wines from the other appellations are all excellent, with each clearly expressing the unique characteristics of the region or vineyard.
Kosta Browne 2022 Volnay Pinot Noir – aromatic nose of red cherry, dried lavender, and cranberry, with darker red fruit on palate. Very elegant and streamlined with silky tannins, and a long finish with refreshing acidity.
Kosta Browne 2022 Pommard Pinot Noir – classic nose of black cherry, earth and spice, with a richly structured mouthfeel brimming with blackberry and hints of pepper.
Kosta Browne 2022 Beaune Premier Cru Pinot Noir – an exquisite wine with seductive Bing cherry and dried rose petal on the nose, followed by succulent raspberry and spice on the palate. Silky smooth tannins, crisp acidity, and a vibrancy that dances across the palate in a very long finish.
Kosta Browne 2022 Nuits St. George – a dark and earthy wine with notes of mushroom and dried black fruit on nose and palate. Well structured, powerful and rustic, with fresh acidity and a complex finish.
Kosta Browne 2022 Chablis Premier Cru – enticing nose of white blossoms and lemon, with mouth-watering peach, citrus and chalky stone on the palate. Refreshing, vibrant, and very satisfying with a bright cleansing finish. Visiting Kosta Browne Winery
The Kosta Browne winery is located in Sebastopol, California and is open to all visitors, by appointment. They offer three different tasting formats: A Taste of KB for $75 per person, The Observations Flight for $150 per person, and The Reserve Flight for $185 per person.
The winery is located in the Barlow Market of Sebastopol that offers a great variety of excellent restaurants, shops, events, and other winery tasting rooms. From the outside, it looks like a warehouse district constructed of metal building, but once inside the Kosta Browne winery, visitors will be awed by the beautiful tasting areas, impressive winemaking equipment, and stunning tank room.