2019 Aubert - Chardonnay Sonoma Coast CIX Estate (750ml)

After years of making wine for other estates, Mark Aubert stopped consulting after the 2009 vintage to focus entirely on his own label. He and his wife Teresa founded Aubert in 1999 and have built much of it around the rolling hills near Forestville in western Sonoma. Their first estate vineyard there, Lauren, was planted in 1999 on a former apple orchard and named for their daughter. Over the following years they added neighboring parcels, creating a group of Sonoma Coast estate vineyards that now produce some of California’s most sought-after Chardonnay.

CIX sits right next to Lauren, and its name is the Roman numeral for the parcel’s original number, 109. Planted in 2008 to the Montrachet clone of Chardonnay, the vines grow in sandy Goldridge loam. The winery says this soil gives the wine both breadth and a mineral, white Burgundy-like quality. CIX is usually the last of Aubert’s vineyards to be picked. The long, cool 2019 season gave especially refined fruit, and Mark himself has called this vintage “simply ethereal.” Like its siblings, it was barrel-fermented in a high proportion of new French oak.

The 2019 shows grapefruit, green mango, orange peel, and ripe pear, with lemon oil, marzipan, mint, and wildflowers. Hints of talc and chopped nuts add complexity. The palate is powerful and dense yet remarkably clear. The finish is creamy and long, with a mineral thread and toasty accents. Serve it with roast turbot, lobster risotto, or aged Comté.