2019 Grgich Hills Estate Chardonnay Estate Grown Napa Valley 750 ml

To get the measure of 2019 Napa Chardonnays, Wine & Spirits Magazine evaluated 25 bottles from marquee producers like Keenan, Patz & Hall, Stags’ Leap, Duckhorn, and Far Niente. The vintage had been deemed “fabulous” by Vinous founder Antonio Galloni, and there was no shortage of Chardonnay excellence at the magazine’s table.

Wine & Spirits’ tasting protocol is notably rigorous: it’s a multi-step, exacting process in which judges are stingy with scores, rarely awarding 95 points or above. That’s why a score in the mid-90s from Wine & Spirits’ will often turn heads like a 96 or 97 from another publication—and why the 94-point rating earned by the iconic Grgich Hills topped all the other Napa Chardonnays at the tasting. 

Grgich is a must-have in any vintage—yes, because of the winery’s royal lineage, but also because of the staggering quality they continue to deliver year after year. This 94-point 2019 Chardonnay is a reminder that they’re still setting the bar.

Winemaker Mike Grgich crafted the Chateau Montelena Chardonnay that took home the top prize at the 1976 “Judgment of Paris” tasting. A protége of André Tchelistcheff and Robert Mondavi, his Chardonnay’s performance in Paris made him a wine-world superstar. 

Grgich wines are now crafted by Mike’s nephew Ivo Jeramaz, who makes Chardonnay that reflects the estate’s organically farmed vineyards in Carneros and American Canyon in the southern end of Napa Valley. He relies on native yeast for fermentation, and ages the wine for ten months in 40% new French oak barrels and large-format foudres. The Chardonnay undergoes no malolactic fermentation, which is why the wine has a distinct acidic verve that recalls the energy of great white Burgundy.