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Au Bon Climat Santa Barbara Chardonnay 2022
White Wine from USA - California
This excellent California chardonnay is barrel fermented in neutral French oak, which has led to an intense apple, oyster-shell and lemon-scented chardonnay with great mouthfeel and length.
Price:
£27.00
Bottle
Price:
£324.00
Case of 12
In Stock
Code: US11941
Wine characteristics
- White Wine
- 2 - Dry
- Chardonnay
- 75cl
- Now to 2028
- 13.5% Alcohol
- oak used but not v. noticeable
- Cork, natural
Au Bon Climat
Au Bon Climat has become a trendsetter of Californian wines, producing distinctive, cooler-climate wines long before it became fashionable to do so in recent years.
Bursting into life back in 1982, Au Bon Climat means ‘a well-exposed vineyard.’ Until his all too early death in May 2021 it was headed by the inimitable, eccentric wine maverick Jim Clendenen, who had been worked in the industry since 1978. His bright, forward-thinking and larger-than-life character (along with his several Winemaker of the Year accolades from various sources over the years) have gone down in winemaking history.
30 years ago, when many winemakers were flocking to the warm and sunny Napa and Sonoma Valleys to produce California wine, Jim was one of the few who recognised the potential of the cooler climate in the south of the region – namely Santa Maria Valley, which is where his Le Bon Climat and legendary Bien Nacido vineyards are situated. Nestling in a canyon 20 miles from the sea, they are among the coolest sites in California, giving the wines an elegant, restrained, lighter-alcohol style akin to that of Burgundy’s classics, but with more ripeness.
Although of sublime quality, Au Bon Climat wines were certainly underrated at first: it was generally regarded that Californian producers needed a high score from the mighty Robert Parker before they were considered one of the greats, and as Au Bon Climat didn’t conform to the generally expected style of big, powerful reds they simply didn’t make...