Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Aubert's 2020 Chardonnay Powder House—from a Forestville vineyard planted in 2015 to a mix of Hyde Old Wente and Mount Eden selections—comes across as a bit more crisp, focused and linear than many of the other wines here. Melon, yellow plum and lime notes appear upon the nose, while the full-bodied palate is concentrated, fresh and zesty. It's an excellent wine, maybe a bit more suited for a food pairing (delicate white fish or poultry dishes) than the more bombastic offerings. Best After 2022.
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Wine Spectator
This has a richness to the salted toffee and honey-drizzled apricot, lemon curd and peach flavors, but it's tempered by a savory, crunchy mineral sea salt detail and a vibrant, mouthwatering frame that lingers on the long, fresh finish. Drink now.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
A vast appellation covering Sonoma County’s Pacific coastline, the Sonoma Coast AVA runs all the way from the Mendocino County border, south to the San Pablo Bay. The region can actually be divided into two sections—the actual coastal vineyards, marked by marine soils, cool temperatures and saline ocean breezes—and the warmer, drier vineyards further inland, which are still heavily influenced by the Pacific but not quite with same intensity.
Contained within the appellation are the much smaller Fort Ross-Seaview and Petaluma Gap AVAs.
The Sonoma Coast is highly regarded for elegant Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and, increasingly, cool-climate Syrah. The wines have high acidity, moderate alcohol, firm tannin, and balanced ripeness.