'The wines at Au Bon Climat… are as consistent as ever and every bit as important to Santa Barbara’s visibility on the world stage as they have been for decades.'
Billy Norris, vinous.com, August 2025
Au Bon Climat, ‘in the good place’: Santa Barbara County. After a stay in Burgundy and Champagne, Jim Clendenen had decided he wanted to drop law school and make wine. In an era when the US wine scene was all about Napa and Sonoma, he saw the untapped potential of the cool central Californian coast to make world-class Burgundian-style wines from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The east-west valleys of Santa Barbara conduct the brisk Pacific air inland, to make surprisingly cool vineyard sites on sweeping slopes packed with complex soils. Au Bon Climat released its first vintage in 1982, and the American wine scene has never quite been the same since.
Clendenen maintained his vision of elegant, balanced wines through years when the fashion turned to more bombastic winemaking. He mentored many aspiring winemakers and travelled the world promoting Santa Barbara. He also put a great team in place, so when he suddenly, unexpectedly died in 2021, Au Bon Climat was able to continue in the same vein. His children Isabelle and Knox, who have both long had top wines named after them, have stepped into their father’s big shoes.
The Au Bon Climat winery is next to Santa Barbara’s most famous vineyard, Bien Nacido. We’re delighted to be offering the 2019 K-Block Bien Nacido Chardonnay, which is a recent-vintage library release. Isabelle and Knox Alexander are both top-class Pinot Noirs. Knox Alexander is a cross-site blend from the best barrels in the winery home of Santa Maria Valley. Isabelle is a similar cross-site blend, but casts its geographical net wider to take fruit from any Santa Barbara sites where Au Bon Climat has a toehold. /NT
