Kongsgaard Napa Valley Syrah 2018

John Kongsgaard is a fifth-generation Napa Valley resident who planned to become a literature professor—until he turned 19 and went on an assignment to Stony Hill Winery near St. Helena. John went to fetch wine for his father, a connoisseur and respected judge, and discovered that Stony Hill's owner, Fred McCrea, was chatting with customers while leaning against a mantel with a glass of wine in hand. This moment forever changed John's ambitions. Since then, his goal has been to become a winemaker. After earning a degree in English at the University of Colorado and spending some time in Europe, John enrolled at Napa Valley College, intending to pursue a graduate degree in viticulture and enology at the University of California, Davis. After earning his master's degree, John studied under two prominent mentors, André Tchelistcheff of Beaulieu Vineyard and Nathan Fay, who grew the Fay vineyard, famous for bottling Cabernet from a single vineyard at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars. After his first job in Sonoma, John worked at Newton, experimenting with Old World techniques and bottling Napa Valley's first unfiltered Chardonnay. Over the years, his professional path has crossed with more luminaries of the wine world than we can name: he collaborated with Fritz Hatton, gleaned wisdom firsthand from Michel Rolland, and mentored Aaron Pott and Andy Erickson. In 1995, John and his wife Maggie produced the first vintage of Kongsgaard, and since then, The Judge Chardonnay Kongsgaard, sourced from low-yielding vines on the family vineyard Stonecrest, has become arguably the most sought-after white wine in California. Hudson Syrah, produced in equally small quantities, is no less desirable and equally magical. The Syrah block owned by Kongsgaard, two acres on the Hudson Ranch in Carneros, founded by John's classmate Davis, a Texas native, in 1981, consists exclusively of volcanic soils and was planted according to John's specifications. He ferments the Syrah on native yeasts, ages it for two years in 40% new French oak, and bottles it without filtration. The result is a product of passion, patience, and restraint: a wine of thrilling depth, incredible power, and endless nuance.