John Kongsgaard and His Wine

Here comes The Judge… (more on that later)

Food & Wine magazine named John Kongsgaard “Winemaker of the Year” in 2004. Noted wine critic Robert Parker proclaims “When tasting anything produced by John Kongsgaard, I always get the impression that his approach to winemaking consistently results in some of California's most singular and distinctive wines.” Are you beginning to think that Mr. Kongsgaard is one talented fellow?

Just wait till you taste his wines…

A fifth generation Napa valley native, John Kongsgaard came to prominence in the wine industry as the winemaker for Newton Vineyards. In 1996 he launched his own eponymous label with a Chardonnay grown on the family’s 10-acre farm. The rest, as they say, is history…

Today John and wife Maggy use what they refer to as low-intervention winemaking techniques and consistently turn out some of the best wines in California. Chardonnay, Cabernet, a Grenache Syrah blend and a Vio Rous (Viognier-Roussanne blend) are on the list, and all are top notch wines with their flagship wine being…

The Judge

Grown on a rocky hillside on family property east of Napa with Chardonnay vines that produce extremely low yields, this is one blockbuster of a wine. We put it easily in the top 5 Chardonnays of California, it’s that good!

As for the judge reference, John’s father was a judge in Napa for several years. I guess that’s what they call keeping it in the family…