The Wine Advocate Issue 227, October 2016

Robert Parker, Jr., The Wine Advocate Issue 227

2015 Chardonnay CIX Estate Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Score: 98-100 Points

The 2015 Chardonnay Cix Estate is 100% Montrachet clone and shows notes of liquified stones, quince, honeysuckle, caramelized citrus, and hints of tropical fruits such as pineapple and nectarine. This is a beauty of great intensity, richness and length – another remarkable Chardonnay from Aubert.

2015 Chardonnay Eastside Vineyard Russian River
Score: 97-100 Points

The 2015 Chardonnay Eastside, from a vineyard owned by Ulises Valdez and planted with a suitcase clone from one of the Montrachet holdings in Burgundy, comes across with great ripeness (15.4% natural alcohol) compared to the 15.8% of the UV-SL. With loads of orange skin, buttered citrus, smoked hazelnuts and green apples, fabulous concentration and amazing minerality, this is another compelling Chardonnay from the genius of Mark Aubert that should drink well for a decade or more.

2015 Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard Carneros
Score: 96-98 Points

The 2015s start with the 2015 Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard from Carneros. This is a dead-ringer for a Coche-Dury Meursult-Perrières. Made from an old Wente clone, the wine displays smoky hazelnuts, extraordinary citrus oil, nectarine and honeysuckle, a full-bodied mouthfeel, great acidity and not a trace of oak, which is always amazing in the Aubert Chardonnays, since they are aged for just under 12 months in 100% new French cooperage. This beauty should drink well for at least 10 years or more.

2015 Chardonnay Larry Hyde & Sons Vineyard Carneros
Score: 95-97 Points

His 2015 Chardonnay Larry Hyde & Sons, like many of the 2015s and a consistent characteristic of most of Aubert’s wines, comes from mostly old Wente clones as well, and has a bright gold/greenish hue to its color as well as a big, sweet kiss of caramelized citrus, apple blossom, white peach and a touch of pineapple. It is a beautiful wine, with a full-bodied mouthfeel and a long, zesty finish. Anticipated maturity: now-2026.

2015 Chardonnay Lauren Estate Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Score: 97-100 Points

The 2015 Chardonnay Lauren Estate, from 17-year-old vines of primarily the Old Wente and Mt. Eden clones (but in the famous Goldridge soils that are so vital in the Russian River Valley), was the slowest to ferment, although it offers great acids, loads of nectarine and tangerine, honeysuckle, white currants, and no evidence of the 100% new oak it was aged in. This is another sensational effort, and like most Laurens will probably age for 10-15 or more years.

2015 Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Score: 97-100 Points

The 2015 Chardonnay Ritchie (from 43-year-old vines) offers loads of tangerine and orange tropical fruit notes along with brioche and citrus oil. Production was tiny on these old vines, exaggerated by the poor flowering. Produced from 100% Old Wente clone, this wine also shows wet gravelly minerality, terrific natural acidity from the super-concentrated, tiny berries, and a long, full-bodied finish. It should drink well for 10-15 years, possibly longer.

2015 Chardonnay Sugar Shack Estate Vineyard Napa Valley
Score: 97-99 Points

From his only vineyard in Napa, the 2015 Chardonnay Sugar Shack is a hedonist’s delight. Fragrant, exotic notes of mango, orange marmalade, nectarine and pineapple soar from the glass of this full-bodied, beautifully fruited Chardonnay that shows not a trace of oak, has great acidity, and an almost vibrant energy-driven style that is remarkable. This is always one of my favorite cuvées to taste, and I have been a buyer every year that he’s been producing it. Again, this sees 100% new oak, but you would never know it.

2015 Chardonnay UV-SL Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Score: 97-100 Points

The 2015 Chardonnay UV-SL, which is also an Old Wente clone, and the coldest of all of the Aubert Chardonnay sites, should come close to being a perfect Chardonnay with a few years of age. Plenty of exotic fruits, intense richness, an incredible, fragrant nose of honeysuckle, orange marmalade, caramelized citrus, white peach and a subtle hint of pineapple are all present in this incredibly full-bodied, rich, thick wine buttressed by considerable natural acids. This wine should drink well for at least a dozen or more years.

2015 Pinot Noir CIX Estate Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Score: 99 Points

Close to perfection is the 2015 Pinot Noir Cix Estate, which is reminiscent of a great grand cru Burgundy from Northern Côte de Nuit. Forest floor, porcini mushrooms, underbrush and loamy soil notes intermixed with hints of black raspberry, cherry and blueberry are followed by a full-bodied wine with 15% natural alcohol and great intensity, making for a prodigious Pinot Noir that should age gracefully for 10-15 years.

