Au Bon Climat

Jim Clendenen and Adam Tolmach met while both were working at Zaca Mesa Winery in the early 1980s. Clendenen had spent a year traveling and tasting throughout France and Italy, returning convinced that Santa Barbara County's cool maritime climate could produce wines in the Burgundian and Northern Italian idiom rather than the riper, oakier California style then prevalent. The pair launched Au Bon Climat in 1982, producing their first commercial vintage in a converted dairy barn at Los Alamos Vineyard in southern Santa Barbara County. Working without hired labor, they handled every step from picking through delivery themselves. The label name was Clendenen's tribute to Burgundian climat nomenclature, signaling from the start that the project was a stylistic argument as much as a commercial enterprise. In 1989 Bob Lindquist of Qupe invited Clendenen to share a new permanent winery being built at Bien Nacido Vineyard; Tolmach opposed the move, and the partnership ended the following year as Tolmach left to develop his own winery, The Ojai Vineyard. Clendenen remained sole proprietor for the next three decades. After his death in May 2021, his children Isabelle and Knox Clendenen, alongside the longtime cellar team, have continued operations without changing the house direction.

• Clendenen and Tolmach met at Zaca Mesa Winery; founded ABC in 1982 with first vintage produced in a converted dairy barn at Los Alamos Vineyard
• Moved to a permanent winery at Bien Nacido in 1989, sharing 'The Shed' with Bob Lindquist's Qupe for the next 31 years
• Tolmach departed in 1990 after opposing the Bien Nacido move; he founded The Ojai Vineyard as his own project
• Isabelle Clendenen (marketing) and Knox Clendenen (cellar) continue the family business after Jim's death on May 16, 2021

Au Bon Climat is widely credited as the producer that put Santa Barbara County on the global map for cool-climate Burgundian-style winemaking. Through the 1980s and 1990s, while Napa was pursuing ever-riper Cabernet Sauvignon and California Chardonnay was generally moving toward heavier oak and richer extraction, Clendenen argued publicly and through his wines that California could produce Pinot Noir and Chardonnay of restraint, brightness, and food-friendly acidity. His commitment to old-vine Burgundy clonal material, native yeast fermentation, neutral oak, and natural acidity made ABC a stylistic outlier for years before the broader California industry rediscovered those values in the 2010s. The 2004 film Sideways further amplified the region's profile, but Clendenen had already done the foundational stylistic work. Robert Parker placed Au Bon Climat on his shortlist of the world's best wineries in 1989 and 1990, an early international endorsement of the project's seriousness.

• Established Santa Barbara County as a serious cool-climate competitor to Burgundy and Sonoma Coast through the 1980s and 1990s
• Championed restraint, native yeast fermentation, and restrained oak when California fashion was moving in the opposite direction
• Robert Parker named Au Bon Climat among the world's best wineries in 1989 and 1990, an early international endorsement
• ABC's success enabled and validated subsequent Sta. Rita Hills, Santa Maria Valley, and Sonoma Coast Burgundian projects

The Au Bon Climat house style emphasizes natural acidity, restrained alcohol, and Burgundian winemaking that preserves vineyard identity. Pinot Noir is fermented in small open-top vessels with native ambient yeasts at variable whole-cluster percentages depending on vintage and site, then aged in French oak (typically 25 to 35 percent new) for 11 to 16 months. Chardonnay is whole-cluster pressed, fermented in French oak barrels with native yeasts, undergoes full malolactic fermentation, and is aged on the lees with minimal bottling intervention. The fruit comes from a constellation of premier Santa Barbara County and Central Coast vineyards. Bien Nacido Vineyard (Santa Maria Valley) has been a foundational source since the estate's early years and is the location of the winery itself. Sanford and Benedict Vineyard (Sta. Rita Hills), planted in 1971 by Richard Sanford and Michael Benedict with Pinot Noir cuttings sourced from Karl Wente in Arroyo Seco, supplies fruit from California's earliest and most pedigreed Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir vines; ABC has worked with that fruit for over three decades. The estate-owned Le Bon Climat Vineyard in the Los Alamos area provides Pinot Noir and Chardonnay planted to later Burgundy clones, and Talley Vineyard (Edna Valley) supplies Pinot Noir and Chardonnay through a long-running partnership.

• Native yeast fermentation for both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay; variable whole-cluster Pinot fermentation site by site
• Restrained French oak use (typically 25 to 35 percent new); 11 to 16 months barrel aging; full malolactic Chardonnay
• Bien Nacido (foundational source since the late 1980s; winery location since 1989) and Sanford and Benedict (1971 plantings, Karl Wente cuttings)
• Estate-owned Le Bon Climat Vineyard (Los Alamos area) and long-term Talley Vineyard (Edna Valley) partnership

Jim Clendenen earned multiple major honors across his career. Food and Wine Magazine named him Winemaker of the Year in 2001. Los Angeles Times critic Dan Berger named him Winemaker of the Year in 1992. Germany's leading wine magazine Wein Gourmet named him Winemaker of the World in 2004. The James Beard Foundation inducted him into its 'Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America' in 2007. Robert Parker placed Au Bon Climat on his shortlist of the world's best wineries in 1989 and 1990. Beyond formal accolades, Clendenen's stylistic legacy reshaped how California Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are discussed: the language of balance, restraint, and food-friendliness that came to dominate Pinot criticism in the 2010s owes much to producers like ABC who had been working in that idiom for decades. Several generations of Central Coast winemakers trained or worked alongside Clendenen at The Shed, including Bob Lindquist of Qupe (the long-term cellar partner), Greg Brewer (Brewer-Clifton), and many others who carried the artisan model forward.

• Food and Wine Magazine Winemaker of the Year, 2001; LA Times Winemaker of the Year (Dan Berger), 1992
• Wein Gourmet (Germany) Winemaker of the World, 2004; James Beard 'Who's Who of Food and Beverage,' 2007
• Robert Parker's shortlist of the world's best wineries, 1989 and 1990
• Trained or worked alongside multiple Central Coast winemakers including Bob Lindquist (Qupe) and Greg Brewer (Brewer-Clifton)

Clendenen owned and operated Au Bon Climat as a sole proprietorship from Tolmach's departure in 1990 through his death in 2021. The estate remains family-owned and operated by Isabelle Clendenen (marketing) and Knox Clendenen (cellar), continuing the wines without significant departure from the established direction. The winery facility remains at Bien Nacido Vineyard in Santa Maria Valley, the longtime shared space known as The Shed. Annual production exceeds 50,000 cases across the core Santa Barbara County wines, the Historic Vineyards single-vineyard tier (Bien Nacido, Sanford and Benedict, Talley, and others), and the small-production Blue Series (Isabelle Pinot Noir from 1995, Knox Alexander Pinot Noir from 1999, Nuits-Blanches Chardonnay, and the Hildegard white blend). The portfolio also includes Italian-variety bottlings (Pinot Grigio, Barbera, Nebbiolo) reflecting Clendenen's lifelong interest in Northern Italian wine.

• Family-owned and operated continuously from 1990 to present, including post-Clendenen continuation by Isabelle and Knox
• Winery facility at Bien Nacido Vineyard, known as The Shed, longtime co-tenant with Qupe
• Annual production over 50,000 cases across core, Historic Vineyards, and Blue Series tiers
• Italian-variety bottlings (Pinot Grigio, Barbera, Nebbiolo) alongside the Burgundian Pinot Noir and Chardonnay program