Au Bon Climat Winery

I have been following Santa Barbra County wines for many decades and have had my favorites over time. Most of my favorites are gone but I always loved Au Bön Climat and Qupe but never bought a lot of wines from them. What a mistake. I went this past Sunday for the semi-​annual open house after the Vintners Festival Saturday. I ws nothing short of blown away. Jim the wine maker has a philosophy and taste similar to my own. Excellent big wines, moderate pricing and bargains on clearances. I stocked up buying about 5 cases as I was desperately short of good whites and he took care of me on that. This is one of the FEW wineries left with such high values.

I went to the downtown Santa Barbara tasting room. The staff was informative and very friendly and the wines were excellent. I have been there numerous times and have always had the same great experience. I will be back soon.

ABC makes my favorite Pinot Noir! I make it to their open house over Vintner’s Festival weekend every year. It has become very crowded over the years but they still manage to pour a wide variety of wines that should satisfy anyone’s palate. Jim’s ABC and Bob’s Qupe (and related labels) cover my favorite Chardonnay, Syrah, and Pinot options. If you can’t make it to one of their two open house weekends, I believe ABC has a tasting room in Santa Barbara.
Looking forward to another great event!

Au Bön Climat Isabelle Pinot Noir is by far one of the best Pinot out there! Jim Clendenen takes pride in making this wine and he carefully chooses each batch to ensure its quality remains consistently superior. The Isabelle Pinot is a wine that needs to be savored and appreciated.
We had an opportunity to visit this winery during harvest season with ripe grapes everywhere and it was a breath-​taking experience to say the least! It was a definite unforgettable experience for oenophiles like us and an experience we would like to repeat on a yearly basis!

I came here with a couple of girlfriends for their open house they have 2 times a year. The winery is in a beautiful location and you can’t beat that for 20.00 you get to taste a very large selection of wines, enjoy some great cheese and crackers as well as have a wonderful lunch.
Their was a ton of people in attendance, and for the most part we were served wine very quickly and staff was knowledgeable. I came home with 4 bottles of wine.
So why the 3 stars? As we were getting cheese a staff member came up and started talking with another employee about the level of «class» of people at this years open house. Now I understand people are entitled to their own opinions but saying something like that right in front of customers is just down right in appropriate. If it weren’t for people consuming your product you wouldn’t have a job.

«Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.» — Anais Nin
My 300^th review… and almost 5000 views of my profile… and it is fitting that the event I am writing about with this 300^th review. For it involves three of my favorite things: friends, wine and food. The only favorite thing not involved is my son, and he is a bit too young for wine tasting :)
This was the start of a mini vacation in Santa Barbara Wine Country before the start of my new job. My friend Eric, who is a bit of a known wine guru in these parts and who along with our travel companion Ed has been part of my wine/​dinner group for 11 years, crafted a unique and interesting wine trip for us. Kind of like a Sideways journey but without the hot Hitching Post servers (more on that restaurant in another review) or the f#^$*ing Merlot :) And he even drove! Now that is an awesome friend! When I open the Arcadian Gary’s Syrah 2001 purchased on this trip, I’ll make sure Eric is present :)
Our first stop was an open house, which occurs twice a year, at Au Bön Climate winery (ABC). This encompasses all of their brands including ABC, Qupe, Verdad and various other odds and ends. Stations were set up around the winery, which is not usually open to the public, in sections like Whites, Chardonnay’s, Bargains, Pinots, Reds, Syrah, etc. There was approx. 50 or so wines you could taste. Spitting profusely, I did about half of that.
I won’t leave tasting notes on everything we tried but there were two favorites of mine that I purchased: the ABC Sanford-​Benedict Vineyard 2008 Chardonnay and a 2009 ABC blend of Pinot Gris/​Pinot Blanc. I also enjoyed some of the Verdad wines like the Rose and Tempranillo and an ABC Pinot called «Isabelle».
The event cost $ 20.00 and lunch was provided which included pasta, salad, a very good sausage, root vegetables and bread. I was an enjoyable experience and also educational. Winery staff were very knowledgable and also quite nice when, waiting for the bathroom, I leaned back and knocked over a picture that crashed to the ground breaking the frame.
Imagine what mayhem I would cause if I actually swallowed the wine :)
Oh, and if you go to a winery event, please, please, please step away from the wine servers so that other people can get their tastes without having to go around or through you! I hate people who bogart the counter and if I «accidentally» spill my wine on you or somehow miss the spit bucket; you only have yourself to blame.