James Alexander Clendenen (January 11, 1953May 15, 2021) was an American winemaker and the owner of Au Bon Climat, a winery in

Santa Maria, California Santa Maria (Spanish language, Spanish for "Mary, mother of Jesus, St. Mary") is a city near the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California in northern Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara County. It is approximately no ...

. Jim Clendenen was deemed "The Godfather" of

Santa Barbara County wine Santa Barbara County wine is an appellation that designates wine made from grapes grown mostly in Santa Barbara County, California which is located approximately north of Los Angeles County. County names in the United States automatically qual ...

. He was key in raising international recognition of Santa Barbara County as a world class wine region, as well as being instrumental in raising the quality of Burgundian varietals on California's Central Coast.

Early life

Clendenen was born in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

, on January 11, 1953. His father, Donald, worked as a chemical engineer with Firestone Tire and Rubber Company; his mother, Alice, was a housewife. Clendenen went to school in

Cuyahoga Falls Cuyahoga Falls ( or ) is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 51,114. The second-largest city in Summit County, it is located directly north of Akron and is a suburb of the Akron metropol ...

, Ohio, until grade nine, when the family relocated to La Habra, CA. He completed his high school at Lowell High school before studying pre-law at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

, graduating with high honors in 1974. He initially intended to work as a chef, having cooked in nursing homes and restaurants. His interest in winemaking was piqued after traveling around Europe as a junior. He returned in 1977, staying in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

, Champagne, and

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

for six months. He consequently opted not to enter law school and went into winemaking instead.

Career

Clendenen began his winemaking career working at

Zaca Mesa Winery Zaca may refer to: *Huehue Zaca, a 15th-century Aztec noble and a warrior *The Zaca Fire, the second largest wildfire in modern California history * Zaca Creek, an American country music group *Zaca Creek, a tributary of the Santa Ynez River *Zac ...

for three vintages. After traveling around the world in order to work three harvests in one year (

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

), he founded Au Bon Climat in 1982 with partner Adam Tolmach. It was based in a former dairy barn outside of

Los Alamos, California Los Alamos (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Los Álamos'', meaning ''The Cottonwoods'') is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Although located in the Los Alamos V ...

. At first, he and Tolmach handled all aspects of the business – including the picking of grapes, sales, and delivery – because they "had no money to hire any labor". The winery employed the techniques for making wine that he picked up in Burgundy, and he specialized in

chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

and

pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

, which were two of his favorite wines. Au Bon Climat gained prominence in the middle of the 1980s, partly due to his extensive travels to publicize the wines and the Santa Barbara region. Their wines were lauded for their atypical "subtlety and restraint". Clendenen ultimately acquired full ownership of the winery in 1989 and diversified with other ventures such as Clendenen Family Vineyards. Clendenen won several awards for his

winemaking Winemaking or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. The science of wine and ...

, including the 2001 winemaker of the year by ''

Food & Wine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and season ...

'', Winemaker of the World by ''Wein Gourmet'' three years later, and Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America by the James Beard Foundation in 2007. He also mentored several up-and-coming winemakers. He headlined his hometown's wine auction in 2005 and 2017, which was the largest fundraiser for the

Akron Art Museum The Akron Art Museum is an art museum in Akron, Ohio, United States. The museum first opened on February 1, 1922, as the Akron Art Institute. It was located in two borrowed rooms in the basement of the public library. The Institute offered clas ...

Personal life

Clendenen was married twice, with both marriages ending in divorce. His first marriage was to Sarah Chamberlin. His second was to Morgan Clendenen, and they had two children: Isabelle and Knox. His daughter, Isabelle, works in sales and marketing for Au Bon Climat and son Knox currently is working in the cellar at the winery. Clendenen split his time between his home in Buellton and at his ranch in Los Alamos during his later years. Clendenen died in his sleep on May 15, 2021, at his home in Buellton, California at the age of 68. He is also survived by his older sister, Marsha, and younger sister, Patricia, as well as his nephew Patrick, niece Marisa, and great nephew.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clendenen, Jim 1953 births 2021 deaths California winemakers Businesspeople from Akron, Ohio People from Santa Maria, California University of California, Santa Barbara alumni