Au Bon Climat Clendenen Family ''The Pip'' Red Blend 2019

Creating internationally acclaimed Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs of intrigue, longevity, balance and of place since 1982. Beyond ABC, there are also other projects of passion under different labels offering small lots of distinctive wines made from a wider spectrum of styles and grape varietals.

Au Bon Climat craft distinctive wines of vision and harmony. An homage to Burgundy, Au Bon Climat features many renditions of Chardonnay & Pinot Noir with balance and character critical elements in every wine. These wines age beautifully because of their balance and restraint.

During the 2019 harvest we had a few “buying opportunities” to obtain some interesting lots of Syrah, Merlot, and Sangiovese from high quality vineyards. 2019 is a great vintage for all red varieties in Santa Barbara County, so we knew if a blend was created it would be good, really good. We just needed to figure out how to put it together.

Our cellar crew watches all wines carefully while aging in our cellar. We are topping-obsessed ensuring the barrels are completely full for slow, graduated development. Our late owner Jim Clendenen main advice to young winemakers was, “Top your barrels like your life depended on it”. All wines aging in our cellar are tasted and analyzed every quarter. We want wines to mature gracefully but not get “old”. After 3 years in barrel, the lots were “ready to go”. A series of trials determined the components that were selected, and subsequently blended and bottled. The wine is complex, integrated, balanced and food friendly. It accomplishes everything we set out to do, and more.

Clendenen Family Vineyards “Pip” Wines Project

Pip was the best dog in the world and Jim Clendenen's canine buddy. There might be many other dogs in contention, but if you met Pip you would agree. She chased the ball and the Frisbee for hours, all while hiding between throws. In her imagination she was herdin’ something, a classic border collie. Pip was at the winery most days. It was hard to get visitors to pay attention to wine tasting when Pip was chasing everyone that wanted to throw the ball for her. We memorialized her with a line-up of wines for over a decade. The Pip wines are made to be delicious upon release.