Tag: Santa Barbara

Under the spotlight: Californian Chardonnay

We put two greats of Californian wine – David Ramey and Jim Clendenen – together to talk all things Chardonnay. Here Sophie McLean shares a little of their conversation On the 24th May 1976, Steven Spurrier revealed to an awe-struck “Parisian” panel, that California – a region traditionally considered as one full of bright, ripe fruit, […]

The wildest winemaker in the West

Jim Clendenen, the shaggy-haired, famously renegade wine personality behind California’s Au Bon Climat, is still courting controversy three decades after founding his legendary winery. Here, Sophie Thorpe comes face to face with the Wildman of wine. “I don’t know how I went straight from Wild Boy to Wild Grandpa, I never got a wild middle […]