2006 VioRous

This was my last tasting with John Kongsgaard at his home on Spring Mountain, as he and his wife will shortly relocate to their new property on Atlas Peak, where he began making his wines at a new facility in 2006. As usual, these were some of the top wines of my Napa Valley tour: the 2005 Judge chardonnay promises to be one of the greatest California chardonnays made to date (my high-water mark has long been the 1990 Marcassin Lorenzo Vineyard bottling), while the syrah from the same vintage is also extraordinary. Kongsgaard's first varietally labelled cabernet, made from 12-year-old vines planted next to the Judge Vineyard in Napa and from several barrels from the Abreu Madrona Ranch vineyard in St. Helena, is also a knockout.