Peter Michael vs Aubert

[Mike_Grammer]

Pinots, Aubert for sure I agree Tim—used to call the UV “Pinot Port”. PMs were a little more restrained but still plenty of wine.

[John_Ammons]

I love Morlet also. BTW Luc Morlet is the winemaker at Peter Michael so the style is very similar.

Actually it’s Nicolas Morlet who makes the wine at Peter Michael. I think that’s Luc’s brother, right?

[Ken_Strauss]

I love Morlet also. BTW Luc Morlet is the winemaker at Peter Michael so the style is very similar.

Actually it’s Nicolas Morlet who makes the wine at Peter Michael. I think that’s Luc’s brother, right?

Yes
You are correct.
Luc used to be the winemaker at Peter Michael.

[Steve_V]

Thanks everybody for the info. The PM allocation opened a little while ago so I grabbed a few bottles to see. This will be my first time trying PM so I do look forward to it. I will take some of you up on your suggestions as well. In the meantime, I will continue to keep reading the past topics and learn. I see there is an abundance of information on here and I get totally jealous of what some of you know and are able to spend on wine! Hopefully I can be there one day.

[Mike_Grammer]

Trust me, Steve–you’ll catch up in no time! Glad the info has helped.

[Tim_Melton]

I also like the Aubert a bit better and (in a comparison of pricey wines) find the chardonnays from Aubert a bit better of a value. For me, Lauren is the most consistent winner, but some years Lauren is edged out by Sugar Shack or CIX. I buy 8-10 cases of Aubert chardonnay a year, so that pretty much fills up my capacity for American Chard. My favorite chardonnay ever made by Marc Aubert was the Quarry, grapes that came from Peter Michael’s vineyard La Carriere (french for the quarry). I think Marc was getting slightly stronger scores for his version of the quarry than the PM version - that may be a reason why the quarry grapes are not available to Aubert any more. Les Pavot is a terrific wine, but I had a hard time justifying it on a value perspective when compared to bordeaux or other California bord blends.

Whoa!! Wish I could pull that off… Cheers!

It is my wife’s favorite wine by a long shot, keeping her in Aubert helps when comparing the cost of other purchases.

[David_Glasser]

Tim, love that approach. PM chards are my wife’s favorite white wines, though we go through no more than a case a year. It’s the only wine that she reminds me to order when she sees the mailer. Usually, it’s “we’re throwing this in the trash, right?”

[Anton_D]

Tim, love that approach. PM chards are my wife’s favorite white wines, though we go through no more than a case a year. It’s the only wine that she reminds me to order when she sees the mailer. Usually, it’s “we’re throwing this in the trash, right?”

This is a classic “Ginger, or Mary Ann” question. (Or, for the ladies, Gilligan, or Skipper?)

My main answer is “Both!”

We tasted some of each over Super Bowl weekend and Aubert won when tasting straight up, Peter Michael won as we tasted with food.

The Peter Michael had a more subdued fruit profile, but the structure matched more with drinking it during dinner.

My wife loves PM slightly more (especially Cuvee Indigine), her sister, Aubert. After her first evening drinking Aubert’s chards and pinots, she immediately started calling them to beg to get on their waiting/mailing list. (She has since made the list. In addition to making great wine, they treated my sister in law very sweetly and kudos to them for that, as well!)

For my own palate, I need both in my life.

Side note: If you like Aubert, please check out Tres Perlas Winery’s “Renteria Brown Ranch” Chardonnay. My wife and I toured there and joined their list. We were out in the vineyard standing at the edge of a row of grape vines and tasted this wine. My wife said, “Wow, this is wonderful! It reminds me of Aubert Hyde Vineyard!”

Our awesome sales associate, Harry Oranges replied, “Funny you should say that. This row is ours, this next row begins Hyde Vineyard!” (My wife rocks.)

So, it is most definitely worth checking out, as is Toyon Vineyard Chard made by Alpha Omega, which is in that same micro-area. Maybe 100 yards away.

I am loving this thread.

[Joel_S_Morris]

I buy both every year. I dropped Kistler as I agree Aubert and Peter Michael are better.
This would make a great challenge. Peter Michael vs Aubert. I will suggest to Andrew at Winewatch.

Ken, Andy is doing the comparison in April. Unfortunately, I will be in DC (perhaps I can persuade him to change the date)

[Ken_Strauss]

I buy both every year. I dropped Kistler as I agree Aubert and Peter Michael are better.
This would make a great challenge. Peter Michael vs Aubert. I will suggest to Andrew at Winewatch.

Ken, Andy is doing the comparison in April. Unfortunately, I will be in DC (perhaps I can persuade him to change the date)

I know.
I called him.
I am going to see him this afternoon.
I will ask him to change the date.

[Ken_Strauss]

The challenge happened last night. A terrific evening where all the wines were singing. 32 people enjoyed 14 wines. We started the night with 2015 Schramsberg blanc de blanc to wet the palate. I have attached the list of wines served. Chardonnay was the main focus. 5 Aubert and 4 Peter Michael Chardonnays. Every bottle was flawless. Best Chardonnay by vote was the Peter Michael Point Rouge. The name was given by Helen Turley when she was the winemaker. Helen would place a on the best barrels to make this extraordinary wine. The Aubert UV-SL pinot won the pinot challenge. You can see the vote counts in the picture. It all began here with a simple question. Thanks Joel!

Thanks to Toni and Andrew for putting this dinner together! The food was outstanding. Andrew provided his usual Wine Watch insightful commentary!

[Anton_D]

Wow!

What a great undertaking!