Kosta Browne was an overnight success, but will Convene be?

Kosta Browne became a household name among wine lovers in 2011 when its 2009 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast bested wines across the globe and was selected as the No. 1 bottling in Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines ranking.

The brand’s co-founder, vintner Dan Kosta, 50, has spent a quarter of a century mastering his craft. Now he’s launching a new brand, Convene.

“I wanted to make a well-thought out approach to a brand, building on my experiences in the wine industry — the successes, the failures, the challenges and the achievements,” Kosta said. “Convene was born out of those ideas.”

The brand focuses on pinot noir and chardonnay with fruit from the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast American Viticultural areas and bottlings ranging from $52 to $64. Kosta tapped Shane Finley as the winemaker.

“We’ve been crafting wines together for more than 15 years,” Kosta said. “He was our associate winemaker at Kosta Browne until 2012, so we’ve grown together and, most importantly, we speak the same language of wine.”

Kosta said he named the label Convene as a nod to his journey, “a coming together” of the ideas, vineyards and friends of his past.

Overnight success

“It was such a shock,” Kosta remembered about that 2011 recognition by Wine Spectator. “This contest is a on a global scale, and it confirms our goal of making truly world-class wines.”

Kosta cofounded Kosta Browne with Michael Browne in 1997. They began their enterprise with one barrel of pinot noir after pooling their tips when Kosta was the wine director at Santa Rosa’s John Ash restaurant and Browne was a sommelier.

In 2009, the Texas Pacific Group, headed by Bill Price, purchased Kosta Browne. In 2014, another private equity group, J.W. Childs Associates, bought the brand. Kosta and Browne stayed on as partners during those acquisitions. But when Napa Valley’s Duckhorn Wine Co. bought Kosta Browne in 2018, they moved on and no longer played a role in their namesake brand.

“We sold our brand three times, and you pick out the proper buyers of the brand not because they’re the highest bidder but because they’re going to be the best steward of the brand,” Kosta said. “If a wine is going to be a legacy, it has to be in the right hands.”

Stepping into the limelight with the Wine Spectator win, Kosta said, gave the brand gravitas.

“We had experienced a good level of success with our early 2000s vintages,” he said. “But until winning the No. 1 spot, Kosta Browne was a bit of a discovery.”

The only other time a Sonoma County wine edged out all the other contenders in the Top 100 Wines was in 1999, with Chateau St. Jean’s 1996 Cinq Cepages Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County.

Mastering pinot noir

Over the years, the intrigue of boutique pinot noir has only deepened for Kosta.

From 2013 through 2018, he partnered with celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse to produce 3,000 cases yearly of the label AldenAlli, which focused on pinot noir.

Convene, which produces 6,000 cases yearly, is also weighted to pinot noir and celebrates Sonoma County fruit.

“Over a lifelong career as a vintner, many things have changed,” Kosta said. “These include my palate, my approach to the craft, relationships and even the climate. What hasn’t changed for me is my opinion that Northern California remains the cradle of the best New World pinot noir.”

Kosta said the Russian River American Viticultural Area offers generous fruit-driven wines with clear stone-fruit qualities. The Sonoma Coast AVA, in contrast, gives wines a savory undertone and brilliant acidity.

Today, Kosta said, he aspires to bottle wines with “nuance and tension” rather than “power and intensity.”

The father of four — Tyler, 17; Maggie, 14; Sean, 13; and Sophia, 2 ½ months — said his pinot noir style has evolved over his journey in winemaking. The philanthropic vintner, who was a member of the Sonoma County Vintners board from 2009 to 2019, said he regards the strength of a good pinot noir differently today.

“Looking back, I view youth as a time of intensity, grit, power, hedonism and a sharp learning curve in all aspects of life,” Kosta said.

“As we age, and hopefully gain wisdom,” Kosta said, “we no longer have to be the loudest voice in the room.”

You can reach Wine Writer Peg Melnik at peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5310.