2017 Chardonnay CIX Vineyard

Mark Aubert's 2017 Chardonnays are every bit as remarkable from bottle as they were from tank. Interestingly, the Labor Day heat spikes had the effect of blocking some of the maturation of the vines. So, in a very warm and dry year, the 2017 Aubert Chardonnays are lower in alcohol, lower in pH and higher in acidity than is the norm, something further accentuated by lower conversions of sugar into finished alcohol in the wines. This range is positively stellar. There is not much else I can add to that.

Mark Aubert turned out a positively brilliant set of wines in 2017, something that is made all the more remarkable considering the stress that surrounded the fall of that year. Aubert described the October 2017 fires as the most horrific thing he had seen in 43 years of living in Napa Valley. As for the wines, well, they are simply stunning. There is not much more to it than that. Interestingly, the Labor Day heat spikes had the effect of blocking some of the maturation of the vines. So, in a very warm and dry year, the 2017 Aubert Chardonnays are lower in alcohol, lower in pH and higher in acidity than is the norm, something further accentuated by lower conversions of sugar into finished alcohol in the wines. I found the 2017 Chardonnays, which I tasted from tank prior to bottling, incredibly vivid and nuanced. In Pinot Noir, Aubert is pursuing a gentler approach that includes lower temperatures in fermentation, more stem influence and fewer punchdowns. The jammy, sweet character that once marked these wines so heavily is now much less apparent. Following standard convention here, the 2017 Pinots were bottled in June 2018, while the Chardonnays are scheduled for bottling in December 2018.