@ The Office w/ John Kongsgaard: ‘Honey nectar/mead’ Some Cheerio aromas. Quite a spark, and a bit of a dark edge. Dry, not blowsy, with some oak still showing to the palate.
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Meaty secondary nose , if u closed your eyes you would think there is some Pinot in there . Flat Cali chardonnay taste , in great shape really. 16 years on gotta like that .
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when i opened this bottle i was reminded of the SouthPark episode when people were putting money in the bank and the bank was immediately telling them that they lost the money...."and its gone"...dark as scotch , bitter and burnt......1/2 hour later the wine was back buttery , lighter in color nice wine......wine never ever ceases to amaze me
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This is holding up well. Deep color – off putting to some at table – is supported by a lovely nose of pop corm and white flowers. Heavy mouth feel, this demands a rich dish. Only real nit is the slightly heavy/alcoholic finish. Wine actually improved with 45 minutes of air. (92)
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Incredible. More yellow than the 2002 with almost no green. The nose was similar as well, but there was an extra dollop of toasted marshmallow, and flambe bananas. Very awesome. In the mouth there is maybe a little less identity than the 2002, but still tremendous. These need to be consumed in the near term.
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Served with grilled scallops. Honey yellow. Unfortunately not really my style as far as chardonnay goes- a "big butter bomb" as one of our guests called it. Very intense, with ripe apricots, spicy oak finish. Pretty flabby with not a lot of lift.
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Belated Birthday Extravaganza (an Restaurant (Cary, NC)): Popped and poured. This wine exhibited a golden color. On the nose, the wine was a bit closed at first but within ten minutes it would reveal notes of poached pears, pineapples, apricot with notes of lemon oil and nutmeg. On the palate, flavors of apricots and pears were dominant with notes of butteriness, vanilla and nutmeg. Definitely showed it's age and I can't see this lasting too much longer... so DRINK UP if you got them. HS90
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Another enjoyable bottle of Kongsgaard with a lovely ripe nose. Quite fat but a bit flat in the middle and I think the fruit is losing out to the heat. Need to drink up.
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Shafer Hillside Select Vertical (Zealous - Chicago, IL): Gold color with a lavish, fragrant perfume of pineapple, honeyed pears and soft vanilla notes. Palate echoes the nose and has a plump, buttery mouthfeel. Harmoniously balanced. Broad, deep and long finish. At peak drinking --- outstanding. 4+14+17+8=93
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Tasted twice this past summer, two different reviews/scores.
First bottle consumed fairly quickly upon opening. Started out a bit uni-dimensional with soft oak, butter, lemony acidity. But as the wine warmed and aerated, lots of electric zing came to the mid-palate and led me wanting to buy more. 92 pts.
Second bottle was given to me by a wine rep; had been open for at least 3 hours. Totally different wine, very disappointing. The usual overaged, over the hill Chardonnay flavors, butter going bad, flat metallic taste, limp body. Still some interest, however. 77 points.
Thus from these 2 experiences it seems that the wine evolved fairly quickly and thus is not deserving of any more age. Drink up.
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Served cellar temp 55+ over an hour...so relatively warm. Golden hue. Initially hot and steely pit fruit aromas of apricot and peach. Flavors of butterscotch, mineral and a kind of nutty pear in the mouth. There was a very slight undertow of burned wood but it was neither a primary flavor nor destructive to the experience. Still a bit of soft tannins towards the end. Long finish with some vanilla tones. Balanced and pleasant. Following glass had a cooler start; unexpressive but more open and each of the previous descriptors was more muted with softer edges as it warmed -- the wood had faded to invisibility, too.
