Pale gold color; yellow peach, melon, citrus, mango, apricot, honeysuckle, pie crust, vanilla, butter, oak on the nose and palate.
Dry; minimal tannins; bright acidity. Medium-plus body; creamy, rich texture. Intensely fruity. Made with 100% chardonnay grapes from Carneros where the San Pablo Bay meets the southern end of the Sonoma and Napa valleys. The 2023 vintage is considered exceptional in Carneros. Fermented in stainless steel, aged nine months in American and French oak barrels, 37% new. Lees stirring every two weeks for depth and texture. Full malolactic conversion and oak regimen delivers classic buttery, oaky California cab style with going to annoying excess. 14.6% ABV
Koerner Rombauer enjoyed a nearly 30-year career as a pilot. First with the California Air National Guard, then as a commercial pilot. Although Koerner and Joan Ransome attended the same high school in Escondido, California, they did not date until they meet after college. In 1959, they married.
Seeking a small-town, agricultural life, the Rombauers moved to Napa Valley in 1972. They first rented property on Highway 29, then purchased a home atop a knoll on 40 acres in St. Helena in 1974. They got into the wine business as partners in the Conn Creek Winery in 1976, then sold their Conn Creek interest to start their own winery in 1980.
Wanting more experience, Joan joined the sales team at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars in 1981. She became national sales director. The inaugural wines for Rombauer Vineyards were bottled at Stag’s Leap in 1982. Later, the Rombauers built a winery larger than their needs to serve as their winery and a custom-crush facility for up-and-coming wineries: Dominus, Duckhorn, Merryvale, Etude, Spottswoode, and other elite makers.
Rombauer wines won accolades from the beginning. Although their first emphasis was cabernet sauvignon, in 1995 their Carneros chardonnay ranked as No. 32 on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines list. They now are known as much for their chardonnays as their cabs. In January 2019, they purchased the former Renwood Winery, in part to increase their focus on zinfandel and other red wines. Sauvignon blanc joined the lineup in 2014.
Joan was lost pancreatic cancer in 2002. The family established endowments to support the University of California–San Francisco’s pancreatic research efforts and the Napa Valley Hospice & Adult Day Services. Richie Allen joined the Rombauer team in 2008, rose through the ranks, and is head winemaker today. In 2015, Rombauer Vineyards celebrated its 35th anniversary as a family-owned winery, operated by Koerner and his children, KR and Sheana. In 2016, Reagan Rombauer Blackwood became the third generation to join the team. In 2018, Koerner passed at age 83. Richie Allen is the vice president of viticulture and winemaking. In August, 2023—the year this wine was made—E. & J. Gallo purchased the operation. The Rombauer leadership and winemaking team remains in place.
Rombauer Vineyards Carneros Chardonnay 2023 is classic creamy oak and butter cool climate California chardonnay by the winery that has excelled at this style for 30 years. Presents a lush, iconic style from an exceptional vintage. If you are a fan of this style—and many are—this is well worth finding. $38-44
Pairing—Shellfish and seafood, crab cakes, Dungeness crab rolls, lobster rolls, scallops in cream sauce, baked fish in lemon-butter sauce. Creamy pasta dishes, pasta carbonara, fettuccine alfredo, mushroom risotto. Roast chicken, fried chicken, chicken risotto. Butternut squash soup, green bean casserole; movie theatre popcorn. Cheese—Mimolette, St. Andre, Vermont Horbison, taleggio; Marin French Cheese Supreme, Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam; brie; Cypress Grove Lamb Chopper, Bellwether Farms San Andreas, humboldt fog, Pennyroyal Farm Laychee; aged comté, manchego. Avoid very tangy or acidic goat cheeses, heavily salted aged cheeses, pungent blue cheeses.
