2019 Pinot Noir Isabelle

This is a fabulous set of wines from Au Bon Climat. I admit, it’s hard today to taste wines Jim Clendenen made prior his passing last year. At the same time, these new releases provide fascinating insight into his stylistic choices across several vineyards and sites.

I have said this before, but I think it bears repeating. It's fascinating to taste the Au Bon Climat wines given how much Clendenen influenced many of today's leading young winemakers. Pretty much without exception, Clendenen's wines, especially the Chardonnays, are richer and more powerful, with greater oak influence and overall lushness. In general, the wines here are marked by a focus on a handful of top sites, many of which Clendenen made famous, a high percentage of new oak, but often with larger 350-liter barrels, long aging in wood, and a high amount of whole clusters in the Pinots. More than anything else, these wines are American treasures, legacies of one of this country's most inspired and inspiring winemakers.