The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard is breathtaking. Everything is in the right place in this dazzling, superb Cabernet Sauvignon. Layers of dark fruit, plums, camphor, licorice and espresso emerge from this effortless,... Read More
The 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard is one of the great wines of the vintage. It brings together gorgeous aromatics, juicy, expressive red fruit and silky tannins. Now seemingly past a period of closure post-bottling,... Read More
A positively kaleidoscopic nose features a wonderful panoply of spice and fruit aromas that offer something new and different with every sniff. The rich, full and utterly classic flavors are a study of the harmonious liaison of... Read More
The 2013 Chardonnay Cix Estate, also from a Montrachet clone planted on Goldridge soils, displays plenty of peach, apricot, caramelized apples, citrus blossom and wet stones in a full-bodied, powerful, rich and pure, precise style.... Read More
The 2015 Chardonnay CIX Estate has the most alluring, singular, beguiling nose so that it cannot fail to impress. Revealing notes of candied ginger, nutmeg, aniseed, apple pie and pear tart, it delivers a full-on bombastic, richly... Read More
No tasting note for this wine. Mark Aubert is one of the contenders for California's finest practitioner of Burgundian-styled, yet classic, California Chardonnays. His offerings are all made like grand cru Burgundies with... Read More
The 2015 Chardonnay Eastside Vineyard exudes butterscotch, allspice, baked pears and peach preserves with tantalizing honeycomb, salted caramel and popcorn hints. This rich, full-bodied powerhouse fills the palate with decadent,... Read More
The 2016 Chardonnay Eastside Vineyard is scented of lemon tart, baking bread, crushed stones, clover honey and shaved almonds with hints of pure, sliced pears and Golden Delicious apples. Full-bodied, elegant, fine and restrained,... Read More
The 2016 Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard has a gorgeous nose of pear tart, aniseed, beeswax and honey toast with touches of salted almonds and a waft of baking bread. Full-bodied, rich and with a totally decadent creaminess to the... Read More
The 2016 Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard has a gorgeous nose of pear tart, aniseed, beeswax and honey toast with touches of salted almonds and a waft of baking bread. Full-bodied, rich and with a totally decadent creaminess to the... Read More
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... Read More
The 2013 Chardonnay Lauren Estate is made from 15-year-old vines from the old Wente and Mt. Eden clones of Chardonnay planted in Goldridge soils. This wine offers loads of nectarine, honeysuckle, liquefied rock, quince and white... Read More
A touch closed and youthfully shy to begin, the 2015 Chardonnay Lauren Estate soon powers up to reveal intense grapefruit, citrus peel, yuzu and honeyed pear notes over suggestions of crushed stones, struck match, baking bread... Read More
The 2016 Chardonnay Lauren Estate delivers incredibly intense grapefruit essence, lemon peel and green apple notes with touches of nutmeg, fresh ginger, lightly browned toast, marzipan and smoky meat. The palate is built like... Read More
The first vintage of this wine, the 2017 Chardonnay Powder House (a barrel sample) comes from eight acres of what are now estate vines planted in 2013, to Hyde Old Wente and Mt. Eden clones on Goldridge soils. The vineyard is... Read More
The 2015 Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard offers up floral notes of jasmine and peach blossom over a core of apricot preserves, honeyed toast, beeswax and lemon butter, plus a waft of crushed stones. The palate is just beautiful, possessing... Read More
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... Read More
The 2016 Chardonnay Sugar Shack Estate is opulent straight out of the gate, with stunning orange peel, candied ginger, nutmeg and ripe apricot with touches of cashews and croissant. The full-bodied palate explodes with expressive... Read More
Giving up zingy lemon zest and grapefruit notes with layer upon layer of chalk dust, marzipan, honeyed brioche and ginger plus a touch of coriander seed, the 2015 Chardonnay UV-SL has a full-bodied powerhouse of a palate that... Read More
Two bottles were badly corked, which is certainly a scary situation for a wine where only 1,000 or so cases were produced. However, a third bottle was magical and just short of perfection. Its saturated purple color was followed... Read More
The 2001 Ausone has put on even more weight than I anticipated. The "wine of the vintage," this inky/purple-colored 2001 boasts a provocative, floral perfume of crushed stones, raspberries, blackberries, creme de cassis, licorice,... Read More
The 2003 Ausone is off the charts in terms of richness. While I gave a 3-digit score to the 2000, I think this profoundly concentrated wine may be even more sublime and exotic. Its inky/blue/purple color is followed by an extraordinary... Read More
I'm not going out on a limb saying the 2005 Ausone is better than the 2003, 2000, etc., but it is certainly at the same level. It is a wine of great intensity with extraordinary extract as well as a seamless integration of... Read More
One of the handful of candidates for wine of the vintage is the 2006 Ausone. In fact, while tasting it, I was thinking, is there any estate in Bordeaux that, since 1998, has made as many legendary wines as proprietor Alain Vauthier... Read More
One of the handful of candidates for wine of the vintage is the 2006 Ausone. In fact, while tasting it, I was thinking, is there any estate in Bordeaux that, since 1998, has made as many legendary wines as proprietor Alain Vauthier... Read More