Aubert Chardonnay, on point in 2007

It has been a while! While I've been out west for just under a month, I used it as an opportunity to abstain from....

writing ;) There is no way I could go more than a day or two w/o drinking! That being said, I hadn't had much exceptional wine in the past few weeks and it seemed like as good a time as any to give my typing fingers a bit of a rest. Now that I've returned to the concrete jungle back east, I knew just the bottle to pop to rejuvenate my blabbing juices...

Aubert Chardonnay, Ritchie Vineyard 07

Screw bottle shock. While I found the '06 to be the weakest of the 03-06 bunch (though it is still an outstanding wine), '07 comes back on strong for Aubert Chardonnay. The slightly cloudy haze has returned to the color, dusting off to a sensual bouquet of subtle smoke, apricot, creme fraiche, peach and a suggestion of grilled nuts. An absolute elixir in the mouth, w/ a mouth-filling ride of Chardonnay fruit gliding across the palate w/ a lithe, almost airy sensibility. The Ritchie closes strong, w/ a noble, mineral core chiming in on the finish. Exquisite stuff (and more in the vein of the '05 from a style standpoint), 96 points.

There were a few hot spots in San Diego that were terrific for the wine inclined that I'll be sure to post about tommorrow....back in the saddle again!