2005 Chardonnay Ritche

I was deeply impressed with the wines I tasted at Aubert this year. Mark Aubert told me the conversions from sugar to alcohol were a bit lower than normal, which means the 2013s are in the low 15%s in alcohol. I found remarkable energy, focus and site specificity in both the Chardonnays and Pinots. Aubert bottled the Chardonnays in December and the Pinots in July, which is early but he wanted to preserve freshness. I should add that the wines are not fined or filtered. At times, the Chardonnays can be a bit cloudy, but the 2013 are quite clear. As I left, I couldn't help wonder if 2013 might usher in an era of slightly less bombastic wines here. The 2005 I tasted suggest these Chardonnays age just fine, but the 2013s, well, they have a level of nuance and finesse I have never seen in an entire range here previously. Lastly, readers should note that there are no appellation-level Chardonnays in 2013.

"The 2005s are elegant, cosmopolitan wines, while the '04s are big bombs," says Mark Aubert, describing these two very different vintages. The newest set of releases possess healthy acidity, like the 2001s, he added. "It's a real vin de garde." The alcoholic fermentations were very long, and thus it was not necessary to stir the lees, Aubert explained: "Thanks to the extended fermentations, the lees stirred themselves." These are among California's richest and showiest chardonnays-although Aubert noted that the 2005s finished with around 1.5 grams per liter of residual sugar, while the 2004s were typically in the 2 to 2.5 range.