History
Mark Aubert developed CIX as the deliberate counterpart to Lauren Estate next door, choosing the parcel because its geology breaks so sharply across their shared eastern fence line. Pinot Noir went in around 2006 and the Chardonnay, Montrachet clone, in 2008, with the first CIX Chardonnay reaching the market from about the 2012 vintage.
The Site
The vineyard sits on the ridge above Forestville beside Lauren, its pale, sea-salt soil unlike anything on the neighboring Goldridge, a difference the two wines are built to express. The wines carry the Sonoma Coast appellation.
Vines and Blocks
Mostly Chardonnay in Montrachet clone with a small planting of Pinot Noir.
The Wines
CIX Estate Chardonnay, around 1,200 cases, is the mineral, saline foil to Lauren's opulence, with a rare estate Pinot Noir alongside; both are among the hardest allocations in California Chardonnay.