2002 Au Bon Climat "Sanford & Benedict" Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay MAGNUM
AU BON CLIMAT: A PRISTINE LIBRARY RELEASE FROM AN ICON OF CALIFORNIAJim Clendenen was one of the founding fathers of the Santa Barbara County wine scene. In 1982, Jim and his partner founded Au Bon Climat in Santa Barbara County. The wines have been recognized and adored amongst collectors for decades now, but have rarely gotten the attention of the press of that time. They have always maintained their own identity, and Jim made Burgundian-styled wines while everyone beefed up their Pinot and Chard in the 1990s. In Burgundy, if you have a tractor, three rows of vines and room for 20 or 30 barrels in your basement, you could be as powerful as anybody in the area, Mr. Clendenen said in 2013 on the Levi Dalton podcast Ill Drink to That. While I never met Jim, I've heard stories galore of lunches and dinners where he cooked and opened twenty year old bottles of astoundingly intact and gorgeous Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. What's on offer below is very limited (less than six bottles