2018 Rombauer Vineyards Chardonnay Carneros 750 ml

Koerner Rombauer was one of the legends of the Napa wine trade—a larger-than-life figure famed for his generosity and charisma, a man who simply knew great wine.

Koerner was a friend to us dating back to our early days in the business, and we were extremely honored to work with the Rombauer estate this month to share this famous Carneros Chardonnay—an iconic Napa cuvée that’s landed on the Wine Spectator Top 100 list multiple times, with the magazine’s critics noting: “Rombauer defines the California Chardonnay style that so many adore.”

From a 2018 vintage of extraordinary depth and concentration—thanks to one of the longest harvests on record at the estate—comes this pale-gold beauty, suffused with an exotic fruit richness of mango and lime, rounded with a creamy, vanilla-tinged butterscotch finish, yet with all that opulence kept in check by bracing Carneros freshness and zesty citrus aromatics. 

Rombauer, who passed away last year, had the stoic affect, slumped shoulders, and suspenders that are familiar features of many a crusty California farmer—until he told a joke. Then his eyes twinkled, his mouth opened into a happy cackle, and it was easy to see why he was a man with so many dedicated friends in the valley. When he passed away, the encomiums poured in by the hundreds, including from Siduri’s Adam Lee, who recounted Rombauer’s kindness and habit of picking up the tab, noting: “He taught me the meaning of graciousness and hospitality.”

We encountered a similar brand of his salt-of-the-earth kindness early in our career, and never forgot the favors he did us. It’s easy to take the dominance of California Chardonnay today for granted, but the grape’s fantastic success here was due in large part to individuals like Rombauer, who bought his Napa property in 1972. When he built his winery, it served as a nursery for a number of up-and-coming brands that would one day become legacies, including Spottswoode, Duckhorn, Dominus, and Neyers. 

Much of the brand’s popularity was built on the back of this Carneros Chardonnay. With its fine layers of oak and spice, a palate packed with green apples, pear, and ripe banana, and a creamy texture, it was impossible not to love, and set the standard for Chardonnay in Napa and beyond. 

Today, under the direction of KR Rombauer III and winemaker Richie Allen, this bottling is the best it’s ever been. The grapes are a mix of estate-grown Chardonnay and some from select growers like the third-generation Sangiacomos, and all hand-picked. Whole-cluster pressing preserves the delicate aromatics, while stirring of the less every two weeks lends this bottle its mouth-filling lusciousness.

Whenever we see a white-haired gent tooling around town in a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing Coupe or 1988 Lamborghini Countach, for a second we think it might be Koerner. Until we meet again (fingers crossed) in the big winery in the sky, we’ll be toasting to him with a glass of this sumptuous, oak-kissed Carneros Chardonnay.