Winetex 
Austin, TX
Master of Wine
Posts: 12847
 | | 02-02-2010 05:28 PM |
| In a first come, first served situation the e-commerce site was overloaded and shut down. Another Saxum situation??
2008 Ritchie Vineyard Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
2008 Larry Hyde & Sons Vineyard Carneros Chardonnay--Inaugural Release
2008 Reuling Vineyard Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
2008 Aubert Estate Vineyard "Lauren" Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
Dear XXX
Greetings
to all in 2010! We are just amazed at how fast time seems to go by
these days. So much of what we do in the winemaking arena requires time
and patience. Speaking of patience, we are offering a new single
vineyard Chardonnay bottling—our first in over six years, the 2008
Larry Hyde & Sons Vineyard Chardonnay.
About four years
ago, we were contacted by Larry Hyde, aka “The King of Carneros” to see
if we would be interested in a new field of Chardonnay vines that he
was planting. Of course we were interested and we jumped at the chance.
Now nearly 5 years later, we are releasing our first vintage of our
Hyde Chardonnay, and what a magnificent wine it is. Deeply
concentrated, with tones of green apple juice and lemon zest that
seemingly jump out from the glass. The wine has an amazing acid spine
that will encourage aging and future tactile development. The cuttings
from this new vineyard have a pedigree (originate) from
Corton-Charlemagne and we find that there are some aromatic profiles
reminiscent of this great appellation.
Additionally, our
spring release wines consist of our three other vineyard designated
Chardonnays—Ritchie, Reuling and Aubert Estate Lauren. In 2008, we
achieved a high level of ripeness and complexity due to the smaller
than normal crop. Springtime frosts curbed the yields and in essence
gave us a smaller crop to ripen. Simply put, 2008 was a challenge to
care for, but we think that this trio of Chardonnays represents some of
our best work to date. Throughout the entire process of growing,
harvesting and fermenting our grapes, everything from early on about
this year was pointing to a vintage of great proportion. Our acid
structures are perfect, alcohols are a bit lower, and aromatics are
delicate and noteworthy.
For the past several years we have
been very busy developing a few new vineyard sites along the Sonoma
Coast. As with all new vineyards, we slowly and carefully classify our
efforts into single vineyard cuvees as the wine reveals its true
character and status. In 2009, we finished planting our newest estate
vineyard site that is next door to the Reuling Vineyard. Over course of
the next few years we will be introducing a new estate Chardonnay and
Pinot Noir wine from this new vineyard. Also, in 2009 we made one new
single vineyard Chardonnay and two new Pinot Noirs—something to look
forward to…
Many of you have asked about how we allocate our
wines. We try to keep it very simple—allocations are based upon a
combination of length of time as a customer, past buying history and
total production. Allocations are reserved on a FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED basis.
When production permits, we are sometimes able to add a few customers
from our long Waiting List onto our Active Mailing List.
You
may order your wine allocation by navigating to our secure website at
www.aubertwines.com, then click “Ordering (by Invitation Only)” and
entering the User ID and Password that is located in the upper left
hand corner of this letter. This is the best way to secure your wine
allocation. All wines are allocated, and again, orders are reserved on
a first come, first served basis (the order deadline is February 20,
2010). Orders ship on Monday, April 12th, 2010 weather permitting.
We appreciate and thank you for your continued interest in our wines.
Warmest regards,
Mark, Teresa & Lauren Aubert
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scottj
Houston, TX
Barrel Filler
Posts: 1242
| | 02-02-2010 05:37 PM |
| I got my order in early this afternoon, before receiving the email announcing the availability of my allocation. The "first come, first served" bit me on the Pinot Noir last fall, and I didn't want to get shut out on the Chardonnay. Sounds like I was lucky, given the web site problems that others have encountered. | | | Here's to nights we'll never remember with friends we'll never forget ! | |
|
rickym13
los angeles
Wine Bottler
Posts: 3160
| | 02-02-2010 05:41 PM |
| got email but can't log on to see my allocation.... | | | |
|
mountainman
Mammoth Mountain
Wine Addict
Posts: 6550
| | 02-02-2010 05:48 PM |
| ditto.....what is up with this first come, first served basis. I saw what happened to Saxum (though I could care less on that one). If I missed an important (to me) mailer due to having a life away from the computer, I would probably never buy from them again. Why would these wineries not want to give people a week or two instead of incurring a website crash or a customer service crash? | | | |
|
Bob Bressler
Napa Valley
Wine Connoisseur
Posts: 5254
| | 02-02-2010 05:48 PM |
| They switched away from Cultivate Systems who used to run their e-shop. SOunds like the new provider was promising more than delivering. | | | |
|
JimmyV
Central Connecticut
Wine Connoisseur
Posts: 5702
| | 02-02-2010 05:51 PM |
| Posted By scottj on 02-02-2010 05:37 PM
I got my order in early this afternoon, before receiving the email announcing the availability of my allocation.
