Ici la Bas 2003 Chardonnay

'Ici la Bas' translates as "Here & There", an apt name for this wine, as it was a joint venture between Jim Clendenen (of Au Bon Climat in California's Santa Maria Valley) and the Francois Freres family in France. 

By the time Jim passed away two years ago, he'd accumulated over 5,000 cases of wine in his personal cellar. Of his entire collection, he'd made about 80% of the wines, and some of THAT wine was Ici la Bas, a wine made in partnership with barrel broker Mel Knox and the Francois Freres family. The partnership agreement included 120 bottles allocated to each partner from every vintage.

The French partners, Jean and Noelle, served some of their wine to their French winemaking clients, and took great amusement from the ensuing debate over whether their Ici la Bas California Chardonnay was Puligny or Meursault. 

Jim was a bit of a pack rat and rarely touched his Ici stash. This wine comes to us from Jim's perfectly stored personal collection, now being liquidated (pun intended) by his kids and successors at Au Bon Climat - Isabel & Knox Clendenen. I was recently presented a flight of wines from the early 2000s and this one, the oldest in the lineup, was my favorite. I have but trifling amounts, so if you want to taste a piece of California wine history, don't wait to hit that buy button.