Celebrating the Heritage and Practices of Traditional Fine Arts Worldwide
Silent Auction at the 2022 Annual Holiday Party
We are delighted to present our Silent Auction again as a part of our 2022 Annual Holiday Party. Grab a wonderful gift for the art lovers in your life this Holiday Season– or something for yourself! If you are attending the 2022 Annual Holiday Party, These items will be on view and open for bidding throughout the event. Can’t make it to the party? We’ve got you covered! You can submit an absentee bid this week, before the party, and we will bid for you.
Please bid with confidence as all proceeds will benefit the educational programming of the California Art Club. Also, our sincere gratitude goes to the individuals who have donated the items presented below.
The deadline to submit an Absentee Bidding Form is Saturday, December 3, 2022 at 5:00 p.m. PT
Please note: This item cannot be shipped and must be picked up at the CAC offices in Pasadena, CA. Must be 21 and Over to bid.
Jim and Jodie Rea’s comments:
Jim Clendenen, owner of Au Bon Climat winery was the best of the best (sadly he passed away unexpectedly last year). Jim was a world recognized winemaker who literally created the credibility of California Central Coast wines, recognized as some of the best wines in the world.
This pair of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are among the most classic wines that Jim and ABC produced. If you love great wine, you will love this wine.
2019 Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County
SANTA MARIA VALLEY
TASTING NOTES
Strawberries and blackberries aromas slowly rise out of the glass. Overtime, more of the anise and clove will mix with these other aromas. Currently, the wine is young with mouth filling intensity and suppleness. Complexity will increase as the wine ages, but this wine should stay “fresh” for 6 or 7 years.
WINEMAKER NOTES
The 2020 Santa Barbara County, is a blend of six vineyards from two appellations. We blended wine from Bien Nacido (Santa Maria Valley), Le Bon Climat (SMV), Rancho La Cuna (SBC) Kick On (SBC), Los Alamos (SBC), and Runway (SMV). Our winemaking has changed little in 35 years; we are still making handcrafted wines using the same basic, time proven techniques. We still use François Frères French oak barrels (about 10% new) aging 10 months in barrel. The barrel aging gives the wine some depth complexity. All of our Pinot Noir goes into small barrel. Barrel work such as topping, emptying and cleaning is time consuming but is essential here at Au Bon Climat The production on this wine has increased some, but it still takes time to make fine wine.
WINE SPECIFICS
ALCOHOL: 13.5%
SUGARS: Dry
THE BACKSTORY
Au Bon Climat started making Pinot Noir in 1982. In the early 1980s we could count Pinot Noir vineyards in Santa Barbara County on one hand. Wine grape farming was more about yielding big crops and not yielding quality grapes. So much has changed in the last 38 years. Today we grow and carefully select the best Pinot vineyards around to get the highest quality Pinot from established vineyards. We began with one Pinot Noir from a single vineyard in 1982, and now make 25 different Pinot cuvees from Pinot Noir grown at 11 different vineyards.
The Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir is our most popular wine. The production is limited by our ability to find more high-quality Pinot Noir at the right price point. The 2020 Pinot Noir crop ripened slowly and evenly. The result was a nose loaded with dark fruits.
2019 Chardonnay Los Alamos Vineyard
SANTA YNEZ VALLEY
TASTING NOTES
The Los Alamos Chardonnay is the most fruit forward of our Historical Vineyard Chardonnays. The 2020 has abundant fruit with a slight tropical note backed by judicious oak. The fuller viscosity that is a signature of this region is joined by a nice mineral component and firm finish. While this wine seems to show almost infinite age ability, the wine drinks well today.
WINEMAKER NOTES
As part of our Historical Vineyards Collection, this wine receives gets all the TLC it needs. The wine is 100% barrel fermented, completed malolactic fermentation, and aged 15 months on the lees in 33% new French François Frères barrels.
WINE SPECIFICS
HARVESTED: September 16, 2020
ALCOHOL: 13.5%
PH: 3.42
ACIDITY: 7.1
SUGARS: Dry
THE BACKSTORY
Vineyard: The Los Alamos Vineyard is roughly 500 planted acres, most of which is on flat bottomland of the Los Alamos Valley that is sandwiched between the Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria Valley appellations. The best grapes from this vineyard are found to the north on the gentle slopes of the hills.
We source from grapes grown at the top of the wind-swept slopes of the Solomon Hills. On this hilltop the wind and shallower soils keep the yields low and the grapes struggle to ripen. Even though it is a struggle, the small crop ripens early. This is the first Chardonnay to arrive at the winery for the last 10 years. The small crop on these hardy vines is concentrated.
Au Bon Climat and Los Alamos Vineyard share a lot of history. The first Au Bon Climat winery was a small barn on the Los Alamos Vineyard property. That was in 1982. Since then Los Alamos Vineyard has changed hands a few times and Au Bon Climat moved from that property in 1989. Most of the owners of Los Alamos have been interested in farming cheaply and setting and ripening a lot of grapes. This sort of viticulture was of no interest to Au Bon Climat. In 2004, the farming of this vineyard was “handed over” to Tavo Acosta. Tavo is one of the new generation of viticulturists in the Santa Maria area. This group of grape growers are motivated to grow the best grapes to make the best wine and they drink wine, too. This newer farming is more hands on and expensive than the earlier methods, but the quality difference is huge. The improvements at Los Alamos vineyard are ongoing and this vineyard will continue to be a large part of the Au Bon Climat portfolio going forward.
Lot 6: Book: The Gift of Los Angeles by Gayle Garner Roski
Item Title: The Gift of Los Angeles by Gayle Garner Roski
Watercolorist Gayle Garner Roski (1941–2020) was well known for her vivid color-drenched paintings in which she shared images from her travels around the world. But her most favorite subject to paint was her native Los Angeles. Roski considered it a gift that she lived her life in the City of Angels, as she was captivated by its artistry, architecture and culture that she embraced as both vibrant and varied.
This deluxe oversized book showcases faithful reproductions of Roski’s Los Angeles Millennium Series of 44 paintings created from 1999 to 2020. The works celebrate not only beloved landmarks in the Los Angeles area, but also the fondest memories from the artist’s life. Imagery includes Los Angeles City Hall, Union Station, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, The Original Farmers Market and the Santa Monica Pier.
As noted by art historian Jean Stern, who penned the foreword for the book, “the delightful images…will take you to the great places and events that are the social fabric of Los Angeles. As I viewed these paintings, I, too, was taken back to my childhood in Los Angeles and being in these places for the first time.”
