The name Rombauer has become a watchword, in America at least, for a generous, opulent style of Chardonnay. A cult cuvée and sell-out success in its home market for more than four decades, it has assumed a new role abroad as a vinous ambassador for the ripe Carneros fruit that imbues it with the aura of liquid gold.
Rombauer Vineyards is now a key part of Gallo's premium wine porfolio
With production at more than 3.8 million bottles annually, there’s nothing niche nor understated about Rombauer Chardonnay. Bold but delicious, it has been dismissed as ‘cougar juice’ by those who seek something more nuanced and less hedonistic, but no-one can dispute the extent of its success: a consistent, premium wine that has become the standard bearer for a brand that encompasses six key lines, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Merlot, Pinot Noir and, more recently, Sauvignon Blanc - all of them with a loyal following in the US.
Part of Gallo’s premium portfolio since summer 2023, when it joined brands including Louis M. Martini, Orin Swift, Pahlmeyer and J Vineyards, Rombauer has retained a high degree of autonomy, its new parent wisely adopting an "if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it" approach.
Aviator to vintner
American-born, with German ancestry, Koerner Rombauer and his wife Joan established their eponymous winery in 1980, having relocated from Dallas to Napa some eight years earlier as a lifestyle choice, seeking a rural base for their two children, two horses and five dogs.
Before he turned his focus to wine Koerner Rombauer had already enjoyed a swashbuckling 30-year career as an aviator, initially in the California National Guard and then as a commercial pilot with the now defunct Braniff Airlines.
As anyone who visits will soon realise, thanks to the photographs adorning the walls, Koerner Rombauer had already enjoyed a swashbuckling 30-year career as an aviator, initially in the California National Guard and then as a commercial pilot with the now defunct Braniff Airlines. Settling in St Helena, the Rombauers initially partnered in another winery project before setting up on their own, making wines in their garage until they could afford the bespoke production facility that followed a couple of years later.
At the time, the Rombauer name was already familiar to most Americans because Koerner’s great aunt, Irma Rombauer, wrote a seminal cookbook, ‘The Joy of Cooking’, first published in 1931, that has sold more than 20 million copies.
Rombauer’s launch wines were a 1980 Cabernet Sauvignon and a 1982 Chardonnay, with the sourcing of fruit from Carneros starting a few years later in 1990, marking the start of a long-term supplier relationship with the Sangiacomo family that endures to this day. It wasn't long before the flagship Chardonnay began to feature regularly in Wine Spectator’s Top 100 list, a feat it has achieved five times.
Having built an empire in the second act of his career, amassing some 380 hectares of vineyards across Napa, Sonoma and the Sierra Foothills, three wineries, and two tasting rooms, Koerner Rombauer passed away in 2018, at the age of 83, having tragically lost Joan to pancreatic cancer in 2002. The couple were evidently much loved, the wines inspiring a loyal customer base that still crowds the rustic tasting room perched atop a hillock alongside the Napa Valley’s Silverado Trail.
Exports were never a priority for the business under its founders, because the wines sold out every year, but Gallo believes the portfolio warrants a wider audience, its totemic Carneros Chardonnay now leading the charge into new markets.
Cellarhand to winemaker
Australian Richie Allen has found his winemaking home at Romabauer Vineyards
When a young Australian, Richie Allen, arrived in Napa to begin a short internship as a cellarhand at Rombauer Vineyards, he cannot have imagined that he might still be there more than two decades later, holding the lofty title senior director of viticulture and winemaking.
“It’s a right of passage for young winemakers to do the Northern then Southern Hemisphere switch and that was fantastic for me because I don’t particularly like winter,” he says.
“I went though an exchange organisation that helps young graduate winemakers find harvest positions and I put down that I wanted to go to Napa. Rombauer saw my resume and sent me a job offer, without an interview, and it ticked all the boxes for me.
They did Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, which is what I was interested in making, and it was 12 weeks, and they had accommodation. If you have ever worked overseas, the hardest part is finding somewhere to live, so I was like ‘fantastic, 12 weeks, how bad can it be?’ and that was 21 years ago.”
Having struck up a good relationship with the proprietor, Allen was regularly promoted and trusted to curate a confident, crowd-pleasing portfolio, which he has adroitly evolved over the years, focusing on the pursuit of balance and moving with the zeitgeist, while managing to keep the diehard fans content - he admits he would be “hung, drawn and quartered before he could leave the country” if he and his team went too far with their changes.
Benchmark Chardonnay
So what explains the incredible success of Rombauer’s Chardonnay and the affection in which it is held?
Rombauer's iconic Chardonnay is very much a wine of its place in California
“It’s such a good question, I think it’s a multitude of reasons: for one, it’s a very high quality wine and we never compromise on quality; we are very specific about where we source the fruit or where we buy land; Carneros is at the southern end of the Napa and Sonoma valleys and I think that is really the true secret because the region is so uniquely suited to growing grapes that have incredible density of flavour and richness, yet still retain acid.
