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Kongsgaard Chardonnay(2001)

CHARDONNAY NAPA VALLEY is grown primarily on the shy-bearing Kongsgaard family vineyard described above. This vineyard gives the wine its dense, minerally core and extravagant honeyed aroma. Small amounts of wine made from two distinguished Carneros vineyards, Hudson and Hyde, are included in the blend, bringing stone fruit and citrus high-notes to the wine. Like The Judge, the Napa Valley Chardonnay is allowed to ferment in new French barrels without any human intervention other than the weekly stirring by hand – no yeast, no bacteria, no fining, no filtration.
Stephen Tanzer
International Wine Cellar
Issue 114, May/June 2004
94(+?)
September 2007
($75) Pale medium yellow. Slightly high-toned aromas of candied orange peel, mirabelle, smoke and exotic herbs, as in Chartreuse or Benedictine. Wonderfully restrained and precise in the mouth, with the nervosite of great Burgundy. Bright, minerally and gripping, with hints of citrus peel and exotic herbs lifted by brisk acidity. Not at all an in-your-face style of California chardonnay despite its obvious density and strong extract. This will make a killer ringer in a white Burgundy tasting six or eight years from now. Kongsgaard described 2002 as a good, "coolish" year for chardonnay, read more...
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Robert Parker
The Wine Advocate
Issue 150
98/100
September 2007
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James Laube
Wine Spectator
95/100
September 2007
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Wine Advocate # 150
Dec-03
98/100
April 2008
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Jancis Robinson
18/20
May 2008
A rather obvious ringer but an excellent wine. Pale straw. Sweet, pineapple sherbet nose. Glossy and opulent with a hint of Batard quality aromatically. Sweet and seductive, positively slides on to the palate. Rich start, very sweet and powerful. Toasty and almost more Montrachet-like in its power. A glorious dry white wine by any standards! So powerful yet with real structure and fabulous acidity. Reminds me slightly of DRC 1978 Montrachet - need one say more? Hot finish though and already approachable. Quite hot... lemon cough pastille flavours. It seems more evolved than most.
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