+1. With F-C-F-S offers, I don't wait around for the announcement e-mails. I try to log in at 9:00 and then check back every half hour or so. My Aubert receipt was e-mailed to me about 10 minutes before the announcment of the offering. | | | Beta testing a new signature. | |
|
Winetex
Austin, TX
Master of Wine
Posts: 12847
| | 02-02-2010 05:51 PM |
| Try https://www.aubertwines.com/index.c...mbers.showlogin
I got in and saw my allocations but it hung on the check-out. It's gonna be messy.
My allocations were 6 Ritchie and 2 of the others. I'm probably only going to order 6 max. | | | |
|
mountainman
Mammoth Mountain
Wine Addict
Posts: 6550
| | 02-02-2010 06:03 PM |
| I went back to site and it all worked find. I bought 2/2/2/2. | | | |
|
saut
Barrel Filler
Posts: 1400
| | 02-02-2010 07:20 PM |
| People seem to be able to order, but I cannot. No link showing for me... | | | |
|
rickym13
los angeles
Wine Bottler
Posts: 3160
| | 02-02-2010 07:53 PM |
| Posted By mountainman on 02-02-2010 06:03 PM
I went back to site and it all worked find. I bought 2/2/2/2.
i think i am going to do just that...2/2/2/2....wonder if you can go back and order what you didn't pick up later?
i was offer 6/3/3/3
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R8der
Livermore, CA
Wine Thief
Posts: 2505
| | 02-02-2010 09:18 PM |
| I can't get in to see my Chard allocations, but if somebody is seeking some of this let me know. I'm only on the list to buy the Pinot. Thanks! | | | |
|
JimmyV
Central Connecticut
Wine Connoisseur
Posts: 5702
| | 02-03-2010 09:18 AM |
| Posted By rickym13 on 02-02-2010 07:53 PM
Posted By mountainman on 02-02-2010 06:03 PM
I went back to site and it all worked find. I bought 2/2/2/2.
i think i am going to do just that...2/2/2/2....wonder if you can go back and order what you didn't pick up later?
i was offer 6/3/3/3
They have a one-time-only ordering system. No going back. I communicated with Teresa before the release and asked if I could order half my allocation on one credit card and then go back and grab the other half on another card. No dice. Once you complete a partial order, your remainder is wiped out. However, given the glitches they have had with the system, my guess is that if you call and tell them a little white lie that you tried to order everything but something got messed up in the process and the site only credited you with a part of your order, I am guessing that you could convince them to sell you the rest of the allocation over the phone. | | | Beta testing a new signature. | |
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Bob Bressler
Napa Valley
Wine Connoisseur
Posts: 5254
| | 02-03-2010 03:18 PM |
| Looks like they went back to Cultivate Systems and everything is working again. | | | |
|
Winetex
Austin, TX
Master of Wine
Posts: 12847
| | 02-03-2010 03:38 PM |
| Via what link? It still looks closed from here. thx | | | |
|
Al_ksyrah
Barrel Sampler
Posts: 2274
| | 02-03-2010 10:54 PM |
| The site started letting you log in about the same time they sent out an email that they were moving their e-commerce site. At least in my case, I can log in but there isn't any offer available.
-Al | | | |
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R8der
Livermore, CA
Wine Thief
Posts: 2505
| | 02-04-2010 12:37 AM |
| All I get is a message saying the site is down temporarily. So maybe they won't cut my Pinot allocation from not ordering Chard since it's taking an act of Congress for people to order the Chard in the first place?
Oh well....like I need more wine!
Chris | | | |
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Winetex
Austin, TX
Master of Wine
Posts: 12847
| | 02-04-2010 08:31 AM |
| email from Aubert. It should be interesting to see what happens when they finally get the site up again. While your allocation may be safely intact it is still first come first served. Lame.
Please accept our sincere
apologies for the technical difficulties experienced in trying to
access and order your wine allocation on Tuesday, February 2, 2010. We
made a regrettable change in our e-commerce service provider and during
the inaugural launch with them, they experienced technical difficulties.
Subsequently,
we are returning to our original e-commerce service provider. We will
be notifying you again via mail shortly when our e-commerce is fully
operating again.
Rest assured that your allocation and customer
information are safely intact. For those of you who did order and
received a correct confirmation of that order, there will be no need
for further action.
Again, please accept our sincere apologies and thank you for your patience.
Warmest regards,
Mark and Teresa Aubert | | | |
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wineismylife
Arlington, TX
Master of Wine
Posts: 13713
| | 02-04-2010 09:11 AM |
| Cool. Is this the part where I jump in line ahead of everybody and buy up everything and shut everybody else out so that they can moan and groan ad nauseum?
;) <- | | Joe-----Wine is like potato chips around me...if it's open, it's gone.
Come visit me sometime at http://www.winexiles.com/ | |
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jeffkahn
Happy Valley, PA
Grape Puncher
Posts: 730
| | 02-04-2010 09:36 AM |
| For those who were able to get in, what are the prices? | | | |
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Winetex
Austin, TX
Master of Wine
Posts: 12847
| | 02-04-2010 09:52 AM |
| I think they were all $80 except for the Lauren that was $90. Cool. Is this the part where I jump in line ahead of everybody and buy up everything and shut everybody else out so that they can moan and groan ad nauseum? YES lol | | | |
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