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Kongsgaard Chardonnay The Judge(2004)

Is the usual blend of Kongsgaard, Hudson and Hyde vineyards. Like The Judge, this wine spends 22 months in the barrel in which it was fermented. The idea of the long barrel aging is to bring out the mineral character and allow the fruit to loom in the background. Parker noted the “smoky terroir-like earthiness, terrific acidity, and laser-like precision,” and found the aroma to show “ripe poached pear and a hint of orange blossom.” This Chardonnay fermented for 14 months – the indigenous yeast worked slowly but steadily and the fruit of their struggle is the extravagantly opulent and complex finish.
Stephen Tanzer
International Wine Cellar
Issue 132, May/June 2007
95/100
July 2007
($175) Wilder, more reduced nose than the 2005, with notes of mocha, smoke and nutty oak. Then broad, dry and full: this is almost too big for the mouth. This glyceral-thick chardonnay boasts staggering volume, but in spite of its almost exotic thickness and tropical fruit notes, I'd still like to put this in a blind tasting of top grand cru Burgundies. The wine's solid mineral underpinning began to express itself with aeration.
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Robert Parker
The Wine Advocate
Issue 168
98/100
July 2007
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Wine Advocate # 162
Dec-05
(98-100)
April 2008
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Wine Advocate # 168
Dec-06
98/100
April 2008
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