2010 Kongsgaard Chardonnay The Judge- USA, California, Napa Valley (4/25/2015)
Sweet honeysuckle aromas. Flavors are quite balanced. Flavors of honey, brown sugar and minerals. Long lasting flavor. (95 pts.)
I enjoyed this wine with a wonderful home cooked chicken panini with provolone and mozzarella cheese with pesto, mayonnaise, and sun-dried tomato. The bread was Chicago italian bread that was prepped with butter. The sandwich was very rich to say the least. The chardonnay held up quite well with the complex flavors of the panini.
I thought it would be nice to compare the three 2010 Kongsgaard Chardonnay offerings. You can see the Judge above and the other two below…
2010 Kongsgaard Chardonnay- USA, California, Napa Valley (4/5/2015)
Great acidity. Very light color. Great balance. Aromas of citrus and honeysuckle. The aftertaste is the winner. Great long lasting flavors of brown sugar and honey. (95 pts.)
2010 Kongsgaard Chardonnay Kings Farm- USA, California, Napa Valley (5/2/2015)
An excellent wine. Nice mouth feel and long lasting flavor. Aromas of honeysuckle and vanilla. A nice tartness in the flavors that include lemon and honey. (92 pts.)
Serious question: were these actual flavors you picked up in the wine? I ask because I’ve never had what I thought was a good Chardonnay that had brown sugar. Honey, maybe, but not brown sugar.
Yes, my wife and I both had the same conclusion. We picked up the subtle flavor of brown sugar. While it did not dominate, it was there all the same. We did not detect that sweetness, but that molasses part of brown sugar. You also pick up the same flavor component in dark rum.
That brown sugar aspect was probably the early sign of the wine aging/oxidizing. A number of the Kongsgaard Chardonnays with a few years of age I’ve had have exhibited this, but it’s not there when they are young. They typically have a fair amount of oak as well, maybe that was a contributing factor.
Kongsgaard Chardonnays are interesting, unusual wines, and while I no longer buy them, I understand the appeal. Unfortunately, I’ve had the same experience as Alan. I’ve only had the regular Chardonnay (not the “Judge”), but I purchased a few bottles each year from the 2008 to 2010 vintage. I stopped buying after we had three straight bottles from the 2008 and 2009 vintages that exhibited clear oxidative notes.
We opened a bottle of 2011 The Judge approximately six months ago, and found it to be quite different from Kongsgaard’s regular chardonnay. It was an interesting combination of flavors from their chardonnay, but with a strong minerality/acidity that reminded me of a young Hanzell chardonnay. Probably the most distinctive California chardonnay I have tasted.
My own experience does not reflect that as a general rule. I still have several California Chardonnays from 2008 and 2009. I have not observed widespread oxidation, although I am starting to drink up. You seem to be right about Kongsgaard though.
FWIW, Galloni assigns drinking windows for Kongsgaard Chardonnay (both regular and the “Judge”) out to 10+ years. I think the consensus of this thread is that following that advice would be disastrous.
I say that from two decades of being served well-stored chardonnays in a brown-bag group I’m in.
It’s certainly not universal. I had marvelous 20-plus-year-old bottles of Chalone and Ch. St. Jean a year or two ago that were fresh and lively. But I’ve had many more chardonnays that were markedly oxidized after five or six years. My general sense is that it’s acid that sustains the ones that do last and the softer ones are less likely to go the distance.
I only buy California Chardonnay from a few producers. My 2008s and 2009s are from Peay, Rhys, Radio Coteau, and Rochioli. The first three are relatively “high acid” Chardonnays, but the Rochioli – the “softest” of the bunch – appears to be among the most age-worthy, and with the longest track record.
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