Dan Kosta is a native of Sonoma County where wine became an integral part of his life at the age of 5, learning about the enjoyment of wine from his father. At home, wine was served at nearly every dinner and discussion of wine always accompanied the pour. At his dad’s wine shop in Santa Rosa, Dan learned about labels, varietals and stlye. Later, Dan followed his passion for food and worked for more than 15 years in fine dining, with the majority of his experience gained at John Ash & Co. in Santa Rosa, CA. He worked every position imaginable at the restaurant, finally landing as the Operations Manager and Wine Director. Dan & Michael Browne had worked together at John Ash & Co. for six years before changing the focus from wine purchasing to wine production. Harvesting a few grapes in 1997, the first Kosta Browne wines were produced. Dan & Michael have slowly built Kosta Browne into a 4000 case facility, producing Pinot Noir from the Russian River & Sonoma Coast appellations.

While running the sales & marketing side of Kosta Browne, Dan has also consulted for restaurants in the Sonoma County area. Dan also sits on the Board of Directors for the Sonoma County Harvest Fair as well as participating in numerous judgings such as the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, West Coast Wine Competition, Grand Harvest Awards & the weekly wine section of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.