Aubert
CIX Vineyards Chardonnay
Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County, California, USA
I try to keep my hands off these, but they are so incredibly delicious in their youth (most, that is). This was my first CIX from 2017, and I think so far the most accessible would be Hudson and then Powder House.
My wife and I poured about half of this out in to our glasses at pop, and then double decanted the other half and came back to it an hour or so later before consuming over the following hour. In comparison to other Aubert offerings from this vintage, this was the most tart/sported the most lemon type profile. Typical Aubert lemon cream was present here along with smoked marzipan on the nose. The palate, again, was really quite tart showing grilled lemon, salted popcorn kernel, spiced golden delicious apple and honey roasted cashews. The profile here was really powerful. Obviously I opened on the young side, but this shows a lot of aging potential (compared to their Hudson). It came across as a blend of Eastside + Powder House. Good acidity, big phenolics. I’d probably hold (though the double decant did open this up a decent bit), and expect this to jump a few points easily over the next 3-5yrs.
I try to keep my hands off these, but they are so incredibly delicious in their youth (most, that is). This was my first CIX from 2017, and I think so far the most accessible would be Hudson and then Powder House.
My wife and I poured about half of this out in to our glasses at pop, and then double decanted the other half and came back to it an hour or so later before consuming over the following hour. In comparison to other Aubert offerings from this vintage, this was the most tart/sported the most lemon type profile. Typical Aubert lemon cream was present here along with smoked marzipan on the nose. The palate, again, was really quite tart showing grilled lemon, salted popcorn kernel, spiced golden delicious apple and honey roasted cashews. The profile here was really powerful. Obviously I opened on the young side, but this shows a lot of aging potential (compared to their Hudson). It came across as a blend of Eastside + Powder House. Good acidity, big phenolics. I’d probably hold (though the double decant did open this up a decent bit), and expect this to jump a few points easily over the next 3-5yrs.
I never gave it a chance to breathe. Tight and linear, though it packed a punch in stone fruit. Lighter in body than expected. Sadly I have no patience.
I never gave it a chance to breathe. Tight and linear, though it packed a punch in stone fruit. Lighter in body than expected. Sadly I have no patience.
Dec 20th, 2025