by Jenise » Tue May 18, 2021 1:43 pm
I was up in the middle of the night and came across a Facebook post by Adam Lee, pouring out his sadness over Jim's passing. He mentioned having been invited for lunch at ABC where Jim apparently cooked incredible food and opened many many bottles including one "really good" that had been given only 56 points from the Spectator that he was especially proud of. Apparently Adam's next stop was at Foxen, where Dick Dore took one look at Adam and said, "You just came from ABC, didn't you." Many had been in Adam's footsteps before; so they knew the signs. And of course it only added to Jim's legend.
I was impressed with all the wine people who responded to Adam's note. Names like Loring, Lindquist, Pisoni, Dore, Schaeffer, Penner-Ash, Thibault and even Philippe Cambie of all people. Oh, and our own Tom Hill.
A personal story: Jim's mother was a good friend of my dad's from a world that had nothing to do with wine. Nonetheless, it was a close enough connection to get Dad invited to one of Jim's two weddings, this time to a jewelry maker who designed a sophisticatedly sexy wedding invitation showing an elegant bejeweled woman's hand pouring red wine into a stiletto heeled-shoe. Dad came back from that event shell-shocked. Not sure exactly what kind of uptight, conservative impression he had of what a maker of fine wine should look and act like, but I can promise you that long-haired Wild Boy Jim Clendenen was not it. Hearing Dad's horrified descriptions endeared Jim to me forever.
I met a lot of famous people at that later IPNC event (including Jancis herself), but for me meeting Jim was a true highlight of that weekend.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
