Remembering Jim Clendenen
BY ANTONIO GALLONI |
The texts started coming in over the weekend. Jim Clendenen had passed away. I was in shock. We had a tasting scheduled in two weeks. Surely this was some sort of mistake. Sadly, those early reports turned out to be true.
I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t. That’s the reason this article is appearing much later than we usually publish similar pieces. I just didn’t want to write it, to be perfectly honest. And the reason is that I knew doing so would be an acknowledgement that Jim Clendenen was no longer with us. So, I put it off for a few weeks while I collected my thoughts.
It’s hard to overestimate the influence Jim Clendenen and his Au Bon Climat winery had on the Santa Barbara wine scene in its early days. Au Bon Climat put Santa Barbara on the map, literally, with brilliant Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs that showed the potential of Santa Barbara to a whole new generation of wine lovers around the world. The wines brought fame to vineyards like Sanford & Benedict and Bien Nacido, and especially the old vine parcels in those sites that have since become so coveted.
