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100 WA. "The 2017 Chardonnay The Judge prances out of the glass with flamboyant notes of baked pineapple, green mango, apricot preserves and nutmeg with underlying nuances of sea spray, lime blossoms, yuzu, almond croissant and crushed rocks plus a waft of beeswax. Full-bodied, the palate is charged with amazing energy, featuring loads of tightly knit layers and a scintillating backbone of freshness, finishing with decadent creaminess and with that lingering “The Judge” mineral signature coming through at the very tail end. “There is a trade-off,” Alex Kongsgaard told me when I asked he and his father, John, about the benefits of their extended barrel age regime for the Chardonnays. “With more time in barrel, the wine gains more complexity. But if you go too far, then you overwhelm the terroir. The place becomes less transparent. For us, there’s a sweet spot. We like to have the fruit at the background. Our wine has enough inherent structure that it thrives on that. The terroir gives it the structure so that it can take more and more in terms of natural fermentation, long elevage, etc.” Robert Parker once called Kongsgaard’s technique “The Death & The Resurrection.” Clearly, it works—these classically forged Chardonnays are consistently jaw-droppingly incredible. The 2017s and 2018s couldn’t get more different in terms of styles, but The Judge vineyard’s signature clearly, impactfully, beautifully shines through. I can’t recommend these wines highly enough." Wine Advocate Interim, Nov 2019 |