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Au Bon Climat 2006 Santa Barbara Historic Vineyards Collection Bien Nacido Vineyard Chardonnay (Santa Maria Valley)

Editors' Choice

Price $35

Chardonnay doesn’t get much better than this. Bursts with grilled pineapple-infused crème brûlée, peach pie, butter-sautéed banana, passion fruit and butterscotch flavors, dusted with cinnamon and brown sugar. Yet all that opulence is balanced by perfect acidity. Totally gorgeous. — S.H. (10/1/2009)

Au Bon Climat 2008 20 Years in the Shed with Bob at Bien Nacido Pinot Noir (Santa Maria Valley)

Price $75

A stunning Pinot Noir. Feels soft as silk, yet crisp, tastes flamboyant yet controlled, a wine that contains many opposites. Made from a barrel selection of the best of winemaker Clendenen’s Bien Nacido Pinots, it’s superb to drink now. Hard to exaggerate its charms, with waves of spicy raspberries, cherries, cola and sandalwood. Really seductive and impressive. — S.H. (10/1/2011)

Au Bon Climat 2007 Los Alamos Vineyard Chardonnay (Santa Barbara County)

Editors' Choice
Online Exclusive

Price $25

Massively fruity and oaky, this is an atom bomb of a Chardonnay. You either love this style or you hate it. The pineapple tart, apricot, pear, peach, crème brûlée, buttered toast, vanilla cream and cinnamon spice flavors go on and on. Beyond the utter richness is firm acidity and a bracing minerality. Defines California-style decadence, but drink now, as the wine… — S.H. (8/1/2010)

Au Bon Climat 2007 Santa Barbara Historic Vineyards Collection Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Chardonnay (Santa Ynez Valley)

Price $30

About as rich and flamboyant as California Chardonnay gets, a wine that blows you away with sheer pyrotechnic wizardry. Massive in grilled pineapples, mangoes, Key lime pie, vanilla honey, crème caramel and dusty spices, accented with perfect acidity. — S.H. (9/1/2010)

Au Bon Climat 2006 Knox Alexander Pinot Noir (Santa Maria Valley)

Price $45

The dryness, crispness and overall elegance of this Pinot Noir make it compelling. It’s a miracle how it manages to be so low in alcohol, yet so rich. Dusty Asian spices like nutmeg and cinnamon accentuate flavors of mashed red cherries, red currants, cola and cedar, with a tease of rosehip tea. Shows extraordinary tension. Drink now–2012. — S.H. (10/1/2009)

Au Bon Climat 2007 Santa Barbara Historic Vineyards Collection Bien Nacido Vineyard Chardonnay (Santa Maria Valley)

Price $30

Amazingly rich and ripe, defining the Bien Nacido cool-climate style. The grapes hung for a long time in this excellent vintage, getting ripe and balanced, and the wine offers dazzling opulence, while preserving vital acidity. Showcases dessert pastry flavors of pineapples, mangoes, buttered toast, buttercream, meringue and honeysuckle, accented with dusty spices… — S.H. (9/1/2010)

Au Bon Climat 2001 Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Pinot Noir (Santa Ynez Valley)

Editors' Choice
Online Exclusive

A bunker buster of a wine. Massive cherry fruit, flavored with cinnamon, rich cola, cocoa and toasty oak. Explodes on the palate. Yet gaining age: softly expressive, gently complex, a wine of opposites. Delicate and authoritative. Sensual. At its peak now and for the next 3 years. — S.H. (6/1/2005)

Au Bon Climat 1998 Knox Alexander Pinot Noir (Santa Maria Valley)

Price $45

With the extra heavy bottle and the wax seal, this is an ABC signature wine, and worthy of it. It’s reminiscent of a fine Vosne-Romanée in its extreme youth. Light in color and even in body, its nevertheless got the stuffing of legend. Black cherries come to mind; plum, tobacco, chocolate and spice, too. At the core, there’s solid extract. The finish is long and… — W.E. (12/31/2001)

Prominent Designations [All]

(Benedict Vineyard) 20 Years in the Shed with Bob at Bien Nacido Alban Vineyard Bien Nacido Les Nuits Blanches Bien Nacido Vineyard Bien Nacido Vineyard Santa Barbara Historic Vineyards Collection Hildegard Isabel Knox Alexander La Bauge Au Dessus Le Bouge D’a Côte Los Alamos Vineyard Mt. Carmel Vineyard Renewel Nuits-Blanches au Barge Rosemary's-Talley Vineyard Sanford & Benedict Sanford & Benedict Reserve Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Reserve Santa Barbara Historic Vineyards Collection Bien Nacido Vineyard Santa Barbara Historic Vineyards Collection Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Santa Barbara Historic Vineyards Collection Sierra Madre Vineyard Sierra Madre Vineyard Talley Reserve Talley Vyd "Rincon"

Most Reviewed Varietals

Chardonnay Pinot Noir White Blend

Most Reviewed Regions [All]

Arroyo Grande Valley Edna Valley Santa Barbara County Santa Maria Valley Santa Ynez Valley

2008 Rodney Strong Symmetry

Symmetry is Rodney Strong’s most important red wine, the one they pull…

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