Kongsgaard Wines – The Essence of Napa Valley, California
--One 1.5 L 2012 Kongsgaard ‘The Judge’ Chardonnay
--One 1.5 L 2008 Kongsgaard Syrah

Fifth-generation Napa natives John and Maggy Kongsgaard produce a number of fine wines from their ten-acre family property, and from properties under long-term contract in the Carneros region and near St. Helena.

But possibly the most famous and sought-after wine they produce is ‘The Judge’ Chardonnay, named after John’s late father who was the judge in Napa County from 1959 to 1985.

The grapes for this dreamy wine are grown on a rocky hillside just east of the town of Napa, which was acquired by John’s grandparents in the 1920s as a potential quarry site. The extremely rocky ground produces a miniscule crop of around one ton of grapes per acre, yielding less than one-half bottle of wine per vine. Robert Parker called this super-concentrated wine …“the essence of Chardonnay – one of the most profound Chardonnays made in California.”

‘The Judge’ is fermented in all new, Burgundian oak barrels and clarified by gravity, allowing bottling without filtration or fining after nearly two years of barrel age. The 2012 Chardonnay ‘The Judge’ is incredibly rich and textured, with loads of honeysuckle and exotic marmalade notes. This sexy beast of a Chardonnay has brilliant delineation and stunning concentration and length along with undeniable minerality, loaded with class and personality with a layered, nuanced finish.

Special, indeed, ‘The Judge’ Chardonnay is never sold in magnum format; it is only released to family and donated to very, very, very lucky charities. And here, you have the chance to get one magnum of this precious nectar, from the 2012 vintage, and a magnum of the 2008 Syrah.

The 2008 Syrah is from a special, 3-acre parcel of the Hudson Vineyard planted in volcanic soils which reveals abundant meaty notes intermixed with notions of smoked herbs, bacon, black currants, plums and Asian spices. This is a full-bodied, complex Syrah.

In the words of Robert Parker in the Wine Advocate, "John Kongsgaard is in search of the Holy Grail and these are among the most interesting, naturally made wines one will find on Planet Earth."