Kongsgaard The Judge Napa Valley Chardonnay White Wine 2016 750ml

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Bottled in June 2018, the 2016 Chardonnay The Judge opens a little reticently with slowly unfurling notions of lime leaves, yuzu and freshly squeezed lemons with notes of honeyed white peaches and crème brûlée followed by crushed rocks, lemongrass and praline plus a waft of peach blossoms. Full-bodied with fantastic richness and so many layers, the classic The Judge savoriness comes through in spades in the mid-palate with a seductively silken texture and epically long, mineral and spice-tinged finish. - Robert Parker's

Fifth-generation Napa natives, Maggy and John Kongsgaard began their endeavor in the 1970s planting The Judge vineyard on their family land near Napa. The inaugural Kongsgaard wines came in 1996. Now, Kongsgaard produces The Judge, Chardonnay, VioRous, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon in their underground winery—a cave dug into the volcanic rock, high on the eastern rim of the Napa Valley where they have planted a spectacular mountain vineyard. Kongsgaard also directs the farming under long-term contracts on several perfect acres in the Napa Carneros and near the winery. These intensely farmed, shy-bearing vineyards and Kongsgaard's traditional low-intervention winemaking produce powerful, graceful wines—vivid expressions of vineyard and variety. Production is limited to what Maggy and John, with their son Alex, can make with their own hands.