David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.2

Onto something we love after the Kongsgaard palate burn.

Never disappoints, consistent, rich, ripe deep red fruits with just the right amount of minerality & chalkiness.

Some acid to pair with vinaigrette salad.

375ml

Photos of, the House of Ruinart, painting of Founder Dom Thierry Ruinart, their caves & Grand Cru Vineyards. — 4 years ago

Nick H

9.4

Always delightful, and certainly drinking well in the current window. Poured a little cooler than the Kongsgaard, and also benefitted from approaching room temperature. While slightly edged out by the 13 Kong in my opinion tonight, still a beautiful benchmark Aubert wine. — 5 years ago

Shay A

9.6

4th Friday of the month means another monthly Classic happy hour! Great wines, great people.

This was my contribution last night. One of the more profound Cali chards I’ve come across. Powerhouse! The richness and front palate power is very similar to Kongsgaard. Viscous. The notes are honeyed, but not lean...not even compared to the Aubert that was on the table with it. Not overly buttery, more just high quality chard that commands your attention. Mexican vanilla, toasted almonds, and honeyed brioche. The finish goes on forever...lots of cashew, melon, and coconut shell. No stone/tropical fruits here. An absolutely KILLER bottle, @Martin G Rivard , thank you for the intro here! — 6 years ago

with Dan, Mark and 1 other

Mikey T

9.0

$75 club purchase. Pretty, pretty good — 6 years ago

Bill Bender

9.6

My first Ferren and I’m prepping with a 2-3 decant as suggested by @Roman Sukley @DAG and @David L notes to follow. For now the wine is moderately cloudy, nose of yeast and brioche with a quite strikingly vibrant pear yellow hue. Happy Thanksgiving Delectable peeps who always entertain and often inform. This is a spectacular, exceptionally well made Chardonnay. Oily, rich and loaded with viscosity but also so energetic and full of verve. I’m impressed. As close to Kongsgaard The Judge that I’ve had at a fraction of the price. — 6 years ago

Michael Meyer

9.5

Incredible wine. Richly viscous texture and medium-plus weight. A waft of petrol and white waxy flowers, followed with a honeyed lime and apple tart palate. Subtle minerality and a long finish. Reminds me a lot of what Kongsgaard does with Chardonnay from an artistic standpoint. Amazingly paired with a Brazilian Moqueca prepared by some wonderful new friends here on the Kauai North Shore. — 7 years ago

Michael Meyer

9.3

Showing that Kongsgaard lineage superbly. Perfect complement to @Dan Blackwell's short ribs. — 7 years ago

John Malcolm

9.2

Powerful! Deep purple color. Smokey and meaty. I like it, but might be overpowering for some. — 4 years ago

Shay A

9.5

Arietta Wines lunch with owner Fritz. We were able to taste through some current releases as well as some reserve wines Fritz brought with him personally. A treat to enjoy these Andy Erickson wines!

Definitely the most fun wine on the table. Merlot and Syrah blend. I believe this is around the time John Kongsgaard was leaving and Andy Erickson was arriving. Quite wild, and both sweet and savory. Black cherry tart, peppercorn crusted rhubarb, red licorice, and a sweet smoke to the nose. Tangy red fruits, espresso and cocoa bits on the palate with a finish that shows tea leaf and fig. Delicious! — 4 years ago

Gunja Gargeshwari

9.2

Close second to the kongsgaard - quarter bottle left for me and the wife - 😬 thanks @Norman Gennaro ! — 6 years ago

with Amit, Joe and 1 other

Kyle Groombridge

9.0

Californian Albariño. Streak of minerality, lime zest, cool vibe here. Trained at Kongsgaard.. want to see more from this producer. — 6 years ago

