Freddy R. Troya

9.0

Au Bon Climat — Chardonnay 2023
Santa Barbara County, California, USA 🇺🇸

Overview
A classic Santa Barbara County Chardonnay from Au Bon Climat, reflecting the restrained, balanced style that made Jim Clendenen’s wines such benchmarks for the region. This is Chardonnay without unnecessary theatrics: cool-climate freshness, measured richness, and an easygoing personality that still carries plenty of character.

Aromas & Flavors
Fresh apple, pear, lemon, white peach, and citrus blossom, with subtle vanilla, mineral, and lightly toasted nuances adding complexity without dominating the fruit.

Mouthfeel
Medium-bodied, fresh, and beautifully balanced. The acidity provides just the right amount of tension, while a subtle creamy texture rounds the palate. Clean, composed, and remarkably easy to enjoy.

Food Pairings
Grilled fish, roasted chicken, shrimp, crab cakes, creamy pasta, or simply enjoyed on its own.

Verdict
A solid representation of what Santa Barbara Chardonnay does so well. It has freshness without austerity, texture without heaviness, and enough complexity to remain interesting while being completely approachable. A terrific casual Chardonnay.

Did You Know?
Au Bon Climat was founded by Jim Clendenen in 1982 and became one of the defining producers of cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in Santa Barbara County, favoring balance and restraint long before those qualities became fashionable in California.

🍷 Personal Pick
This is what I want a casual Santa Barbara Chardonnay to taste like. Affable, balanced, subtly textured, and carrying just enough tension to keep every sip fresh. Nothing overdone and nothing missing. It has officially earned a spot among my New World Chardonnay staples. — 13 days ago

Michael Younkins

9.4

Just a great champagne!! — 4 months ago

Jeremiah Diaz

8.9

Clear, medium ruby to garnet in color; on the nose, it's clean with pronounced intensity primary and secondary aromas of black cherries, cassis, and graphite; on the palate, it's dry with high acidity, high tannins, medium alcohol, medium body, and intense primary and secondary flavors of blackberries, black cardamom, and wet gravel with a medium finish. This wine is simple, but balanced. Overall, I rate this wine as good. — 6 months ago

with Nellie

S.S. Mandani

9.1

Perfumed red fruits.

Cherry, zippy structure, earthen, licorice, fennel. — 7 months ago

Gabby

9.3

PP wine tasting night with the producer. — 2 years ago

Gene Harlow

9.5

2019 blend and it is outstanding. This is a fun find and seriously good! Dark fruits with a great balance of oak. Elyse has really done well with this deep balanced red blend. — 3 years ago

Mary H

9.0

Really amazing fullness of flavor for village — a month ago

Daniele Cuzin

9.2

Had the 2015 vintage in August 2026. Paired with a T-Bone. With friends L and B at K. Exceptional. Really appreciated by all. — a month ago

Amy

9.0

master the world — loved!! — 3 months ago

Jose Lorenzo

9.1

Jeroboam. Happy birthday Filo! — 5 months ago

Mark S.

9.1

Pale lemon yellow with green. Ample aroma vanilla white flower pear peach elegancy. Creamy. Quite rich and high acidity. MSF Fruitiness M Sweetness M Acidity M+ Bitterness M Body M++ Finish M+ 14% Fresh Rich Jean-Philippe Fichet Le Tesson Meursault Chardonnay 23 @30600, AYB Shop, 260228 — 7 months ago

Conrad Green

9.7

Wonderful deep and rich wine. This is in great shape. Dark plum and blakcurrant with iron and bloody intensity. Great tension and complexity. So fresh. This is great — 7 months ago

with Bex and David

Jenks

9.0

Apparently this translates to “up all night” or something heeeeeyyyyy — 2 years ago

Michael Chelus

9.0

Apple, lemon candy, dried apricot, oak and hints of peach. Great acidity and balance. — 4 years ago

Tom Casagrande

9.3

As this warms, the perfume is classic Meursault. Lemon drizzled limestoney gravel, a vaguely grainy, nutty scent. Really nice acids to buoy up the rich palate. In a 375. Still seems a little young tho! — a month ago

Michael Bontà

9.5

Clear pale salmon. Medium + intensity on the nose with strawberry, blood orange, geranium leaf, pink grapefruit, tomato leaf, white peach. On the palate dry, medium + acidity, medium + intensity medium body, long finish and medium alcohol with notes of grapefruit, red cherry, grass, white peach and something plastic that I can't quite identify but isn't undesirable. Outstanding wine and fun to drink on its own without food. Creamy and sophisticated — 2 months ago

Brian

9.3

1986 vintage, 40 year old wine on our 40th Anniversary — 4 months ago

Pinotman /// Andreas

9.8

Faint - Dijon mustard. I rated this vintage many many times. Very pale. Drink up really. At its peak - this is awesome but will not get better. Quite oxidized. Profound orange 🍊 notes / Inter-dispersed with fading dark cherry. Incredible well balanced at this point. „Tip of the spear….“. Super complex back palate - what the hell is this? Tumeric, ….boy am I glad i have an Argon line at home to be able to taste this for days. Last bottle. — 7 months ago

Matt Perlman

9.4

Longtime favorite and I snap up this foxy number whenever I see it. Crunchy strawberry and herbs, a bit of animal and yeast at the end but not too much to compromise the freshness. I don’t think this ages and should be drunk up but that doesn’t make it any less special — 2 years ago

Joy Hammons

9.7

Excellent! It took very little time to breathe which was unexpected for a 2011. We will be buying more of this if we can find it. — 2 years ago