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Are you looking for a Pinot with lavish black cherry and baked berry flavors sprinkled with baking spice and toasted oak? Or is an ethereal and tense option more your choice, with its brisk red fruit and waves of bay leaf and juniper? You can have either style of Pinot Noir from California’s Central Coast, where the chameleonesque grape reflects a myriad of microclimates and winemaker whims, usually with delicious results.
Given the appellation’s more than 90,000 vineyard acres planted across nearly 300 miles, from the San Francisco Bay to the Santa Barbara coast, the variety shouldn’t surprise.
Jim Clendenen, Santa Barbara Winemaking Pioneer, Dies at 68
With exuberant charisma and relentless traveling, he promoted his label, Au Bon Climat, and the region as a wine hub.
Jim Clendenen in 2009 at his winery, Au Bon Climat. He had a striking leonine mane of hair well after long hair had gone out of fashion and a goatee long before goatees came back in style. His wines were similarly distinctive but never trendy.Credit.Monica Almeida/The New York Times
May 19, 2021Updated 2:57 p.m. ET
Jim Clendenen, a larger than life, globe-trotting winemaker who through the force of his flamboyant personality and the understated beauty of his wines helped put the Santa Barbara region on the map, died on Saturday at his home in Buellton, Calif. He was 68.
Tributes paid to Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat decanter.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from decanter.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Jim Clendenen, Santa Barbara vintner who changed the course of California Pinot Noir, dies at 68
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Au Bon Climat winemaker Jim Clendenen, seen in 2019 in front of his wine library at his tasting room in downtown Santa Barbara.Erick Madrid/Special to The Chronicle 2019Show MoreShow Less
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Jim Clendenen, seen in 2019 at his tasting room, stayed true to his style of delicate, subtle winemaking even when it wasn’t popular.Erick Madrid/Special to The Chronicle 2019Show MoreShow Less
Jim Clendenen, the boisterous, rebellious founder of Au Bon Climat winery, who carved a path for subtler, European-inspired Pinot Noirs in California, has died. The winery confirmed his death but did not disclose a cause. He was 68.
From his Santa Maria Valley winery, Clendenen helped raise the quality of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Au Bon Climate co-founder and winemaker Jim Clendenen was honored at chef Emeril Lagasse s Carnivale du Vin charity event. (Steven Freeman) By May 17, 2021
Jim Clendenen, who brought a love of Burgundy to his groundbreaking Santa Barbara winery Au Bon Climat and helped put the region on the world winemaking stage, died in his sleep the night of May 15 at his home in the Los Alamos district near the town of Buellton, Calif. He was 68.
Clendenen was a tireless proponent and guiding light for Santa Barbara wines from his base in the cool-climate Santa Maria Valley in the northern reaches of the county. His Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays from a variety of vineyar