The 2010 Chardonnay The Judge is rich, ripe and seamless, but also supported by plenty of vintage 2010 minerality. Lemon, pastry, spices and intense crushed rocks are all woven together beautifully in a focused, taut Chardonnay loaded with class and personality. Saline notes come to life on the layered, nuanced finish. A high presence of shot berries reduced yields to just one ton per acre. Most of the fruit was old Stony Hill Wente. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2020. These wines from John Kongsgaard were among the highlights from the month I spent in Napa Valley this year. The overall quality level here is absolutely remarkable. It is rare to see someone who is so brilliant with so many grape varieties, but Kongsgaard seems to have the magic touch. The Chardonnays remain among the most exquisite in California. Kongsgaard favors longer elevage for his Chardonnays and is generally willing to take greater risks than most of his colleagues. No guts, no glory, as the saying goes. Well, there is plenty of glory here. Fax (707) 226-2936