Our Provenance Guarantee
Purchase with confidence. All of our wines are selectively sourced and thoroughly inspected for authenticity and signs of poor storage. Accepted bottles are preserved in our climate-controlled cellar until they reach your doorstep. We have no storefront and no walk-in traffic, so nothing is moved or handled between inspection and shipping.
The bottle you see photographed is the bottle you receive (or fundamentally identical when multiple bottles are listed), and our commitment to you is that it arrives as represented. If it doesn’t, we want to hear from you.
Ratings & Tasting Notes:
97 points — Vinous (Antonio Galloni), February 2016
Rich, phenolic and intense, with striking interplay of aromas, flavours and textures. Seamless and impeccably layered in the glass, the 2014 speaks to balance and finesse. Creamy, unctuous and “absolutely stunning in its beauty.” Galloni notes yields were just one ton per acre at UV-SL, the most coastal of the sites Mark Aubert works with.
96 points — Wine Advocate (Robert Parker), October 2016
From a cold, dry-farmed site, and the most closed of the 2014s the reviewer tasted. Loads of citrus oil, with real crisp, zesty acids giving it a more compressed feeling than some of the other wines, and a long finish. Tipping the scales at 15.5 percent natural alcohol, it doesn’t have a trace of heat, but shows the strength, ripeness and intensity Aubert has achieved.
Cult Wines International Notes:
Mark Aubert’s résumé is unusual in California: he twice succeeded Helen Turley, first at Peter Michael and then at Colgin, before founding his own label with his wife Theresa in 1999. He has since consulted for Sloan, Futo and Bryant Family, and Aubert has become one of the most sought-after Chardonnay producers in the New World, sold almost entirely through a long-waitlisted mailing list.
UV-SL is named for the late Ulises Valdez Sr., Aubert’s vineyard manager and a partner since the beginning, and for Stoetz Lane, where his home estate sits. It lies in the far western reaches of the Sonoma Coast, only six miles from the Pacific — the most coastal of the sites Aubert works with, and one of very few vineyards planted that close to the ocean. Maritime influence is constant: warm, sun-dappled afternoons cooled by ocean breezes. The site is dry-farmed and yields are minute, just one ton per acre in 2014.
That severity is what gives this wine its concentration. The 2014 reaches 15.5 percent natural alcohol without a trace of heat, showing instead the strength, ripeness and intensity the site can achieve. Expect a rich, phenolic, intense wine, creamy and unctuous in texture yet seamlessly layered, with loads of citrus oil carried on crisp, zesty acidity through a long finish. Rich in the Aubert manner but held together by that acid line. Best served just below cellar temperature rather than cold, with a short decant.
Bottle Size:
750 mL
Storage History:
Always stored on its side in a climate-controlled cellar.
Condition:
Outstanding condition.
Please note: The condition of the bottle you will receive is accurately reflected by the one shown in the images.
