They allocated me 6 as well (I usually buy 9-12). I have no interest in them selecting which vineyards I get, so pass.
Open at cost to anyone who wants them
I have been buying since 2004 and now have more Aubert than I know where to store it. So I’m thinking of passing this year. Does anyone know whether they drop you from the list, or do they just reduce your allocation the following year?
Went up - but debating on pulling the trigger
Based on posts I recall from prior releases, if you skip or buy only a small portion of your allocation, you will be punished with a much smaller allocation. I, myself, had to email Teresa about a severely limited allocation, but she quickly obliged, so keep that in mind.
This is what happened to me. I took most but not all of my first allocation, and was only offered a couple bottles the next year. When I didn’t buy those, they cut me altogether.
I am totally fine with that. I do think their chardonnays are great and possibly worth the price. But $100 chardonnays are quite a splurge for me, not something that I buy 6 a year from the same producer regardless of vintage, and then pay 2 day air shipping. Aubert chardonnays do not have much of a premium on the secondary market. Hopefully, as Dale said, these will be available from retailers for around mailing list prices (with no forced 2 day air shipping).
Aubert is the only chardonnay I buy regularly, and I enjoy it a lot. I am trying to cut back on purchases generally, so I did not take my entire allocation, but I still grabbed a half case.
I do not always write formal notes, but here’s what I’ve got on CT. LIke I said, I really like the wine:
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2008 Aubert Chardonnay Lauren Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (7/16/2011)
From magnum, for my wife’s Birthday Party. Anyone who says that the Aubert chardonnays are over-oaked fruit bombs never had this one. It is not a hedonistic, creamy, buttery Cali chard and departs remarkably from the 2004 Lauren style. There is significant acidity to back up the citrus, some tropical fruit and white fruit with some tart granny smith apple. I think there is sharp minerality but after the earlier vintages from this vineyard, maybe I’m confusing acid and minerals. Regardless, this wine is definitely in the outstanding category. It is laser focused with clearly defined flavors.
Theresa Aubert managed to find me this bottle after I was shut out of the magnhum because I was late ordering my allocation. It was originally intended for Mother’s Day 2010, but we didn’t have enough people to justify opening a magnum, so I saved it for another special occasion. This was it. (94 pts.)
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2009 Aubert Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (5/29/2011)
Not my favorite Aubert chardonnay, but still an outstanding wine. There’s strong acidity on the rear palate to balance the massive white fruit - pear and apple, on the front. Three of us tried this as a starter to an afternoon of wine and my wife thought there was a lot of honey on the front of the palate, while the other two of us did not get the honey notes. There was some minerality at the back of the palate mixed with the acidity. This wine was abit disjointed due to the infanticide. Let your Aubert chards sleep for a few years and you will be rewarded. (92 pts.) -
2007 Aubert Chardonnay Reuling Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (5/9/2010)
This was an extraordinary wine, but what would you expect from the Montrachet of California. Color was a bit cloudy, but not as cloudy as the “densest” Aubert chards. The nose was smooth white fruit and honey. The palate was apples and white grapes with some vanilla, raosted pecans, honey, a touch of apricot, and minerality on the back palate. A very very long finish. No citrus flavors. Mouth feel was creamy without any butter on the palate. I had intended to open a 2008 Lauren, but we lost power and this is what I could find in the cellar with a flashlight. It did not disappoint one bit. Comparing it to other Aubert chardonnays, I would say it strides the middle between the Lauren, which I find to be the most creamy and oppulen, and the Ritchie, which exudes tremedous minerality. I originally started buying Aubert chardonnays because I was told that it was the only way to get their pinots. I occasionally shared them with other people who were not on the list. Not any more. They’re mine, all mine. They are my go to white wine for very special occasions. Once again, I drank one with my mother for Mother’s Day. (97 pts.) -
2007 Aubert Chardonnay Lauren Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (2/13/2010)
This is an extraordinary wine. It evolved over 5 hours. At first, there was pear fruit, acitity and minerals. As it aged and warmed a bit, it developed more fruit, with some apple, citrus and even a bit of peach. Interestingly, the color/clarity shifted a bit - at first there was no Aubert unfiltered cloudiness, but even a bit of that that developed over time. There is some zing to this wine, with minerals and acidity, which is different for the more creamy Laurens from prior years. There’s a touch of vanilla but there’s no oak flavor and no butter. The finish is very long and covers your entire mouth without the feel of being syrupy. UI can still taste it a full minute after swallowing. The alcohol is not noticeable to me. (95 pts.) -
2007 Aubert Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (10/29/2009)
This needs to settle down a bit. An interesting contrast to the Lauren. This has much higher minerality and is almost Chablis-like - not crushed oyster shell minerals but they are clearly there with nice acidity. The Lauren is a more creamy and is a style that I would describe as more American, while this is getting to be more Burgundian. A very enjoyable wine but I think it should get some time in the bottle which will bring out the fruitiness, which seemed a bit light to me compared to previous Aubert chards. My wife commented on oak at the back end, but I did not notice it. (92 pts.) -
2005 Aubert Chardonnay Lauren Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (5/10/2009)
This is a very very nice, outstanding chardonnay. The only problem with it is the 2007, which I had a week ago, and which is so incredibly good that the 2005 suffers by comparison. Light color, no cloudiness like some of the Auberts. Citrus, white fruit and acidity. Less creamy fullness than the 2007. A bit of tart apple, reallyu nice aromatics on the nose with a bit of a floral note, giving rise to a dry honey flavor componet - honey flavor with no sweetness. Finish is long. Drank with my family on Mother’s Day. (94 pts.) -
2007 Aubert Chardonnay Lauren Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (4/23/2009)
This gets a WOW and an OMG at the same time, which is what a wine needs to get to the point level I have assigned to it. Steve Wolfe, he of the stained sweater, sponsored an event at his office among lawyers who collect wine. His theme was simply, “Bring something good.” I knew he had a pallet load of Kistler and figured he would open one, so I decided to grab the brand new Aubert just delivered and see what it had to say for itself. With all due respect to the Kistler (it was a 2004 and I think the Kistler Vineyard), side by side it was no contest. The equivalent of Tiger Woods not giving me the 30+ strokes I deserve. This was a perfectly balanced chardonnay with white fruit, pears, a bit of guava, some vanilla, honey, a perfect mouth feel and beautiful golden color with perhaps a slight greenish hue. Crystal clear; there was none of the cloudiness of the Lauren of the past few years. There is no butter (they age this sur lie and I have been told that absorbs the chemical that gives the butter flavor) and no obvious oak. Towards the end of the night, Asher was sitting there and took a glass. That is quite a sacrifice for someone who likes French, French and more French. He uttered, “Wow” and before I could grab the bottle and get another taste, he poured the last into his glass and exclaimed, “This is really good.”