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Dinner at Acme with Fred & Ronnie. Medium gold in the glass. A good match with the dayboat scallops. Very rich, deep and creamy. Seems to see a lot of oak and there were oak spices that were obvious and almost seemed to stick out but the wine rode the edge of that line nicely. 50+12+11+8+8 = 89
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At Vino (Ritz Carlton), Maui. Pale yellow gold. You can see how restrained and elegant it is, just by looking. Nose of peaches and caramel (!). Palate of mellow citrus and ginger, with a long, consistent finish. Focused, buttery structure (first time I've had a chard where butter was the framework, and not a flavor), with a long finish. Incredible balance, and a truly lovely wine.
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As on previous occasions, the Kongsgaard Chardonnay from any vintage is a dynamite bottle of wine. Loads of tropical fruits, butter, vanilla, hazelnut, and minerals, all presented in a balanced and understated (for California Chardonnay) manner. Awesome juice.
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Thanks to the advice of fellow posters, this was decanted 30 minutes prior to drinking and served just slightly below room temperature. I was really bowled over by the golden color and also by how subtle, complex, and nuanced the wine was despite obviously possessing great size. In fact only the high alcohol content struck me as being Californian about the wine; the buttery breadth of the wine was balanced by minerally structure and lively tropical fruit. 95 pts.
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6/5/2023 - nzinkgraf wrote:
@ The Office w/ John Kongsgaard: ‘Honey nectar/mead’
Some Cheerio aromas. Quite a spark, and a bit of a dark edge. Dry, not blowsy, with some oak still showing to the palate.
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12/22/2016 - SlimShaney wrote: 88 Points
Nose suggests its well past prime. Varnish.
Palate of burnt butter popcorn. Interesting. Good wine for the movies!
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10/14/2016 - jsebiri wrote:
Meaty secondary nose , if u closed your eyes you would think there is some Pinot in there . Flat Cali chardonnay taste , in great shape really. 16 years on gotta like that .
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12/28/2012 - jsebiri wrote:
when i opened this bottle i was reminded of the SouthPark episode when people were putting money in the bank and the bank was immediately telling them that they lost the money...."and its gone"...dark as scotch , bitter and burnt......1/2 hour later the wine was back buttery , lighter in color nice wine......wine never ever ceases to amaze me
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11/28/2010 - Johann Von Mastiff wrote: 91 Points
Maybe held onto this for a bit too long. A good wine but a bit past its prime.
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11/27/2009 - Charlie Carnes wrote: 92 Points
This one has a litle age on it but it is none-the-less very good. Yellowed and aged with toasty tropical fruit. Drink 'em up.
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4/13/2009 - dbkitc wrote: 92 Points
This is holding up well. Deep color – off putting to some at table – is supported by a lovely nose of pop corm and white flowers. Heavy mouth feel, this demands a rich dish. Only real nit is the slightly heavy/alcoholic finish. Wine actually improved with 45 minutes of air. (92)
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3/30/2009 - Charlie Carnes wrote: 94 Points
Incredible. More yellow than the 2002 with almost no green. The nose was similar as well, but there was an extra dollop of toasted marshmallow, and flambe bananas. Very awesome. In the mouth there is maybe a little less identity than the 2002, but still tremendous. These need to be consumed in the near term.
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8/17/2008 - mjf@ulkner wrote: 87 Points
Served with grilled scallops. Honey yellow. Unfortunately not really my style as far as chardonnay goes- a "big butter bomb" as one of our guests called it. Very intense, with ripe apricots, spicy oak finish. Pretty flabby with not a lot of lift.
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12/8/2007 - HurrahSyrah wrote: 90 Points
Belated Birthday Extravaganza (an Restaurant (Cary, NC)): Popped and poured. This wine exhibited a golden color. On the nose, the wine was a bit closed at first but within ten minutes it would reveal notes of poached pears, pineapples, apricot with notes of lemon oil and nutmeg. On the palate, flavors of apricots and pears were dominant with notes of butteriness, vanilla and nutmeg. Definitely showed it's age and I can't see this lasting too much longer... so DRINK UP if you got them. HS90
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4/6/2007 - cortoncharlie wrote: 91 Points
Another enjoyable bottle of Kongsgaard with a lovely ripe nose. Quite fat but a bit flat in the middle and I think the fruit is losing out to the heat. Need to drink up.
