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 purchased a temporary cellar space in a small shed at Bien Nacido Vineyard in 1982 and produced their first commercial vintage that year. 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. Tolmach left in 1990 to develop Ojai Vineyard, leaving Clendenen as sole proprietor for the following three decades. After Clendenen's death in May 2021, his children Isabelle and Knox Clendenen, along with longtime team members, have continued the estate without departing from its established direction.

• Clendenen and Tolmach met at Zaca Mesa Winery before launching ABC in 1982 with a first vintage produced from a shed at Bien Nacido
• Clendenen had toured France and Italy extensively before founding ABC, returning with a clear Burgundian and Northern Italian compass
• Tolmach departed in 1990 to focus on Ojai Vineyard, his own project; Clendenen continued solo until his death May 16, 2021, age 68
• Isabelle Clendenen and Knox Clendenen, with longtime cellar team, have continued operations without changing the house style

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 film Sideways, released in 2004, further amplified the region's profile, but Clendenen had already done the foundational stylistic work.

• 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 neutral oak when California fashion was moving in the opposite direction
• Clendenen was a leading public voice for cool-climate California winemaking, frequently quoted in trade press as a counterweight to the riper-is-better orthodoxy
• 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 (typically 12.5 to 13.5 percent), and Burgundian-style winemaking that preserves vineyard identity. Pinot Noir is whole-cluster destemmed or partially whole-cluster fermented depending on vintage, fermented with native ambient yeasts, and aged 11 to 16 months in French oak (typically 25 to 35 percent new). Chardonnay is whole-cluster pressed, fermented in French oak barrels with native yeasts, undergoes full malolactic fermentation, and is aged on the lees for 10 to 15 months without bâtonnage. The wines are bottled without fining or filtration when possible. Importantly, Clendenen pioneered the use of old, low-yielding Burgundy clones (notably Wadenswil and Dijon clones) and dramatically older Pinot Noir cuttings sourced from the original Sanford and Benedict planting in the early 1970s.

• Native yeast fermentation for both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay; whole-cluster Pinot at vineyard-by-vineyard percentages
• Restrained French oak use (25 to 35 percent new for Pinot Noir; similar for Chardonnay); 11 to 16 months barrel aging
• Heritage Burgundy clones (Wadenswil, Dijon, Pommard) plus old cuttings from Sanford and Benedict 1971 plantings
• Final alcohols typically 12.5 to 13.5 percent, well below the California cool-climate Pinot average; minimal new oak, minimal intervention

Jim Clendenen earned every major industry honor available to a California winemaker. He was named Winemaker of the Year by Wine Spectator in 1991, awarded Decanter Magazine's 'Man of the Year' in 2001, and inducted into the Vintners Hall of Fame at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in 2014. Au Bon Climat has appeared on Wine and Spirits Magazine's 'Top 100 Wineries of the Year' list more than a dozen times. Beyond accolades, Clendenen's stylistic legacy reshaped how California Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are discussed: the term 'in balance' became central to wine criticism in the 2010s in part because of producers like ABC who had been making 'in balance' wines for decades. Several generations of Central Coast winemakers, including alumni of the ABC cellar like Greg Brewer (Brewer-Clifton) and Mike Roth, trained under Clendenen.

• Wine Spectator Winemaker of the Year, 1991; Decanter Magazine 'Man of the Year,' 2001
• Inducted into the Vintners Hall of Fame at CIA Greystone in 2014
• Wine and Spirits 'Top 100 Wineries of the Year' more than a dozen times across three decades
• Trained or influenced multiple subsequent Central Coast winemakers including Greg Brewer (Brewer-Clifton) and many others

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 and Knox Clendenen, with longtime members of the cellar team continuing the wines without significant departure from the established direction. The winery facility is housed at Bien Nacido Vineyard in Santa Maria Valley, shared with Qupé and other Bien Nacido vinification partners. Annual production runs around 30,000 cases across approximately 20 bottlings, ranging from the entry-level Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County and Chardonnay Santa Barbara County to single-vineyard estate bottlings (Bien Nacido, Sanford and Benedict, Le Bon Climat) and limited-production library cuvées. The estate also produces white wines under the Hildegard, Isabelle, and Talley Vineyard labels, plus a range of Italian-variety and Northern Italian-inspired bottlings.

• Family-owned and operated as a sole proprietorship continuously from 1990 to present, including post-Clendenen continuation
• Winery facility at Bien Nacido Vineyard shared with Qupé and other Bien Nacido vinification partners
• Annual production approximately 30,000 cases across roughly 20 separate bottlings
• Estate-owned Le Bon Climat Vineyard in Santa Maria Valley provides core estate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay fruit

Au Bon Climat draws fruit from a small constellation of premier Santa Barbara County vineyards. Bien Nacido Vineyard (Santa Maria Valley) has been the foundational source from the estate's first vintage; ABC produces single-vineyard Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Italian-variety bottlings from Bien Nacido blocks. Sanford and Benedict Vineyard (Sta. Rita Hills), planted in 1971 by Richard Sanford and Michael Benedict, supplies fruit from California's earliest and most pedigreed Burgundian-clone Pinot Noir vines; ABC has worked with Sanford and Benedict fruit since the founding years. The estate's own Le Bon Climat Vineyard in Santa Maria Valley provides the second-tier core Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (planted to Wadenswil and Dijon clones in the 1990s). Talley Vineyard (Edna Valley) provides Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from another long-term partnership. The portfolio also includes single-block bottlings from sites including La Bauge, Larmes de Eve, and other heritage parcels across Santa Maria Valley, Sta. Rita Hills, and Edna Valley.

• Bien Nacido Vineyard (Santa Maria Valley): foundational fruit source since 1982; single-vineyard Pinot, Chardonnay, and Italian varieties
• Sanford and Benedict Vineyard (Sta. Rita Hills): 1971 plantings; California's earliest Burgundian-clone Pinot Noir source
• Le Bon Climat Vineyard (Santa Maria Valley): estate-owned, planted to Wadenswil and Dijon Burgundy clones in the 1990s
• Talley Vineyard (Edna Valley) plus additional single-block bottlings (La Bauge, Larmes de Eve) across the region