Showstopping Chardonnay - Wine & Spirits Magazine

Showstopping Chardonnay


Jim Clendenen (left) and Adam Tolmach in the early 1980s

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Nuits-Blanches au Bouge is typically a late pick from Bien Nacido, Au Bon Climat’s home vineyard. This vintage is balanced, lush and deep, its broad caramel oak flavors steadying the showy golden fruit. The initial ripe impression corrects with air, becoming firm and penetrating, girded by oak and a lean phenolic bite. A showstopper.

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Au Bon Climat 2018 Santa Maria Valley Nuits-Blanches au Bouge Chardonnay

Every week, our editors highlight a wine that intrigued them in our blind panel tastings, expanding on their tasting note in this space. These are entirely editorial choices; there are no paid placements. Subscribers can also access the original tasting note by searching here.

Patrick J. Comiskey covers US wines for Wine & Spirits magazine, focusing on the Pacific Northwest, California’s Central Coast and New York’s Finger Lakes.


This story appears in the print issue of October 2021.
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