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Tony Lombardi was born into a family of small business owners, and grew up in Sonoma County. His first job in the wine business came in 1998 when he joined the hospitality team at Clos Du Bois Winery, located in Geyserville, California.
From 2001 to 2013, Lombardi held senior leadership positions in marketing, public relations, and sales for such companies as Allied Domecq Wines, Beam Wine Estates, J Vineyards & Winery, Ascentia Wine Estates, and Kosta Browne Winery.
In partnership with his wife Christine, Lombardi founded Lombardi Wines in 2013 with a barrel of Chardonnay and a barrel of Pinot Noir. He describes himself as a storyteller/connector at heart, and loves to tell the unique and interesting personal stories of Sonoma and Napa wineries and winemakers, and connect them and their wines to people across the country. As part of that effort, he was encouraged to take the leap of faith in creating his own label from his former employers Dan Kosta and Michael Browne. They told him, “We did it, so should you!”
Lombardi hired Cabell Coursey in 2015 to be his winemaker and viticulturist/grower relations manager after he had held those jobs for three years at Kosta Browne. Coursey also toils at his own winery, Coursey Graves. Prior to those efforts, he was the winemaker with Andy Smith at Dumol. Well traveled, he has made wines all over the world, including Burgundy, New Zealand, Oregon, and California.
Coursey and Lombardi make small lots of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from vineyards in the Sonoma Coast AVA. However, the winery owns no acreage or vineyards itself. Rather, the Pinot Noir fruit is sourced from growers in the greater Petaluma area, where the Lombardi family has been since 1947, and Lombardi himself has cultivated many close relationships.
The winery is not open to the public and does not have a tasting room. The wines are sold through an allocated mailing list. This limited production is by design, as Lombardi wants the winery to grow “organically.” Newly active members are first offered the Appellation Series and a small allocation of limited production single vineyard designates. Consistent ordering gains members access to a wider selection of wines.
Lombardi Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2022
The fruit for this selection came from the Martaella Vineyard in the Russian River Valley. 90% was barrel aged for 14 month s in neutral 228 liter French oak from the Boutes, Francois Freres and Atelier Centre cooperages, and the remaining 10% in stainless steel drums.
This wine is a pale yellow in the glass. My sample was slightly cloudy, probably due to the tartrate crystals* that had gathered on the bottom of the cork. The nose features plenty of citrus notes, plus aromas of orange blossoms, and white peach.. These manifest on the palate as lemon and candied ginger, as well as honeydew melon. The acidity is nice and snappy. 230 cases were produced. ABV is 13.7 %.
*Tartrate crystals, aka “wine stones,” are precipitated from tartaric acid, the principle organic acid in grapes. Although completely harmless and only affect wine visually, they are usually avoided by cold stabilization, a process of removing tartrates by storing wine at a very low temperature (26 to 32 degrees F.) for up to three weeks.
https://www.lombardiwines.com/
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