2011 Kongsgaard Chardonnay The Judge

Bright medium yellow. Musky aromas of stone fruits, stone and nutty oak, plus a whiff of game. Large-scaled, tactile and sweet; a bit less precise today than the Napa bottling owing to its amazing amount of baby fat, but the wine's depth and sweetness of fruit and outstanding length suggest it will be spectacular with a few years of bottle age. Finishes with an almost roasted hint and a remarkably chewy quality. The yield here was under a ton an acre in 2011, according to Kongsgaard. I'm not finding quite the stoniness or electric citric verve shown by a barrel sample a year ago, but this is a huge mouthful of chardonnay.

The 2011 Chardonnay The Judge is more evolved, complex and seductive, with plenty of honeysuckle, roasted nuts, and marmalade notes intermixed with citrus oil and orange blossom. Although it doesn’t have the size and foundation of the 2012, this beauty is still a knock-out Chardonnay. These all look like impressive wines, but they are so limited in availability, I’ve kept my tasting notes short. The brilliant John Kongsgaard – part winemaker, part opera devotee, and part mystic – has a few new items up his sleeve for release. Of course, he is still offering his Chardonnays and Syrahs, which are among the very best made in California. Over recent years Kongsgaard has branched out to produce Cabernet Sauvignon from Atlas Peak. He has two cuvees now that come from these volcanic soils, cropped at very tiny yields of one ton of fruit per acre. The wines come from relatively old vines for Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, 35 years of age as of 2012. Kongsgaard’s newest baby, which he started making in 2009, is only two to four barrels of co-fermented Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon in a 50/50 blend from the Atlas Peak site. Fax (707) 226-2936

The 2011 Chardonnay The Judge has come together beautifully since I tasted it last year. Lemon, white flowers, crushed rocks and pears meld together in a totally seamless Chardonnay endowed with stunning depth and purity. There are no hard edges at all in this impeccable, nuanced Chardonnay. This is a great showing from Kongsgaard.