Isaac Pirolo

9.3

Leviathan is the creation of husband and wife team Andy Erickson and Annie Favia-Erickson. They also collaborate on their Favia label, each bringing a resume boasting serious cult winery experience. Andy has spent time as winemaker at Screaming Eagle, Dalla Valle, Ovid, Dancing Hares and Arietta, with prior work at Harlan and Staglin, while Annie got her start with John Kongsgaard and Cathy Corison, before spending more than a decade as a viticulturist with David Abreu. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Jon Bonné said about the Ericksons, “Together they could probably create a 98-point wine in their sleep.” Their 2012 Leviathan is a blend of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc, 16% Merlot, and 14% Syrah all coming from Northern California, and mostly from Napa. There’s no dispute that this is rich and extracted, but there’s an underlying savoriness that balances out this fruit bomb. Blackberry, black cherry, licorice, mocha, cigar box, crème de cassis, and sweet tannins that carry with them that savory herbaceousness. — 6 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

8.9

On the nose, creamy dark & mid red fruits, fresh purple florals and loamy soils. Palate of lean ripe fruits of; blackberries, dark cherries, plum & raspberries. The tannins are dusty but grippy, raspberry cola, brown dusty soil, crushed rocks, fresh purple florals, leather, bramble, steeped fruit tea, good acidity but not a great finish. Astringent and dry. Wine is really tight at this point which is surprising for a 2012. Elizbeth Tangney is the Winemaker. She worked for L’Aventure in Paso Robles, Booker Vineyards, in St. Emillion and for Bryant before becoming their Winemaker. Aron Potts is their Consultanting Winemaker. He has his own label, Potts. He was previously the Assistant Winemaker at Kongsgaard and was the Winemaker at Château Troplong-Mondot in Bordeaux. Both shown in the photos as is their estate building and one of their vineyards. — 7 years ago

Benjamin Keator

9.6

One of my absolute favorites! If I'm not going to be drinking Kongsgaard or Aubert, this is the chard I want in my glass. Rich, luscious and full bodied — 7 years ago

David L

9.6

16’Arista UV-EL Diablo Chardonnay. What makes these wines so absolutely fantastic since 2013...to me it is obvious, Matt has turned this winery around. If you like a hammer style Chardonnay such as Kongsgaard/Morlet/Peter Michael. This is not necessarily your wine.
Chardonnay that’s not heavily coded by let’s say vanilla Bean “You guess it”Elegance/finesse/balanced & CLASSY. Unlike his Ferren Wines (Love them)this has slightly less punch. Highly recommend. — 4 years ago

Benjamin Keator

9.2

It’s like the California raisins are marching up and down my tongue! If I tasted blind, honestly, I probably would have called it a tawny. Paired with chicken ras el hanout and it cut the explosion of flavor much better than the 2012 Kongsgaard chard we had opened for dinner. I guess the Kongsgaard will be the dessert. This zin definitely has complexity, but it’s probably not for everyone — 6 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.6

This was tasted alongside a 2010 Kongsgaard Judge Chard, and it just had a lot more going on. While, to me, the Judge had a lot of very nice acidity and perhaps it was just a little bit 'younger' than the Lauren, it's not everyday that someone decides to open up a 2010 Lauren Aubert Chard and someone ELSE decides to open up a 2010 Kongsgaard Judge Chard! This to me was the WOTN for white wines. Easily beat out a 2011 Peter Michael Chard. This one has so many things going on. Nose of peach, asian pear, baking spices. The entry has a nutty and a mineral-rich character yet also has a lot of verbose fruit that just keeps going and going. At 8 years of age, this 2010 Aubert is SINGING, and I don't expect that to change. Finished with some limestone grit, then some obtuse fruit. Damn, what a chard! — 6 years ago

with Dan and Shay

Michael Meyer

9.1

Butterscotch — 6 years ago

Benjamin Keator

9.8

My buddy Patrick Has been talking about this stuff for years. It's simply incredible. Full malo, heavy petrol, unfiltered, super long finish. Tasted blind, thought it was a Kongsgaard Judge. Phenomenal wine — 7 years ago

Shay A

9.2

Similar to the Kongsgaard, this wine that @Bill Makens brought didn't do much for the table...at first. Nose and palate were fairly one dimensional...lots of raspberries. About two to three hours later, this improved significantly. I believe this is dominant merlot, so I was a bit surprised it took so long, but it came on strong at the end. Rounded the flavor profile out with some black pepper and plums. — 7 years ago

with Andrew, Benjamin and 1 other