Aubert Tasting and Dinner

My home - Chicago IL
Tasted Tuesday, September 2, 2008 by Burgundy Al with 645 views

Introduction

I invited friends over to open all the wines Mark Aubert has made under his eponymous label. We didn't quite get to every wine but cam every close. A great educational experience from what has become my favorite producer of American Chardonnay.

Flight 1 - Reuling Chardonnay (3 Notes)

  • 2003 Aubert Chardonnay Reuling Vineyard 91 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Tropical fruit aromas with new oak hints. Big and powerful stone fruit and tropical fruit flavors, all very ripe but in good balance. Big and powerful, but a bit too ripe on finish.

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  • 2004 Aubert Chardonnay Reuling Vineyard 92 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Ripe apple and peach aromas with good spice. Similar fruit on palate, fairly lush and intense with some overt alcohol coming through on finish. Probably close to its peak today and the heat makes me think this will be best before 2013 or 2014.

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  • 2005 Aubert Chardonnay Reuling Vineyard 92 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Stone fruit aromas to start with some lemon and lemon peel emerging over time. Same peach and apricot on palate with big spice from both fruit and new oak. Very powerful with good acidity helping provide texture and length.

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Flight 2 - Lauren Chardonnay (4 Notes)

Perhaps the most consistent Chardonnay, I get the sense that Mark Aubert tries to showcase his preferred style here. Everybody's favorite or second favorite flight.

  • 2003 Aubert Chardonnay Lauren Estate Vineyard 93 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Peach and tropical fruit aromas with some nutmeg and anise. Palate of lush fruit, but not too ripe. At an excellent place right now. A bit of sweet honey coming through on palate near finish, but nicely balanced with good minerality and acidity coming through from middle to long finish.

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  • 2004 Aubert Chardonnay Lauren Estate Vineyard 94 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Ripe pear and apple aromas with sweet spice. similar fruit on palate with some hints of tropical fruit, but everything in great balance. Powerful, long and lush, with the substance to age well and last a long time.

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  • 2005 Aubert Chardonnay Lauren Estate Vineyard 91 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Lush tropical fruit nose with butterscotch hints. Good flavors, but more one-dimensional than the other vintages of Lauren in the same flight. Probably best in the next few years.

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  • 2006 Aubert Chardonnay Lauren Estate Vineyard 94 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Apple and apricot aromas with plenty of new oak, good baking spice and some background tropical hints. Powerful and ripe fruit on palate with lots of minerality and acidity providing support, texture and length. Very exciting wine with very good long-term cellar potential.

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Flight 3 - Ritchie Chardonnay (5 Notes)

Also a favorite flight. Given that this is the wine produced longest, we were able to see the Aubert style in its infancy. I wish we opened some of the younger Ritchie vintages to make this comparison more comprehensive.

  • 2000 Aubert Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard 95 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    My WOTN, many others' WOTN night as well. Peach and pear aromas with perfectly supporting baking spice. Same fruit on palate, perhaps slightly more ripe but incredibly fresh for its age. Great acidity and textures, this wine had the most nuanced and substantive finish. One of the finest examples of New World Chardonnay I have ever enjoyed. Interesting, this is a full 1+% lower alcohol than the latest vintages.

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  • 2001 Aubert Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard 94 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Ripe apple and pear with some toasty tropical hints., then just a hint of citrus on finish. Very good acid and mineral support. Still quit eyoung, I expect this will continue to be a great wine for close to another decade.

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  • 2002 Aubert Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard 92 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Aromas of apple and pear with modest spice. Same fruit on palate with some peach as well, overall very lush, showing a fair amount of heat on finish.

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  • 2003 Aubert Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard 93 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Aromas of ripe apricot, tropical fruit and plenty of new oak. Same lush, ripe fruit on palate with plenty of spice, toast and robust spice. Powerful finish, however perhaps not the most energetic of this sensational Ritchie flight, so I'd imagine best now-2013 or 2014.

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  • 2000 DuMOL Chardonnay Chloe 89 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

    I included this for fun in a flight to contrast with several vintages (2000-2003) of Aubert's Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay. This was toasty with mature stone fruit aromas and flavors, perhaps 1 or 2 years past its peak, but still drinking well with some black truffle and baking spice support.

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Flight 4 - Quarry Chardonnay (5 Notes)

Every vintage produced.

  • 2001 Aubert Chardonnay Quarry Vineyard 93 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County

    Aromas of apple and pear, which continue on to palate, then some lemon on finish. Long, lean with good acids and minerality. Still fresh and vibrant. Easy to understand the vineyard's name based on this flight of 2001-2005 Quarry.

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  • 2002 Aubert Chardonnay Quarry Vineyard 91 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County

    Aromas of apple with trace tropical hints. Slightly lush palate with moderate acids. Simpler than other vintages of Quarry in the flight.

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  • 2003 Aubert Chardonnay Quarry Vineyard 92 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County

    Lush stone fruit aromas. similar fruit on palate with some sweet character. Lots of density and concentration. Better than i recall from a few years back, probably at its best today.

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  • 2004 Aubert Chardonnay Quarry Vineyard 92 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County

    Slightly tropical fruit aromas. similar on palate, but it transitions from middle to end to leaner flavors of lemon and lime, where it also shows good minerality and acidity to moderately long finish.

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  • 2005 Aubert Chardonnay Quarry Vineyard 92 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County

    Green apple and fresh pear aromas with modest spice and some new oak that still stands out. Ripe fruit and concentration on palate, with good minerality and acidity from middle to long finish.

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Flight 5 - UV and Reuling Pinot Noir (4 Notes)

Some tasters loved these wines, others less so. Big range of opinions here.

  • 2004 Aubert Pinot Noir Reuling Vineyard

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Aromas of ripe black cherry, blackberry and sweet cherry pie. Sweet fruit on palate with modest spice or acidity making it somewhat one-dimensional and simple with a slightly short finish.

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  • 2005 Aubert Pinot Noir Reuling Vineyard

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Jammy black fruit aromas without much nuance. Lush fruit on palate with some good structure but not particularly Pinot Noir-like to me and certainly in need of time to see if this will ever balance.

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  • 2004 Aubert Pinot Noir UV Vineyard 90 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    My favorite of the four bottles of Aubert Pinot Noir tonight. Nicely floral start with blackberry and black cherry aromas accompanied by sweet baking spice. Big, lush and full throttle without much nuance. Very powerful from start-to-finish.

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  • 2005 Aubert Pinot Noir UV Vineyard

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

    Jammy black cherry aromas and flavors, then some red cherry hints as well on palate. Not much charm or nuance here, plenty of heat on finish.

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Closing

This tasting and dinner reaffirmed how much I enjoy Aubert Chardonnay in every vintage.

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