Au Bon Climat Santa Barbara Chardonnay 2022

Santa Barbara County's exceptional climate and terroir provide the ideal conditions for Au Bon Climat to craft consistently exquisite and vibrant Chardonnays, year after year. Our 2022 Santa Barbara County Chardonnay is sourced from five meticulously tended vineyards: Bien Nacido Vineyard, Los Alamos Vineyard, Rancho Real, Gold Coast, and Premier Coastal Vineyard. During September, the grapes undergo careful handpicking and sorting in the vineyards to ensure only the finest fruit is selected.

Following harvest, the grapes are gently whole cluster pressed, and the juice is promptly settled, chilled, and transferred to barrels. Barrel fermentation and malolactic fermentation then take place, followed by blending the lots the subsequent summer before bottling. The wine undergoes sur lie barrel aging in moderately neutral François Frères barrels for 8 months, imparting intriguing spice notes of clove and nutmeg. This Chardonnay promises to continue evolving and gaining complexity over the next decade.

The 2022 Santa Barbara County Chardonnay is another beautiful example of the Au Bon Climat style. The wine is intense, but light on its feet and is built to compliment not over power food. At this young age, this wine would be perfect with shellfish or poultry. It will develop to a richer more complex wine with age for at least another decade.