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4/5/2007 - Olch wrote: 84 Points
Good, but losing complexity - time to drink up..
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1/11/2007 - Nanda wrote: 93 Points
Shafer Hillside Select Vertical (Zealous - Chicago, IL): Gold color with a lavish, fragrant perfume of pineapple, honeyed pears and soft vanilla notes. Palate echoes the nose and has a plump, buttery mouthfeel. Harmoniously balanced. Broad, deep and long finish. At peak drinking --- outstanding. 4+14+17+8=93
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11/25/2006 - kkazaks wrote: 0 Points
Tasted twice this past summer, two different reviews/scores.
First bottle consumed fairly quickly upon opening. Started out a bit uni-dimensional with soft oak, butter, lemony acidity. But as the wine warmed and aerated, lots of electric zing came to the mid-palate and led me wanting to buy more. 92 pts.
Second bottle was given to me by a wine rep; had been open for at least 3 hours. Totally different wine, very disappointing. The usual overaged, over the hill Chardonnay flavors, butter going bad, flat metallic taste, limp body. Still some interest, however. 77 points.
Thus from these 2 experiences it seems that the wine evolved fairly quickly and thus is not deserving of any more age. Drink up.
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10/22/2006 - Calistoga wrote: 92 Points
Served cellar temp 55+ over an hour...so relatively warm. Golden hue. Initially hot and steely pit fruit aromas of apricot and peach. Flavors of butterscotch, mineral and a kind of nutty pear in the mouth. There was a very slight undertow of burned wood but it was neither a primary flavor nor destructive to the experience. Still a bit of soft tannins towards the end. Long finish with some vanilla tones. Balanced and pleasant. Following glass had a cooler start; unexpressive but more open and each of the previous descriptors was more muted with softer edges as it warmed -- the wood had faded to invisibility, too.
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6/18/2005 - JeffGMorris wrote: 89 Points
Dinner at Acme with Fred & Ronnie. Medium gold in the glass. A good match with the dayboat scallops. Very rich, deep and creamy. Seems to see a lot of oak and there were oak spices that were obvious and almost seemed to stick out but the wine rode the edge of that line nicely. 50+12+11+8+8 = 89
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1/2/2005 - basis wrote: 95 Points
At Vino (Ritz Carlton), Maui. Pale yellow gold. You can see how restrained and elegant it is, just by looking. Nose of peaches and caramel (!). Palate of mellow citrus and ginger, with a long, consistent finish. Focused, buttery structure (first time I've had a chard where butter was the framework, and not a flavor), with a long finish. Incredible balance, and a truly lovely wine.
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11/14/2004 - DChan wrote: 93 Points
As on previous occasions, the Kongsgaard Chardonnay from any vintage is a dynamite bottle of wine. Loads of tropical fruits, butter, vanilla, hazelnut, and minerals, all presented in a balanced and understated (for California Chardonnay) manner. Awesome juice.
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6/2/2004 - wineismylife wrote:
Tasted blind at an offline so brief comments only . Yellow color. Slightly spicy nose. Flavors of apricots and pears. Drink over the short term.
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1/7/2004 - Siggy wrote: 95 Points
Butterscotch and honey notes, well integrated oak.
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12/31/2003 - Siggy wrote: 93 Points
Oaky at first, opened and put on weight in the glass.
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5/5/2003 - DChan wrote: 95 Points
Thanks to the advice of fellow posters, this was decanted 30 minutes prior to drinking and served just slightly below room temperature. I was really bowled over by the golden color and also by how subtle, complex, and nuanced the wine was despite obviously possessing great size. In fact only the high alcohol content struck me as being Californian about the wine; the buttery breadth of the wine was balanced by minerally structure and lively tropical fruit. 95 pts.
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