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. — 7 days ago

Todd Anderson

9.2

Drinking very nicely but a delicate wine. Need to swish it to get to taste the fruit and earth. Drink now - unclear benefits to aging further. — a month ago

Andrew Cullimore

9.1

Medium ruby with quite wide watery ruby rim . Aromatic on the nose with raspberry , rose , spiced orange peel and black cherry . On the palate this is well balanced and quite elegant in style , fresh acidity and suave fine tannins , balanced alcohol . Lots of fresh fruits , strawberry, raspberry and dark cherry , with some spice and chalky minerality. Decent dark cherry tinged finish . Perfect now , don’t know whether this will age particularly well, but from now and over the next 5 years . — a month ago

Eric Urbani

9.4

LF always impresses — 2 months ago

Jay Kline

9.2

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of 90min. The 2024 “White Hill” pours a pale straw color with medium viscosity. On the nose, the wine is developing with bright notes of star fruit, passion fruit, stone fruits, lemons, a touch of freshly struck matchstick, some white flowers and minerals. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+ and slightly saline. I love the character of these wines. Really tasty stuff. Drink now through 2034+. — 3 months ago

Kapyrick Wine

9.2

v20. Very good! Bread and soft citrus zest nose. Fresh pear and lime fruit. Long, dry, bright yeasty finish. Small, firm lasting bubbles. Enjoyable! — 5 months ago

Jeff Topping

9.0

Gift from Wes Gentle — 2 days ago

Charlie Abbott

Sommelier Casa Mono

9.0

This wine tastes like warm California sunshine. I’d say it’s at the end of its pleasurable drinking window. Good mix of secondary/tertiary character — 15 days ago

michael pandolfo

9.3

A M A Z I N G!!!! Fragrant nose of fresh brioche and warm plums. Slight hint of marzipan. Long finish. Delicious. Love what this have evolved into. — a month ago

Steve Mitchell

9.5

Bright, nice depth and complexity.
Paired perfectly with grilled salmon, tomatoes & burrata and small potatoes. — a month ago

Tegan Marriott

9.1

Drank this with my summertime risotto with yellow squash @ my localish wineshop-salt & bubbles. Beautiful pairing. Loved the blending of carignan & valdigue! — 2 months ago

Jocholla

9.0

Blackberry jam, raspberries, slight vanilla, not the biggest cab but bang for the buck is good, and it is reasonably balanced at “only” 13.7%. — 2 months ago

Erica Gamble

9.2

Lots going on with this wine. Progression from light to dark fruit to tart, slightly sour finish. Dried cherry, forest floor, acidic. — 4 months ago

Matt Schwartz

9.6

Bright and racy. Lemon, lime, grapefruit and guava with the right amount of minerality. This is epic and for 6 years old it hasn’t lost a single step! Fantastic.

Update: After an hour the sea salt comes out. This really is a fabulous wine. — 2 days ago

Henry Fuseler

9.2

8/2026. Big, bold and dry. Nice finish.

Halls Chophouse — 18 days ago

Ashley Goldsberry

10

Delicious- fruity without being sweet but not dry. — a month ago

Shriya Patnam

9.1

2016 opened at the right time — a month ago

Andrea Watt

9.2

Cherry, oak, and a hint of cinnamon. Medium bodied and approachable. — a month ago

K L

9.4

Literally the best. — 2 months ago

with Matt

Shay A

9.5

Starting to go through my 2019s. At almost 7yrs, if the others are similar to this bottle, this seemed at absolute peak drinking with plenty of time to enjoy.

UV-SL has, for me, been one I normally open on the younger side as I enjoy the natural opulent and pure fruit tbh at the site can give. Lovely yellow with a tinge of green still showing in the glass. Everything about this wine showed what made me fall in love with Aubert…big aromatics of white peach, roasted nuts, honeysuckle, nutmeg and citrus. Textural and initially powerful, the fruit on the mid-palate is balanced nicely by the acidity with a killer finish. Lovely signature Aubert lemon cream, lemon scone, tropical fruits, honey, little bit of limestone grit and some ginger. Feels like it’s hitting peak with a long window. No rush, but if you have multiple, enjoy one soon. — 4 months ago