"So there’s a freshness on the palate and we can get a level of depth that you wouldn’t anywhere else in the world … it’s just perfectly suited to the style of Chardonnay that we make.”
Allen admits that he sometimes encounters snobbery around the people-pleasing quality of his wines, but he believes consumers vote with their taste buds: “I honestly feel people tend not to give customers the credit they deserve for how good their palates are; they might not be able to articulate why they like a wine in the way that a Master Sommelier might, but they can tell you if they like it and, when a wine is good, more often than not consumers can tell you, and that’s what they see in the Chardonnay, it’s a very high quality wine that people just love to drink … oh, and the number of times that Rombauer Chardonnay is in a double blind tasting and it finishes first is uncanny.”
Taking sustainability seriously
Rombauer places a huge signfificance in following sustainablity practices
Aside from a gentle evolution of the portfolio, sustainability has been a key focus for the team in recent years, with efforts accelerated since the Gallo acquisition. Certified ‘California Sustainable’ and also ‘Napa Green’, water conservation has been a key priority, with precision irrigation used in the vineyards and all winery waste water treated on site, to generate energy and eliminate emissions caused by the need to transport it elsewhere.
Barrels are steam cleaned to reduce the use of chemicals and water use in the winery is just under 2.5 gallons per gallon of wine, well below the industry average, with a goal of achieving a ratio of 1 to 1 in the future.
Rombauer also uses on site solar power and composts all of its green waste, returning nutrients to the soil. Cover cropping is used in the vineyards, while nesting boxes encourage barn owls for natural pest control.
Tasting the portfolio
Rombauer's winemaking team: Andrew Halliday, associate winemaker, Richie Allen, vice president of viticulture and winemaking, and Luke Clayton, winemaker
The Rombauer portfolio consists of six core lines, though the winery produces around 20 different cuvées in a typical year for its domestic wine club members, including a delicious limited edition reserve Chardonnay produced from the top one percent of its barrels. I taste alongside winemaker Andrew Holloway, a senior member of Allen’s team who has been at Rombauer since 2012.
Rombauer Carneros Chardonnay 2024
The standard bearer for the portfolio, all Carneros fruit, half of it estate grown, matured in a mix of French and American oak, the latter with the barrel heads toasted, blended from the choice of 140 different vats.
“We taste everything and assess together, to earmark our favourite lots, looking for unanimity, to deliver the best Chardonnay that we can put on the table every year,” says Holloway. A bright bauble gold, with an enticing nose of ripe white grapefruit, peach, grilled pineapple and vanilla pod, the mid palate has plump stone fruit, with tropical nuances, creamy lemon posset and a smattering of toasted nuts and festive spice, all underpinned by a lightening bright citrus acid line. Smooth, succulent and moreish.
Rombauer Sauvignon Blanc 2024
Mostly sourced from Sonoma, where Rombauer owns around 80 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc and the conditions are cooler, the ’24 being the first vintage to bear the Sonoma name on the label, it’s aromatic and fresh with a subtle grassy nose and clean, crisp mid palate of orchard fruits and green herbs, with a gentle intensity and pleasingly zippy acidity.
Rombauer Pinot Noir 2023
From the Santa Lucia Highlands, a relative newcomer to the portfolio, the first vintage release being 2021. “What we’re looking for here is vibrancy of fruit, all of our wines carry a great freshness,” says Holloway. There’s a charming nose of red and black cherry, a hint of cinnamon and subtle cedar spice (reminiscent of the smell of Williams Sonoma stores, for those who know the brand), a herbal streak, supple tannins and juicy, silky texture.
Rombauer Merlot 2023
Merlot has fallen out of favour in Napa, but Rombauer has never worried that much about the vagaries of fashion: “Rombauer has always been steadfast and never chased trends,” Holloway stresses.
From fruit produced on the Napa side of Carneros, where “it’s just warm enough for the fruit too ripen” and 30% new French oak, withan inviting, pretty nose of blackberries and morello cherries, there’s notable purity of fruit, ripe tannins and firm balancing red fruit acidity with an appetising bay leaf undertow.
Rombauer Cabernet Sauvignon 2022
Cab is king in Napa, but this came from a tricky vintage featuring hideous heat spikes and it is the least successful wine I taste in the flight. There’s black forest cherry, mocha and cassis, with a bold, juicy and ripe profile. The winemaking team is accomplished at tannin management, but this wine feels a touch clunky (almost certainly a vintage factor).
Rombauer Zinfandel 2023
From Eldorado at the base of the Sierra foothills, where Rombauer has around 100 hectares of the variety as well as a dedicated production facility, this is its most popular red wine.
“We have a strong loyalty to our Zinfandel and some of those people probably don’t even know we make a Chardonnay,” says Holloway.
Punchy, rich and ripe, it’s also well balanced, with juicy ripe berries and cherries, vanilla pod, baking spice and velvety smooth tannins.
* You can find out more about Rombauer Vineyards here.
* Rombauer is part of Gallo which is a commercial partner of The Buyer.
