This seems a little excessive, no? (UPDATED - it's not)

WINE TALK
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SAY! I LIKE AUBERT AND HAM!
I DO! I LIKE THEM, SAM-I-AM!
AND I WOULD DRINK THEM IN A BOAT.
AND I WOULD DRINK THEM, IN THE RAIN.
AND IN THE DARK. AND ON A TRAIN.
AND IN A CAR. AND IN A TREE.
THEY ARE SO GOOD, SO GOOD, YOU SEE!
SO I WILL DRINK THEM IN A BOX.
AND I WILL DRINK THEM WITH A FOX.
AND I WILL DRINK THEM IN A HOUSE.
AND I WILL DRINK THEM WITH A MOUSE.
AND I WILL DRINK THEM HERE AND THERE.
SAY! I WILL DRINK THEM ANYWHERE!
I DO SO LIKE AUBERT AND HAM!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU, SAM I AM. champagne.gif flirtysmile [snort.gif]

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Seems to me like they inadvertently slipped the instructions for their red wines into the white case.

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This is awesome. All this advice on how I need to drink a white wine. Reminds me of the handbook I used to raise my two daughters.

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Paul - was it like this:

Provide a healthy example.
Allow your daughter to see fully who you are.
Show your daughter that you are proud to be a woman.
Make sure you give your daughter as much direction and time as are given to sons.
Help your daughter to discover the things she likes to do, wants to try to do, and doesn’t like to do.

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Standing up probably so the gas in the head space has time to settle out + any potential sediment to settle. All seems very reasonable to me - they probably suggest step 4 as it minimises ox surface after decant (pouring it though will give it enough of a kick to start it off). If that’s what they think is best then I’d suggest following it - they’re the experts. Don’t listen to the crazy talk about P&P above;-)

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Not that I a huge an aubert fan but everything other than step one makes sense to me. My rule with white burgundy is to always decant.

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Drinking Aubert is excessibe

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they forgot the step to dim the room lights and light the royal 12 candles and recite the holy prayer of the California chard demigods.

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If I bought a wine that came with this message, it would be the last time I bought from them.

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These are always solid 93 pointers!

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Dunno, some folks bury cow horns, or rack according to the phase of the moon. I’m pretty tolerant of the foibles of growers and winemakers.

-Al

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Great , Mo’ fer us’uns ! champagne.gif

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I guess I’m just reading this a little differently.

Here is a winery that is releasing a young chardonnay, one that they know is going to age beautifully for a number of years based on their track record. They probably have consumers who are ‘not happy’ when they open them young because they just don’t show much. The winery is therefore suggesting, based on knowing their wines, to not open them young - but if you do, take steps to make the wine show the best possible 'from their perspective.

I really don’t see a problem with that at all - in fact, I find those tips more helpful than reading most tasting notes that wineries offer these days. And I look at these as ‘suggestions’ - nothing more, nothing less.

YMMV of course . . .

Cheers.

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Didn’t get this in package. Going to try my first Aubert this weekend, Larry Hyde. Will probably follow winery instructions but sip the wine during its 3 hours out.

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Larry, I certainly respect your read of this.
My take was that i’m pretty sure I can figure out what way works best for me. A general statement such as, “we recommend decanting” or some such thing would be fine. However, this overly precise letter comes through as rather pedantic to me.

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So: OP here. Here’s what happened.

I initially popped and poured. My first tasting notes (CT, tak4) noted that the wine was really intense, hot, and not as aromatic as I would have expected. First sips were good, not magical.

I then decanted the wine per their suggestions (though I didn’t wait four hours, because I am impatient). Both my and my wife’s impressions of the wine improved dramatically. My tasting note is reproduced below (and also accidentally double-posted to the forum - sorry).

Now, obviously this was a) not blinded; b) serial, rather than parallel; c) possibly just the product of air exposure and would have happened anyway. That said, I’m impressed by how much of a difference the process seemed to make. The wine went from something that needed serious mellowing time to something delicious and enjoyable right away. Kudos to the Aubert team. I’m seriously considering doing double decants on my whites going forward.

So… not excessive at all. It’s nice to have your mind changed with empirical evidence. Wonderful wine, too.


  • 2017 Aubert Chardonnay Larry Hyde & Sons - USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros (4/6/2019)
    Popped and poured in the afternoon, despite Aubert’s instructions to double decant and wait for four hours. That seems like overkill to me. Plus, we don’t typically decant whites.

Wine is a pretty golden straw color.

I get green apples, grapefruit, american smarties, and butterscotch on the nose.

On the palate - whoa! Lots going on here. Lots. Wine is sound. Dry though there may be a tiny touch of sweetness (could be pseudosweetness). Medium high acid. Highly concentrated. High alcohol and drinks a touch hot. Super long finish. Mineral resolving to white pepper, grapefruit, melon, powder candy, all kinds of stuff.

I like this wine a lot but I don’t think it’s ready to drink now. It feels like a Kistler with all the knobs turned to eleven, but I’d prefer something a little mellower.

Wait - maybe this is why they asked for a double decant! Doing it now!!

(one hour later) Wine is definitely more aromatic. More melon and mineral now. Strangely it appears more deeply colored now. On palate it is definitely more intense. Rounder and more balanced, though. More citrusy now. It’s much better now - wow. I would never have thought this to be the case.

Well, I’m a buyer, an ager, and a drinker. Can do nicely with some age or now. (92 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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[rofl.gif] [rofl.gif] [rofl.gif]

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Tariq, I’ve been buying these wines for several years now and agree that age is your friend. I’m still working through 2012s and have also had good experience with decanting. I prefer them at cellar temp as well.

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I used to buy Aubert Chards and I still think they are fantastic with a couple of years on them. When my first shipment arrived, I really wanted to find out what the fuss was all about, so I pnp’d and ended up being less than impressed (probably served a little too cold too). So, I guess I think it is good that they suggest (in a round-about way) that they need some time. Cheers!

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+1