1998 Red Wine

"If you're a Euro drinker, you're in the right barn here," said John Kongsgaard during my tasting of his various sets of wines at Luna at the end of February. These are naturally made and utterly distinctive wines with uncanny density and tactile quality. In contrast to most wines from California, the Kongsgaard bottlings, especially those under the Kongsgaard and Arietta labels, are about much more than mere fruitiness.

John Kongsgaard, who was responsible for the Newton wines through 1996, is the winemaker behind the Luna venture, in partnership with Mike Moone, ex-president of Beringer, and George Vare, who once owned the Henry Wine Group, a California wholesaler. Luna was envisioned as a source of Italianate wines, chief among them a barrel-fermented pinot grigio in the style of a Gravner or a Radikon, but I find the pinot grigio more Alsatian in style; nor is the winery's chewy, gamey merlot, from vineyards in Carneros and Yountville, a style commonly produced in Italy. That said, these are terrific, characterful wines worth seeking out. About 3,000 cases of sangiovese and 5,000 cases of pinot grigio are made; there is also a small quantity of reserve sangiovese and a "super-Tuscan" blend called Canto. Under his own label, Kongsgaard offers an extraordinary chardonnay, from a steep, north-facing hillside in the southeastern corner of Napa Valley, as well as a limited quantity of syrah. In partnership with Fritz Hatton of Christie's, Kongsgaard also makes a Cheval Blanc-like cabernet franc/cabernet sauvignon blend called Arietta (there is also a varietal merlot bottling under the Arietta label).