Vertical Tasting of Kongsgaard Syrah

John Kongsgaard had his Syrah epiphany in France. Kongsgaard, who first gained renown for the Chardonnays he made for Newton Winery in the early 1980s, and subsequently for his Merlots and Cabernets, visited Condrieu in 1986 with Peter Newton, who was very interested in Viognier. On the trip, Kongsgaard discovered Côte-Rôtie and got the bug for Syrah in an Old World style. “Before that I was a Bordeaux guy, but I was awestruck by the northern Rhône, especially Côte-Rôtie,” Kongsgaard told me during an epic vertical tasting of his Syrah in March. “I had tasted Syrahs from Australia and California, but the super-fruity version wasn’t so interesting to me. I gravitated to the northern Rhône’s leaner, minerally, energetic wines that were more about soil than fruit.”

Kongsgaard had worked with Lee Hudson ever since this outstanding Carneros grower started planting vines at the beginning of the ‘80s, but his involvement had been with Chardonnay and Bordeaux selections. (Kongsgaard purchased Hudson Chardonnay fruit for Newton in 1983, the first commercial vintage for Hudson.) But Hudson had also planted some Syrah vines at the outset and Kongsgaard bought two tons of Syrah fruit from Hudson’s Q block in 1996 and launched his own label. (That same year Kongsgaard and his partner Fritz Hatton established Arietta. Kongsgaard eventually sold his share of Arietta to Hatton in 2005, so that he could construct a winery and expand his eponymous label.)

Q Block - The Source for the Syrah Hudson Vineyard

From 1996 through 2000 Kongsgaard bought two tons of Syrah fruit annually, but after Jade Mountain, another client of Hudson’s, was sold, Kongsgaard was able to get all five tons of fruit from this 2-1/2-acre, southwest-facing hillside site, which Kongsgaard describes as “one of the rare instances in Carneros where the volcanics are on the surface.” Carneros, he explained, normally features ocean deposits of shale and clay from 20 million years ago. But during the volcanic period 6 million years ago, there were vents in the ground through which ash and lava flowed out. “So we have a very interesting combination of mineral content and cool conditions near San Pablo Bay,” he summarized.