2020 Au Bon Climat, Sanford & Benedict Pinot Noir, Santa Ynez Valley, California, USA
Critics reviews
The 2020 Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Santa Barbara Historic Vineyards Collection is a powerful, expressive wine. Dark fruit, lavender, cloves, leather and incense fill out the layers. Dynamic and full of energy, the 2020 has a ton to offer. I would give it a few years to settle down. Readers will find a Pinot of real substance. This bottling is intended to be the best lots from Sanford & Benedict done with a high percentage of stems, about 50% in this vintage.
Au Bon Climat remains a reference point for Santa Barbara, perhaps THE reference point given the global reach these wines now enjoy. I have not seen many changes here since Jim Clendenen passed away in early 2021, although most of these wines were made while he was still alive. The signatures are a fair amount of new oak for the Chardonnays, but often with a prominent use of large and thick-staved 350L barrels, and heavy use of whole clusters for the Pinots.
The top selections often see extended time in wood. Of course, it all starts with sourcing at some of the very finest vineyards in Santa Barbara. Jim Clendenen influenced pretty much all of today’s younger generation, and that influence remains. Readers will find a number of compelling wines in this year’s crop of new releases.
Drink 2024 - 2032
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (September 2023)
Coming from a great site in the Sta. Rita Hills and fermented with 50% whole clusters, the 2020 Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict Vineyard is also attractive, with a slightly more straightforward style in its spiced red berry fruits and underbrush aromas and flavours. It’s medium-bodied and has a nicely balanced mouthfeel and a good finish.
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (August 2023)
About this WINE
Au Bon Climat
The late Jim Clendenen founded Au Bon Climat (ABC) in 1982. He became famous for making pioneering wines from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on California’s Central Coast. He passed away in 2021 and is remembered as one of the most charismatic and influential people of his vinous generation.
Jim’s passion for wine was born from a trip to Burgundy in the mid-1970s when he studied Law at UC Santa Barbara. During subsequent visits, his enthusiasm for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grew, and he became convinced that the Californian hills were capable of something special with these two noble varieties.
Au Bon Climat translates as “a well-exposed vineyard”, a name that suits the vineyards’ coastal position, with its benevolent Pacific fog and cooling breeze. Making the most of these conditions, ABC buy clones from Burgundy. This contributes to creating wines that emulate Europe’s restraint and finesse but with a magic touch of New World flair.
The vineyards ABC source their grapes from read as a ‘who’s who’ of Central Coast vineyards. Bien Nacido and Jim’s “Le Bon Climat” are the most significant contributors. The influence of the Pacific can be felt standing in the canyon of Bien Nacido, where the warm days and cool nights characterise this superb terroir. Le Bon Climat, in contrast, consists of mainly hilltop vineyards which were certified organic in 2003.
Santa Barbara County
At the foot of the Central Coast, just north of Los Angeles, the Santa Barbara County reverberates with its Missionary past, although viticulture as we know didn't arrive here until the 1970s. Now there are 6,000 ha of world class Pinot Noir & Chardonnay.
While fog banks shape the season, together with a notable rainfall deficit between May & November, elevated terraces such as Bien Nacido in the Santa Maria Valley AVA faciliate premium fruit growing. Santa Ynez Valley AVA enjoys similar trait, though cooler still;
Recommended Producers:
Au Bon Climat's Sanford & Benedict Chardonnay from the region's Santa Rita hills is a prime example. Qupe are another excellent source
Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or.
Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.
Because of the thinness of the skins, Pinot Noir wines are lighter in colour, body and tannins. However the best wines have grip, complexity and an intensity of fruit seldom found in wine from other grapes. Young Pinot Noir can smell almost sweet, redolent with freshly crushed raspberries, cherries and redcurrants. When mature, the best wines develop a sensuous, silky mouth feel with the fruit flavours deepening and gamey "sous-bois" nuances emerging.
The best examples are still found in Burgundy, although Pinot Noir`s key role in Champagne should not be forgotten. It is grown throughout the world with notable success in the Carneros and Russian River Valley districts of California, and the Martinborough and Central Otago regions of New Zealand.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
The 2020 Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Santa Barbara Historic Vineyards Collection is a powerful, expressive wine. Dark fruit, lavender, cloves, leather and incense fill out the layers. Dynamic and full of energy, the 2020 has a ton to offer. I would give it a few years to settle down. Readers will find a Pinot of real substance. This bottling is intended to be the best lots from Sanford & Benedict done with a high percentage of stems, about 50% in this vintage.
Drink 2024 - 2032
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (September 2023)
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