Kunde
With over 100 years of vineyard-farming experience in Sonoma Valley, California, the Kunde family is one of the oldest wine names in Sonoma. In 1904, Louis Kunde purchased a 1,000-acre parcel and planted it with vine cuttings imported from famed producers, including Château Margaux and Château Lafite Rothschild. Today, Kunde offers three different lines of wine: Family Estate Series, Destination Series and Reserve Series. While the Family Estate wines offer a combination of quality and value, it is the Reserve Series that tends to receive the most accolades, according to our Kunde wine ratings. The Destination Series wines are made solely for those who visit the Kunde winery. In 2008, Kunde received California’s coveted Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award, honoring the winery’s sustainable practices and facilities. The company is also Certified Sustainable by the Certified Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance for its viticulture and vinification procedures.
Kunde 1999 Chardonnay (Sonoma Valley)
- $16
Ripe and full-bodied with tiers of fruit flavors ranging from green apples and peaches to pears and mango. None-too-subtle oak adds vanilla, smoke and butterscotch elements. Just enough residual sugar for it to drink a bit like an orange-vanilla milk shake.
— S.H.
(5/1/2001)
Kunde 1998 Drummond Vineyard - Estate Bottled Cabernet Sauvignon (Sonoma Valley)
- $27
A soft, gentle wine that slides down like velvet. The pleasant blackberry and currant flavors are very dry. Fairly rugged tannins kick in on the short finish.
— S.H.
(11/15/2002)
Kunde 2001 Viognier (Sonoma Valley)
- Online Exclusive
- $23
Scads of fruits and flowers mark this ripe, rich wine. Peaches, bananas, apricots, honeysuckle, papaya and lime flavors drink smooth and crisp, thanks to good acids. The wine is dry, clean and crisp. Lovely by itself, or with spicy, fruity-sweet foods.
— S.H.
(9/1/2003)
Kunde 2000 Drummond Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (Sonoma Valley)
- $45
Strikes all the right high-end Cabernet notes. Ripe, plush black currant and cassis fruit, lush, soft tannins, balanced acids and a fine overlay of oak all combine for a rich mouthfeel. The quick finish suggests drinking now.
— S.H.
(11/15/2004)
Kunde 2003 Magnolia Lane Sauvignon Blanc (Sonoma Valley)
- $15
The best Magnolia in recent memory. Rich and sophisticated in gooseberry, fig and vanilla flavors, totally dry, and with crisp acidity, this wine is clean and refreshing. Cries out for oysters, or just about anything.
— S.H.
(12/31/2004)
Kunde 2002 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Sonoma Valley)
- $21
This is late for a winery to release an ’02 Cab, especially at this price. But the wine has benefited from the extra aging, turning softer and gentler in tannins, yet maintaining complex, fresh cassis and blackberry-tart flavors.
— S.H.
(11/1/2006)
Kunde 2003 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (Sonoma Valley)
- $60
Pretty tannic at this point, which makes for a fairly astringent palate experience despite loads of ripe cherries, blackberries and currants. On the other hand, that grittiness will pair well with steak. Nice now but doesn’t have the stuffing for ageability.
— S.H.
(12/1/2007)
Kunde 2006 Chardonnay Nu (Sonoma Valley)
- $18
“Nu” seems to be Kunde’s way of letting us know that this is an unoaked Chardonnay. It shows pure, untrammelled Chard flavors of green apples, peaches, pears, kiwis and limes. It’s also a very crisp wine, as it did not undergo the malolactic fermentation.
— S.H.
(2/1/2008)
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