2016 Au Bon Climat Chardonnay Santa Barbara Historic Vineyards Collection Sanford & Benedict Vineyard
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Checking back in on the 2016 Chardonnay Sanford & Benedict 31st Vintage Celebration, it has opened to soft orchard and stone fruits with floral perfume and bright, super classy oak touches. The medium-bodied palate is silky and begins minerally and precise before fleshing out to expansive fruits, and it finishes very long and lifted. It has lovely definition and should continue to age well in bottle. 100 cases were made.
Critic scores
Richard Hemming MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
From a cool site on the southern side of the Sta. Rita Hills, the 2016 Chardonnay 31st Vintage Celebration Sanford & Benedict is another wine that has plenty of salty, seaside-like nuances as well as Burgundian-like orchard fruits, toasted spice, brioche, and honeysuckle aromas and flavors. This fleshy, medium to full-bodied, balanced effort has bright acidity, the seamless, approachable texture that's the hallmark of the 2016 vintage, and a great finish. It's still youthful and should drink nicely for at least a decade. This is another fine set of releases from Jim Clendenen's Au Bon Climat. I always find a certain Burgundian style here, and in general, these wines benefit from bottle age and evolve beautifully.
The 2016 Chardonnay Sanford & Benedict Vineyard - 31st Vintage is a bottling from the second of the two picks Jim Clendenen did at S&B. Bright, fresh and translucent, the 2016 is remarkably refined for such a rich wine. Orchard fruit, citrus and floral notes take on uncanny shades of dimension in this positively stunning Chardonnay from Au Bon Climat. The 2016 saw 100% new oak, all 350-liter barrels.
The 2016 Chardonnay Sanford & Benedict Vineyard is an arrestingly beautiful wine that will stop readers dead in their tracks. Rich and powerful on the palate, yet with tremendous tension, the 2016 has it all. I especially admire the wine's delineation and overall pedigree. What a gorgeous wine this.