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2019 Au Bon Climat, Isabelle, Pinot Noir, California, USA

  • Red
  • Dry
  • Full Bodied
  • Pinot Noir
Ready - youthful
Stephen Brook
92/100
Antonio Galloni
92/100
Jeb Dunnuck
94/100
Product: 20191224803
2019 Au Bon Climat, Isabelle, Pinot Noir, California, USA

Description

There is depth and complexity on the palate, around which gentle red fruit and earthy raspberries twist with the intensity and smoothness of a python. There is a textural sweetness here and impressive concentration of fruit, yet the tannins are fine and provide a firm grip.

Sweet strawberries draw out the long finish alongside notes of autumnal leaves on woodland walks. This is not a shy, retiring type of wine, but it is a mouthcoating, gentle and characterful Isabelle.

Drink 2023 - 2036

Catriona Felstead MW, Senior Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd (September 2021)

Colour Red
Sweetness Dry
Vintage 2019
Maturity Ready - youthful
Grape List Pinot Noir
Body Full Bodied
Producer Au Bon Climat

Critics reviews

Stephen Brook 92/100
The nose is not yet expressive, although there are subdued cherries and red fruit aromas. It’s concentrated, of course, but also fresh and limpid, with plenty of spicy oak but not to excess. This needs time, but the length of flavour suggests it will age well.Drink 2022 - 2036Stephen Brook, Decanter.com (June 2022)
Drink 2022 - 2036
Stephen Brook, Decanter.com (Jun 2022)
Antonio Galloni 92/100
The 2019 Pinot Noir Isabelle is bright and effusive, with tons of aromatic presence and fine balance. Sweet red cherry fruit, orange peel, spice and dried herbs open first, followed by a host of perfumed floral notes that lead into the mid-palate and finish. The 2019 is silky and quite elegant; all it really needs is another year or two in bottle to come into its own.Drink 2024 - 2034antonio_galloni, Vinous.com.com (June 2022)
Drink 2022 - 2036
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (Jun 2022)
Jeb Dunnuck 94/100
The 2019 Pinot Noir Isabelle comes from six vineyards and four AVAs. Its medium ruby hue gives way to a plump, rounded, beautifully textured, medium-bodied effort displaying lots of spicy red fruits, notes of flowers, new leather, and sandalwood, supple tannins, and plenty of mid-palate depth. Wonderfully balanced, it’s a charming, classic, impeccably made Pinot Noir.jeb_dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (August 2022)
Drink 2022 - 2036
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (Aug 2022)

About this wine

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or. Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.
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Au Bon Climat

The late Jim Clendenen founded Au Bon Climat (ABC) in 1982. He became famous for making pioneering wines from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on California’s Central Coast. He passed away in 2021 and is remembered as one of the most charismatic and influential people of his vinous generation.
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