Rob's "Wine of the Week" Archives
So here is my wine review for the week of March 24th...
ROMBAUER CHARDONNAY 2006
Description: I am taking a break this week from my current obsession with the new California Rose wines to turn to an old classic and friend, the Rombauer Chardonnay. I have not drunk a bottle of this wine in well over a year and have not visited the winery in such a span either. I have, however, received numerous complaints about both from many, many listeners.
For starters, I have always thought visiting the winery was a horrible experience. The people at Rombauer have always been rude in my opinion, but I have tolerated their behavior in light of their exceptional wine, so the recent complaints about the winery becoming even more cold, less personal and more expensive for tastings do not surprise me at all.
Secondly, there is a growing belief that Rombauer has greatly increased their production and sacrificed quality along the way, as happened on a much larger scale to the Mondavi brand of the 1990s. It is certainly true that Rombauer is producing more varietals and more cases than ever before. The question for this review is whether or not the wine that put Rombauer on the map, their chardonnay, has faltered.
How and when I drank it: Friday afternoon, March 21, 2008 at my house
How to get it: The Chardonnay is Rombauer’s flagship wine and has always been accessible, and is even more so now that they increased production. Almost any wine or Bevmo-type store has it, some grocery stores carry it and it’s available everywhere on-line and at the winery in Napa
How Much: It’s about $30 per bottle at the winery
My Thoughts:This is a very good chardonnay, but it is not what I have come to expect and love from Rombauer. While it is unfair of me to draw conclusions from one bottle of wine, I right away notice that “something is different.” Most dramatically, the signature taste of butter that has made the Rombauer chardonnay what it is over the past decade is non existent in this bottle. There are very pleasant soft fruity flavors of a floral and citrus essence that one would expect from any top of the line chardonnay, and that is all well and good, but the absence of the butter flavor makes this just like any other chardonnay. On the finish, there is oak, which Rombauer has never had and further makes this bottle like every other quality chardonnay out there. While the oak finish is not overly dramatic to the point of “toast” flavors, like say, the Pride Chardonnay, it’s there and it’s prevalent.
Overall Score: If I had never had a bottle of Rombauer I would have opened this up, drank it and said, “yup, that’s a good quality Napa chardonnay, alright. Tastes like it could have come from Grgich Hills, WhiteHall, Merryvale, Cuvaison, or any number of fine wineries in Napa.”
That’s the point. I have had Rombauer Chardonnay and this isn’t it. It’s a fine bottle of wine, but I could grab any $30 Napa Chardonnay and get this blend from equal or better wineries. Perhaps it’s just an “off year,” but let’s hope that this is not a trend at Rombauer that portends their desire to suddenly be like everyone else. Perhaps the stupidity of whoever allowed their winery tasting room to run so poorly all these years has finally infected the wine making. For the price, it’s adequate and assembly line quality...2 ½ vines
ROMBAUER CHARDONNAY 2006= 
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