Ici la Bas 2009 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir, Elke Vineyard "Les Reveles"

'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, he'd accumulated over 5,000 cases of wine in his personal cellar, some 4,000 of which he had made. Some of that wine was Ici la Bas, made in partnership with Mel Knox barrel broker and the Francois Freres family. The partnership agreement included 120 bottles allocated to each partner.

The French partners, Jean and Noelle, served some of their wine to their French winemaking clients, and enjoyed the ensuing debate over whether the Ici la Bas 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 Ici la Bas wines from the 2000s and this one was my favorite.

The wine shows impressive verve and vivacity for a domestic pinot that has blown out 16 birthday candles!

NOTE: I carried this wine from 2006-2010 at our Solvang wine bar (RIP). We offer it here, some 16 years later, AT THE SAME PRICE we charged back then, when it was one of our priciest Pinots.