PS - A lot of people brought some really great wines. The 2005 Schrader Beckstoffer To Kalon was fantastic and it took Steve to open a 2002(?) Integrity to take the wine of the night prize. And then there was the Cos, the Pichon Comtesse (I think it might have been the 1995), and a lot of other treasures. (97 pts.)
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2006 Aubert Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (2/20/2009)
This is different from the '04 and '05 Aubert chards. This has what I would call “bracing acidity.” There is strong acid with a citrus component (lemon or grapefruit), along with white fruit, a bit of vanilla, very little butter and just a tiny drop of oak. Not much in the roasted nuts department. The difference between this and prior years is that the prior years had a very creamy buttery component and that is lacking this time. It’s as though they stopped malo before it was done. I like this wine foir the complex flavors and the balance, but it is not as sublime as other Aubert Chards. (93 pts.) -
2006 Aubert Chardonnay Lauren Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (5/12/2008)
Mothers Day wine with my mother, my wife and my sisters. Apricots, Pears, Granny Smith Apples. BUT the most interesting thing is the contrast with the prior Lauren vineyard chardonnays. The 2006 seems to have more acid and more minerals than my recollection of the prior years. There is less vanilla, less oak, less post malo butter, less of a creamy mouth feel, which I do not consider a negative. I’ve been told that aging on lees tends to remover the buttery flavor from the malo, and that seems to be true here. Thus, the flavor is more clear and crisp. This is an exceptional wine. WOW. After drinking this wine, I told my wife that this wine explained why I bought the Futo before the first vintage had ever been bottled. Mark Aubert makes great wines, and why should Futo be different? (96 pts.) -
2004 Aubert Chardonnay Quarry Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County (2/16/2008)
Blah Blah Blah, I agree. Probably one of the greatest chardonnays in California. It is losing some of the creamyness and up front oak that it had when new, which is allowing more of the other flavors to emerge. White fruits with a bit of apple, white peach and chardonnay grape. As the cream recedes, there’s more apparent acid to balance the rest of the wine. This has more minerals than the Lauren. Maybe that’s because it’s “The Quarry” vineyard. There’s also roasted pecans and cashews, a bit of fresh vanilla. The cloudiness that was there when first shipped has also gotten lost at the bottom of the bottle. I did not notice it until I gave the last little bit to the manager at Mortons after it had been sitting in the ice bucket for 2 hours. This wine is better when served in the 45-50 degree range. I dropped it off at Mortons the night before and they put it in the refrigerator at about 4:00. By 7:30 it was too cold, so we let it warm up on the table and drank it, after which we put it in the bucket with two ounces left just to clear off the table. (94 pts.) -
2004 Aubert Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (12/24/2006)
Citrus and minerals, a bit of tropical fruit, the oak is entirely hidden. I found the acid to be a bit too predominant and it hid the fruit. I saved two ounces in the bottle for the next day and both the aroma and the palate are even better as the acid seemed lighter. I am beginning to get a bit of burgundian roasted nuts and malolcatic butteryness, along with some tropical guava more associated with Savignon Blanc. I liked the Lauren more than this because I think it had a bit less acid. I have two more bottles and I am glad to have them. I will put them away for 2 years and treat them like the high end white Burgs that they deserve to be compared with. I suspect that they will then justify a 95+ point rating. NOTE: As the second day glass warms from the chill of the refrigerator, the aroma is exploding and getting even more complex. Harder to distinguish specific aromas because there is so much going on. Buttered pecans, guava, pineapple. (93 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
One of only three chardonnays I buy regularly (Rhys and Peay being the others), I took my full allocation and look forward to it. Love these with 4-6 years of age on them!
took my full allocation and will share a few. i really like these at about 5 years old, and dropped kistler quite a while ago due to the minimums etc. so have some room ($)
100 per bottle all in is hard to get past, no question