Au Bon Climat

Au Bon Climat is an American winery established in 1982 in Santa Barbara County, California, during the formative years of the region's modern wine industry. The winery was founded by winemakers Jim Clendenen and Adam Tolmach and was created around a distinctly Burgundian approach to California wine. Its principal wines are made from Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, and Pinot Gris, with an emphasis on expressing vineyard character rather than relying on a single uniform house style. The winery is based in Santa Maria, in northern Santa Barbara County. This location places Au Bon Climat close to a number of important cool-climate vineyards in Santa Barbara County and within a growing area recognized for producing grapes with natural acidity and moderate ripeness. The winery identifies Bien Nacido Vineyard as its primary grape source. It also obtains fruit from other established sites, including Le Bon Climat Vineyard, Sanford & Benedict Vineyard, Los Alamos Vineyard, Rancho La Cuna Vineyard, and Talley Vineyards in San Luis Obispo County. Au Bon Climat's portfolio is centered on vineyard-designated wines. The winery produces approximately ten different Pinot Noirs and six different Chardonnays in a typical vintage, although the exact lineup can vary by year and grape availability. This vineyard-focused structure gives the brand a broad range of bottlings while keeping its identity anchored in a relatively narrow set of Burgundian grape varieties. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay form the core of the business, while Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris provide additional white-wine expressions. A major organizational change occurred in 1990, when co-founder Adam Tolmach left Au Bon Climat to establish Ojai Winery. Jim Clendenen then became the winery's sole proprietor and winemaker. Under Clendenen's leadership, Au Bon Climat continued to operate as a specialist producer rather than expanding into a broad mass-market beverage portfolio. Its positioning is associated with estate and vineyard-source specificity, California growing conditions, and stylistic reference to Burgundy. The brand's public identity is therefore that of an independent California winery with a focused product range. Its wines are tied to named vineyards and to the interpretation of particular sites through Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, and Pinot Gris. Publicly available reference material does not provide reliable information about current production volume, ownership beyond Clendenen's proprietorship, distribution scale, financial results, or a complete current executive team. Those details remain unspecified rather than inferred.

Au Bon Climat emerged in 1982, when Jim Clendenen and Adam Tolmach founded the winery in Santa Barbara County, California. The business began during the early development of the county's modern wine sector, when producers were increasingly exploring how coastal and inland microclimates could support varieties associated with Burgundy. From its beginning, Au Bon Climat adopted a focused rather than expansive model: it concentrated on a small family of grape varieties and sought to make wines in a Burgundian style while using fruit grown in California. The winery's base in Santa Maria, in northern Santa Barbara County, connects it to the cooler northern part of the county's wine-growing region. Au Bon Climat's principal grape source is Bien Nacido Vineyard, and the winery has also sourced fruit from Le Bon Climat Vineyard, Sanford & Benedict Vineyard, Los Alamos Vineyard, Rancho La Cuna Vineyard, and Talley Vineyards in neighboring San Luis Obispo County. These relationships support a portfolio organized around named vineyard sites and vintage variation. The founding partnership changed in 1990, when Tolmach left Au Bon Climat to establish Ojai Winery. Clendenen subsequently became the winery's sole proprietor and winemaker. This transition made Au Bon Climat a producer operating under Clendenen's direct ownership and winemaking direction. Public reference material does not document a later change in ownership or a corporate acquisition. The winery's principal range has remained centered on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, supplemented by Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. It typically produces around ten Pinot Noirs and six Chardonnays in a vintage, with many wines carrying vineyard designations on their labels. This approach makes place and source central to the brand's identity: rather than presenting only a single flagship wine, Au Bon Climat offers multiple interpretations of vineyards and grape varieties. The available sources describe Au Bon Climat as an active California winery, but do not establish a precise current production volume, export footprint, revenue history, distribution network, or detailed succession structure. Consequently, the documented history is strongest on the winery's founding, the 1990 change in proprietorship, its Santa Maria location, its vineyard sources, and its focused Burgundian-style portfolio.

• 1990

  Clendenen becomes sole proprietor

  [1]Au Bon Climaten.wikipedia.org

  Adam Tolmach leaves Au Bon Climat to found Ojai Winery, after which Jim Clendenen becomes Au Bon Climat's sole proprietor and winemaker.

• 1982

  Au Bon Climat is founded

  [1]Au Bon Climaten.wikipedia.org

  Jim Clendenen and Adam Tolmach establish Au Bon Climat in Santa Barbara County during the early development of the region's modern wine industry.

An independent Santa Barbara County winery specializing in Burgundian-style wines, particularly vineyard-designated Pinot Noir and Chardonnay made from grapes sourced from notable vineyards in California's Central Coast.

• Red wine · 1982

  Pinot Noir

  Pinot Noir is the winery's principal red-wine category. Au Bon Climat makes multiple Pinot Noirs in a typical vintage, often using grapes identified with specific vineyards. The range reflects the winery's Burgundian orientation and its use of fruit from sites including Bien Nacido, Le Bon Climat, and other Central Coast vineyards.

• White wine · 1982

  Chardonnay

  Chardonnay is the winery's leading white-wine category and is produced in several vineyard-focused bottlings. The wines are part of Au Bon Climat's Burgundian-style identity and are made from grapes sourced from notable Santa Barbara County vineyards and other Central Coast sites. The winery typically produces about six Chardonnays per vintage.

• White wine · 1982

  Pinot Blanc

  Pinot Blanc forms part of Au Bon Climat's smaller supporting range of white wines. It extends the winery's focus on Burgundian-associated varieties beyond Chardonnay and is produced within the same California, vineyard-conscious framework.

• White wine · 1982

  Pinot Gris

  Pinot Gris is another white-wine variety included in Au Bon Climat's portfolio. It is part of the winery's limited varietal scope and complements its larger Pinot Noir and Chardonnay programs.

1. 1Au Bon Climaten.wikipedia.org
2. 2Au Bon Climat official websiteaubonclimat.com