Besides, he doesn't make a Pinot Noir.I'm on a couple of Pinot Noir mailing lists too many, so I'm drinking some head-to-head to decide what to stick with.
I apologize for the brevity of my comments. Drank one glass of each Friday, then finished them off Saturday with company. These were both very good wines. On the nose, you can tell the Kosta Browne is more new worldy, with loads of fruit. The Shea Wine Cellars Wadenswil counters subtley with what seemed like darker fruit and perhaps some more earthy or spicey or leathery something I couldn't put my finger on.
In a similar fashion, in the mouth the Kosta Browne is more obvious... has great pinot fruit flavor, with some nice complexity to pull out. Nice finish. The Shea Wadenswil clone is more reserved, but the darker flavors had more complexity and seemed more interesting to not only me, but my wife and father. Really nice finish... One of the better and more interesting pinots I've had. In fact, it's the very fact that it has its own quite unique character that made me really like it. The KB was very good (and one of the better examples) but tasted like other fruit-forward pinots I've had.
KB Russian River: 90pts.
Shea Wadenswil: 92pts.
As background, I wasn't very thrilled with a Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast, as it came across as too sweet for my tastes. I prefer the Russian River Valley. Anyone know if the styles of those two bottlings are fairly consistent from vintage to vintage?
Bad news on the Shea Wadenswil is that this was the last bottling - they tore out the vines to replant. I think they are replanting with the Wadenswil clone again, so look for it in the future.
I'd like to try some Shea Vineyard bottlings from other producers.
