2008 Chardonnay Lauren Vineyard

This small retrospective of Lauren Chardonnays from Mark Aubert provided a great opportunity to see how several older vintages are developing. Lauren was planted in 1998 with four clones of Chardonnay: Mt. Eden, Hudson, Hyde and Corton-Charlemagne. My impression is that clonal diversity in this site is one of the reasons the Lauren Chardonnay is such a complete and nuanced wine. Most of Aubert's other Chardonnay vineyards are planted with one or two (at most) clones. The Montrachet clone in particular tends to produce opulent, flamboyant wines, which won't come as a surprise to readers who know the wines of that famed Burgundy site. But Lauren is always a wine of detail and layers. The 2005 Lauren remains one of my all-time favorite California Chardonnays.

(Originally published in Sonoma Preview: January 2018 New Releases)

Mark Aubert has introduced his first new wine in six years, a 2008 chardonnay reportedly from a Corton-Charlemagne clone planted in the new Larry Hyde & Sons vineyard in 2004. He declassified half of this fruit, and the low-pH wine he produced should last a long time. Aubert described 2008 as a "fire and ice vintage," although he noted that the nights were not too hot for the grapes to retain good natural acidity. Crop levels were down considerably, especially in the Lauren wine, due to frost damage in April. And of course the key to the uncanny richness of Aubert's chardonnays has always been low yields: he told me he generally produces the equivalent of 35 hectoliters per hectare of chardonnay, but that in 2008 it was more like 20-and even lower for pinot noir. The 2008 season was tricky for pinot due to the heat spike at the end of August, and Aubert ultimately declassified 40% of his Rueling Vineyard fruit and 60% of UV.