Lunch at Jim Clendenan's Winery

We have some great friends, the Chatfields, that have been supporters from the very beginning. I have mentioned them several times before in blogs because they are always at our events and are so proud when there are lots of people in the Bistro and they share our pain when it is just them sitting at the bar enjoying one of our Monday Wine Education sessions.

I recently imposed on the Chatfields to get me introduced to Jim Clendenan. I am sure everyone knows who he is but just in case you live in Santa Maria and still don't realize that you are in the middle of the greatest vitaculture area on the planet and that there are winemakers here in our valley that are world reknowned, then let me explain just who he is.

He has been named the "WORLD'S Best Winemaker" more times than any other local winemaker. His wines are consistantly on the top of every wine rating. He makes amazing Chardonnay and Pinot but also some varietals that are very rare around here such as Nebbiolo. His winery is on the famed Bien Nacido property owned by the Miller family but farmed and leased by Jim and Bob.

Anyway, that's who he is. I was reading a book a few months ago about a guy that wanted to learn to be an Italian chef so he studied under Mario Batali, the famous Big Red-Headed Italian celebrity chef. Anyway, as I was reading about an event where there were winemakers and chefs all hanging out and having a great time, guess who was there, yep, Jim Clendenan. It turns out that him and Mario are great old friends who spent lots of nights in Italy partying. So now I must meet this man. A celebrity in our own backyard. So I emailed him and told him my little story and I actually got a response back, a thank you, you are so sweet. Now since the Chatfields are very old friends of Jim (you wondered how I was going to get back to the Chatfields!) I asked them to get me an introduction. Well they did one better and got me invited to his winery for lunch.

Now at this point I could go on and on about my afternoon at Au Bon Climant (ABC), Jim's winery, but let me just say, the food was amazing. Jim is a gourmet Chef. The wine was incredible, Jim shared some of his wine, his partner of 20 years, Bob Linquinst, shared his wine and they broke out a 1980 Cab from Napa. But what was most magical about the afternoon was the people that I shared that meal with. I sat next to Enrique. He is a man who has been working for Jim since he was 16 years old, he now being 42 if I had to guess. He takes over the cooking responsibilities when Jim is traveling. Incidently, Jim cooks for 10-50+ everyday. He takes really good care of his employees. If I didn't already have a job I would definately apply. Then across the burled wood table sat John Hulihan. He is the director of Beverage Service for the Lark Creek Restaurant Group. You may not know who this is, I certainly didn't know him personally but what blew me away was that he works for the same company that Chef Troy, our fabulous new chef came from. The restaurants are owned by the famous, Bradley Ogden. The chef that popularized Seasonal, Farm-fresh American Cuisine. One of his flagship restaurants, Yankee Pier is one of the restaurants that Troy opened for them. So in a huge way the world just got very, very small.
After Jim found out who our chef was he was very excited to come to dinner. He has also agreed to do a winemaker dinner with Troy. So the end of the day ended like it started, Surreally. I don't know if that is a word but that is only way I can describe it. I left with a huge smile on my face and 6 bottles of Clendenan Family wine and Qupe Marsainne. Wow, it doesn't get much better than that.