2004 The Judge Chardonnay
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
Wilder, more reduced nose than the 2005, with notes of mocha, smoke and nutty oak. Then broad, dry and full: this is almost too big for the mouth. This glyceral-thick chardonnay boasts staggering volume, but in spite of its almost exotic thickness and tropical fruit notes, I'd still like to put this in a blind tasting of top grand cru Burgundies. The wine's solid mineral underpinning began to express itself with aeration.
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2004 Chardonnay The Judge is about as fine a Chardonnay as one is likely to find in the world. The wine, as one might expect, is from the same vineyard and simply the most concentrated barrels of what is already a very concentrated wine. It just has more of everything when compared to the regular 2004 Chardonnay, but I think the most striking thing is that, from what I can tell, he is looking for even more intense minerality in the wine, and this wine certainly offers it in spades. It should age for up to a decade. Previously recommended: 2003 Chardonnay (94); 2003 Chardonnay The Judge (99); 2003 Syrah Hudson Vineyard (94+); Fax (707) 963-4512
Good pale yellow. Crystallized yellow fruits and their skin on the nose. Then superconcentrated, ripe and uncompromisingly dry, with dense, layered, uncommonly deep flavors of apricot, lemon custard, burnt sugar and crushed rocks. Wonderfully brisk and gripping chardonnay, finishing with terrific cut and an impression of tannins.