History
John and Maggy Kongsgaard planted the vineyard in 1975 on the family's Stonecrest property, rocky hilltop ground that had been in their hands since the 1920s, and named it for John's father Thomas Kongsgaard, a long-serving Napa County Superior Court judge. Andre Tchelistcheff suggested the planting, and the wood is the Old Wente Chardonnay selection John took as cuttings from Stony Hill in the 1970s. They founded their own label in 1996. The vineyard remains in the family and is farmed by their son Alex Kongsgaard.
The Site
Around six acres planted out of a twenty-acre family property just northeast of the city of Napa, in the low foothills near the Coombsville line and distinct from the later Kongsgaard property on Atlas Peak Road. The vineyard sits on shallow volcanic soil, never more than three feet deep.
Vines and Blocks
Old Wente selection Chardonnay, low-yielding, averaging about a ton per acre.
The Wines
The Judge is made in the house manner: nearly two years in barrel, no added yeast, minimal intervention. The result is textural rather than fruity, with tangerine oil, wet stone, marzipan and a long saline finish. The Kongsgaards also farm a mountain vineyard on Atlas Peak that includes Cabernet Sauvignon, where their cave is cut into volcanic rock.