2015 Pinot Noir UV Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Score: 96 Points

The 2015 Pinot Noir UV is stunning, concentrated because of the tiny yields. The wine has a dense ruby color and a gorgeous nose of raspberries, forest floor, underbrush and blacker fruits. It is full-bodied, has good acidity, an ethereal fragrance and a long, long finish. It should drink well for 15 or more years.

2015 Pinot Noir UV-SL Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Score: 93+ Points

The tightest of the three Pinot Noirs, was the 2015 Pinot Noir UV-SL. This Pinot Noir, made from equal parts Calera and a Vosne-Romanée clone, shows terrific fruit intensity, slightly higher acids and more tannin in a more backward style. It certainly needs time to fully unleash its considerable personality, and in a way, it seemed to suffer in comparison with its two more flamboyant siblings. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2032.

2014 Chardonnay CIX Estate Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Score: 99 Points

The virtually perfect 2014 Chardonnay CIX Estate, planted with a Montrachet clone on Goldridge soils, again exhibits amazing intensity, notes of wet gravel interwoven with apple blossom, caramelized citrus, apricot, white peach and honeysuckle. It is full-bodied, multidimensional and a profound glass of Chardonnay.

2014 Chardonnay Eastside Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Score: 98 Points

Absolutely profound is the 2014 Chardonnay Eastside, from the vineyard owned by well-known viticulturalist and farmer Ulises Valdez and planted with a suitcase Montrachet clone on a low-yielding root stock called Riparia Gloire. Smoky crème brûlée notes intermixed with white peach, nectarine, orange marmalade, honeysuckle and buttered apples all jump from the glass of this great Chardonnay that is Grand cru quality, incredibly pure, dense, and long.

2014 Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard Carneros
Score: 95 Points

Aubert’s debut with the famous Hudson Vineyard is the 2014 Chardonnay Hudson, which comes across like a premier cru Meursault. This is made from 20-year-old Wente clones and shows smoky hazelnut and almond notes, buttery tropical fruit, a full-bodied mouthfeel and a big, forward style. I’m not sure this will be the longest-lived of the Aubert 2014s, but it is certainly the most flamboyant and showy at this stage.

2014 Chardonnay Larry Hyde & Sons Vineyard Carneros
Score: 95 Points

The 2014 Chardonnay Larry Hyde & Sons has a greenish hue to its light-gold color, a fresh, lively nose of poached pears, citrus oil, honeysuckle, a hint of pineapple and tangerine. This is a beautiful, full-bodied Chardonnay to drink over the next decade or more.

2014 Chardonnay Lauren Estate Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Score: 99 Points

Flirting with perfection is the 2014 Chardonnay Lauren Estate, from 16-year-old vines, which offers great extract, richness, and plenty of honeysuckle, tropical fruit and citrus oil. The wine, showing its concentration because of the drought year, should easily last 12-15 years.

2014 Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Score: 97 Points

The old vines certainly show well in the 2014 Chardonnay Ritchie, with an almost Alsatian-like petrol nose that is starting to come on. This wine that is full-bodied, with incredible ripeness, purity and overall equilibrium, offers up plenty of tropical fruit and citrus, white peach and pineapple. The wine should drink well for at least another decade.

2014 Chardonnay Sugar Shack Estate Vineyard Napa Valley
Score: 97 Points

Another stunner is the 2014 Chardonnay Sugar Shack. This wine, which was harvested August 18, 2014, was one of the earliest picks Mark Aubert had ever done. The wine offers up great fruit, which includes notes of pineapple, green apple, honeysuckle and peach marmalade. It is full-bodied with exceptional purity, lingering across the palate. Drink it over the next 7-12 years. This is the only vineyard for Chardonnay that he has in Napa Valley.

2014 Chardonnay UV-SL Vineyard Sonoma Coast
Score: 96 Points

From a cold site, the 2014 Chardonnay UV-SL is from a dry-farmed vineyard. This seems to have been the most closed wine that I tasted of the 2014s. The wine has loads of citrus oil, real crisp, zesty acids (giving it a more compressed feeling that some of the other wines) and a long finish. Tipping the scales at 15.5% natural alcohol, it doesn’t have a trace of heat, but shows the strength, ripeness and intensity he has achieved. This is a long-distance runner of 10-15 years.