Au Bon Climat, Isabelle Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County

Santa Barbara Beach House 8/2025, elegant und jugendlich, aus der Library von Au Bon Climat

2007 vintage

High acidity, intensely aromatic, somewhat lighter body on the palate. An interesting wine at 18 years of age, feels not fully mature yet and potentially has another 5-10 years until peak. It's difficult to say whether it will improve over that time or not.

2007 vintage

Pretty good. Clearly new world but well measured intensity.

2007 vintage

Ripe fruit; complex; rich/deep. Delicious!

2007 vintage

Getting more ready since I last had it

2007 vintage

Holding up well.Rich; dark chocolate & plums. Should last a few more years if properly stored.

2007 vintage

I have very mixed feelings about this wine. It is tasty and enjoyable. But, for a top wine from this winery, from an excellent wine maker with many Pinot Noir offerings, it remains disappointingly lacking in greatness. No top level richness, lushness, complexity, and depth. Instead of being soaringly great, it remains just good, with a nice balance of fruit, acid, and tannin. The glass bottle is deeply punted and extremely heavy, out of place for so modest a wine …

2007 vintage

Drank over a few hours. Drank in Grassl Cru. Appearance is clear, pale intensity, ruby colour. Legs. Nose is clean, medium+ intensity, with aromas of sweet florals, earth, sous bois undergrowth, red cherries, hints of cola. Developed. On the palate, dry, high acidity, medium alcohol (13.5%), silky integrated medium tannins, medium body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of red cherries, bits of darker red cherries and cola, sweet spices, sweet melted earth and some undergrowth. Long finish. Very good quality. …

2007 vintage

Slight bricking, pretty ruby color. Has lost some verve since I last had this in 2012. Still enjoyable but acidity and flavor depth have waned. Maybe a couple years off peak, but still enjoyable notes of red fruits and minerals.

2007 vintage

Dinner at Shishen Hanten (Shishen Hanten, Mandarin Orchard, Singapore) : This was quite nice. The nose was a pretty mix of sweet dark cherries, berries and spice, along with just a twist of earth and burnt rubber at the edges. The palate had a nice round feel to it, with ripe, full, rather thick flavours of sweet cherries and dark berries seasoned with a good bit of spice. The thickness of the fruit spoke to the new world, as did …

2007 vintage

Dark red, great clarity of flavors, penetrating acidity, and a very long aftertaste of black raspberry and black cherry, without being the least heavy, sugar sweet, or flabby.

2007 vintage

Having 7 more bottles of this wine, I can with great relief finally report that this 10 year old wine finally shows the greatness one would hope for from the top Pinot Noir made by Au Bon Climat, after being opened for 4 days. Begins the darkest it has ever been, just short of being black. The nose is richly perfumed, with pomegranate, red and black cherry, violets, a mushroom that was never in the younger wine, plus a hint …

2007 vintage

Hmm.. Had this in my cellar since release. Decanted for approx. 2 hours. Nose shows sweet dark fruit bramble and some heat, with leather and earth, and wood spices. Palate shows sweet and concentrated ripe mashed fruits, strawberries and wild strawberries, woody spices, some vanilla and a tad of alcohol. The girls liked this tonight. Not a bomb, more balanced than many Pinot wines from the US West coast (California and Oregon). Still it lacks (allot) in complexity and acidity. …

2007 vintage

This tete du cuvee wine made from selecting the best barrels across vineyards, is picture perfect in its firm acidity and tannin - bright, refreshing, cleansing, and drying. But the same cannot be said for the fruit and mouth feel, which falls short of being rich, caressing, lush, or especially delicious. One might hope for better with additional age, but for the first 9 years, it remains stuck on a reef of leanness compared to the great Pinot Noirs, without …

2007 vintage

Delicious. Lots of mouth feel, good fruit and light spice on the palate. Long finish.

2007 vintage

Delicious fruit and a long finish.

2007 vintage

I bought a case of this wine with very high expectations because 2007 was a very good vintage and the Isabelle cuvee gets to cherry pick the best selections from all the Au Bon Climate vineyards. Eight years later and having nibbled into the case, I remain underwhelmed by a very good wine that has never reached greatness. What most hobbles the wine is a pervasive lightness, starting with a ruby color and delicate aromas of strawberry and red cherry. …

2007 vintage

Faded black cherry colour. Lots of dark cherry fruit too. Earthy. Baked beetroot. Lovely resolved tannins. Good length. Nice.

