Aubert Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay 2005

Professional Ratings

• 98 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  While Mark Aubert no longer produces wines from the famed Ritchie vineyard, in the past it produced a fantastic string of classic Aubert-style, age-worthy Chardonnays from 30+-year-old Old Wente clone vines. The 2005 Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard has a bright, lemon-gold color with a slightly green tinge at the rim. The nose is beautifully perfumed, featuring jasmine and honeysuckle notes over a core of apple pie, poached pears and chalk dust with hints of praline and croissant. The palate is rich, decadently oily with tons of seductive apple and spice layers and a racy line, finishing very long and complex. Aging at a glacial pace, this Chardonnay still has a good decade of cellaring left at least! This wine was tasted from magnum, sourced directly from Aubert's library cellar.

• 93 Wine Spectator

  Beautifully crafted, this is rich, intense and focused, with a complex mix of ripe, vibrant green apple, pear, melon and spice, picking up a subtle honeyed edge on the finish.