My old friend, winemaking mentor, and longtime business partner, Jim Clendenen, passed away in his sleep on May 15.
Two days earlier, Jim and I, along with another old winemaking friend, Paul Lato, took the day off to visit Raj Parr. Raj had recently moved to a farm and vineyard in Cambria, about an hour’s drive north of our winery in Santa Maria. He had planted and grafted 12 acres of vines to about a dozen esoteric and little-known grape varietals scattered among the wild, wind-swept, chilly hills near San Simeon. We were curious to see what he was up to.
Jim was my winemaking mentor, and he had also mentored Paul and Raj. It was a day of the master and three of his pupils; Jim was in his element.