2007 vintage

PnP at restaurant. Went well with everything-chicken and lamb. lovely nose. Cherries throughout. Wine improved through dinner. A bit of alcohol on the finish. A very nice pinot with plenty of life left.

2007 vintage

Wonderful nose which follows through to the mid palate with black cherry fruit. Good complexity with a long finish with soft tannins. Well balanced and still lots of life left.

2007 vintage

Exceptional PN from Santa Barbara. Plenty of strawberry and cherry, mixed, on the mid-palate, with funk and mushrooms throughout. Firm and rich on the finish, just absolutely wonderful.

2007 vintage

The 07 Isabelle is all red bramble fruit, underbrush, spice and wet rocks. Smooth tannin and balancing acidity. A whole lot is going on in the glass and this has plenty of stuffing to improve with more age if you choose. Comparing this with 01 Arcadians I've been opening lately, I think this will be much better with 4 or 5 more years, but if you have several, no reason not to check in on these now.

2007 vintage

Balanced, delicious Pinot Noir. Shows great purity and intensity of fruit, while also displaying beautiful secondary (earth, etc) characteristics. My favorite ABC bottling.

2007 vintage

Subdued nose, very closed and tight even after an hour decanted. Opened up nicely over the next three hours, and was only really showing its potential for the last few glasses. I won't touch this again until 2015. For now, expect sweet black fruits on the attack, and a bonus of tight tarry cherry and cedar on the mid palate.

2007 vintage

A very heavy bottle. The wine was excellent, smooth, strawberry, mushrooms, all the things you love about a Pinot. Little pricey for everyday drinking but certainly worth the splurge for a wine lover.

2007 vintage

Opened up very nicely to have with Turkey. A refined, lighter Pinot, but enough of that signature ABC character to make it interesting.

2007 vintage

One of the best Domestic pinots I've had in years. Absolutely delicious. Cherry, sea air and a little dirt on the nose. Very nice finish. Wish I had more.

2007 vintage

Much deeper and complex than the other pinot noirs i have tasted from Au Bon Climat. At first i was slightly disappointed looking for that light, airy, cherry flavoured wine i got used from other ABC pinot noirs but now that it has been opened for 2 hours i can see where i went wrong. Very nice, slightly astringent wine. The nose is deep and turning on violets but then in mouth the wine reveals it's acidity and red berries. …

2007 vintage

This one showed better than the last bottle. More weight and complexity.

2007 vintage

The 2007 Knox Alexander Pinot is a very pleasant effort screaming out rainy deciduous forest and wet saddle leather. The nose is full bodied and provides an array of red fruits, strawberries and a coolness I indeed like. The palate is expressive with integration as the keyword - it is truly a well-crafted effort. After three hours in the glass, the wine is even more balanced. Not a 'big' wine, but very enjoyable. (Day 4, the wine is drinking perfectly …

2007 vintage

Good but lacking depth and complexity. Hopefully with time.

2007 vintage

Light ruby, mild earth with cherry cola notes. Mid-palate is somewhat missing, and this was after a couple of hours of air exposure. Finish is cherry, cola, cinnamon, spice notes, and some tangy and acidic expressions. This lacked the body and structure of other vintages; it was watery and light at times, an OK wine but a below average performance relative to other years, IMHO.

2007 vintage

Outstanding Pinot. Elegant and earthy, not overly extracted.

2007 vintage

Rich, bright fruit

2007 vintage

California Night (Binny's South Loop - Chicago, IL) : One of the highlights of the tasting. Great earthy Old World fashioning. Shroomy. Lovely rustic color and finish.

2007 vintage

Very heavy bottle, thick sparkling-wine type. Color is light ruby red, clear. Nose is spice box, cherries, mild earthiness. Smooth cherry and light fruit on the mid-palate, light acidity and tannins on the finish; a lighter more Oregonian style than I would have expected. Appropriately named after les enfants.

2007 vintage

Drank at Bouchon in Santa Barbara, stupendous wine. Started with a carmel notes, developed a nice spice as it opened up. Very long finish, beautiful pale color, a great American pinot noir.

2007 vintage

Danny's Solvang Trip; 9/24/2010-9/29/2010 (Slovang) : N: funk and cherry P: well intergrated F: good complexity and med+ finish

2007 vintage

Beautiful balanced earthy Pinot Noir. Jim Clendenen is a genius with this varietal

2007 vintage

Pure black and blue fruit and baking spice; great structure, punch. Always great.

2007 vintage

Vanguard (Columbus, OH) : Smooth, chocolate, strawberry, creamy. $49

2007 vintage

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Au Bon Climat, Isabelle Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County

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