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In 2007, when sportswriter John Zant joined the Independent after escaping the ethically sinking ship that was the Santa Barbara News-Press — where he’d been covering everything from junior varsity football to the Olympics since 1968 — I became his editor. I knew enough about sports to competently move along his always hyper-clean copy, and could banter with relative confidence about scores and squads to advise his assignments as needed.
What neither of us anticipated was how fluent we both were in the language of wine. Nor did we predict how that shared tongue would lead to a friendship that continues long since I stopped processing his prose.
I was already writing about the Santa Barbara wine scene around the time he joined us, and was excited to learn that Zant was one of the region’s early adopters. He’d been drinking Santa Barbara’s finest — and, presumably, some of its worst — since the industry emerged in the 1970s, and happily recounted those old days whenever our conversations went that way.
One day — we can’t remember if it was 2007 or 2008 — Zant invited me to join him for a day of tasting and lunch at Au Bon Climat, which is located on the historic Bien Nacido Vineyard deep in the Santa Maria Valley. These lunches were as legendary as their creator, ABC’s long-haired firebrand proprietor Jim Clendenen, who prepared them every day he was in town — not just during harvest — up until his death in 2021. I’d briefly met Jim and his buddy Bob Lindquist, who made his Qupé Wines in the same facility, at wine country events early in my career, but that day with Zant would be my introduction to the lunchtime tradition.
Joining us in the car was Jimmy McLeod, one of the earliest wine country explorers and investors; Michael “The Dude” Stichler, an attorney who argued with a judge on the phone as he steered us with one hand over the San Marcos Pass; and Patrick Rauber, a Notre Dame classmate friend of John’s nephew Brian Zant, who also became my friend and neighbor a few years later. I’d been welcomed as a temporary member of the JTT, or Jimmy’s Tasting Team, as these McLeod-arranged expeditions were known.
I don’t remember specifics about that day’s lunch — I’d yet to master enjoying wine in moderation, which may explain that — nor can I find any photos of the gathering. We do recall a visit to Foxen Winery on the way home, which was probably overkill. I also feel like Palmina was involved but that doesn’t make sense, at least geographically.
Though it was my first, the lunch would be one of McLeod’s last ones at Au Bon Climat, as he died of skin cancer a few years later. He did make at least one more return visit with the JTT in January 2013, just two months before he went to the big vineyard in the sky. (Read Zant’s In Memoriam about Jimmy McLeod here.)
I’ve only gotten deeper into wine in the two decades since, so I’ve been able to return to the Au Bon Climat lunch a number of times. In fact, our first real outing as a family during COVID was to ABC for lunch in the spring of 2020, when my elementary aged kids did their Zoom classes from the cellar. I’ve been back a couple times since Clendenen died as well, including this recent trip with Jancis Robinson.
Soon after that visit, the Dodgers won the World Series, which prompted Lindquist to ask me for Zant’s contact, presumably so these two L.A.-loving boys-in-blue could slap each other on the back. I suggested we get Zant up to the winery for another lunch, and Lindquist wholeheartedly agreed, especially since longtime ABC winemaker Jim Adelman is retiring at the end of the year.
So last Friday, Zant and his wife, Kathleen Rodriguez — herself a legend in community engagement and activism circles — rolled up to my driveway, where Zant popped out wearing full Dodgers regalia. Being a lifelong Giants fan myself, I ran back in the house, grabbed my ugly Christmas sweater in orange-and-black, and tossed on my S.F. ballcap to balance the apparel universe.
We took the requisite group shots upon arrival and then sat for a lunch, these days made by cellar master Enrique Rodriguez. There were two types of sausage, corned beef, boiled cabbage, peppery potatoes, and salad, enjoyed with about a dozen wines from ABC, Lindquist Family, Qupé, Verdad, Piro, and a yet-to-be-released mondeuse from a brand called Los Padres, the vintages spanning from 1990 to 2023.
The conversation ranged from cooking, winemaking, and traveling to kids, dogs, and music. But for Zant, Lindquist, and Adelman, the talk was mostly sports memories, from Santa Barbara County high school stars over the generations to to memorable matches of the past half-century to hall of fame oversights — Lindquist has written a letter in the latter regard, though maybe more to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, all unanswered.
As he approaches his eighth decade, Zant is sharp as ever, effortlessly recounting barbera tastings from the 1970s when he lived on Miramar Beach and roadtrips to cover women’s college basketball games in Texas and Louisiana. He’s not writing regularly for the Indy anymore, but did pen four stories so far this year: about the top athletes in Santa Barbara High history, the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the World Series, the March Madness run of UCSB Women’s team 25 years ago, and jazz great Charles Lloyd.
While scrolling through Zant’s archives with the paper, I realized that he’s written more than 1,500 bylined pieces since he started in 2007. (Here were his first ones for us.) No wonder he was inducted into the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Hall of Fame in 2023. If we ever start a hall of fame for Santa Barbara wine lovers, he’s got my vote.
Our lunch lingered until past 3 p.m. when the winery team actually had to get back to work. As Kathleen drove us home, we shared stories about our families and about getting older, which inevitably landed on remembering friends who’ve passed on. We made plans to meet up soon in the new year, probably in my backyard, with ample eats and plenty of Santa Barbara wine.
Mushrooming
I haven’t had much time to track down chanterelles since that bountiful Thanksgiving week, but I did run into a crazy amount of mushrooms earlier this week walking along the creeks near my house. Very few of these were visible just a few days earlier, and I sent photos as usual to my mushroom expert buddy Bob Cummings, who I’ve written about numerous times here.
Most were either toxic — like the death cap I found, which is the most dangerous on the planet — or, if edible, already rotting. But it was quite cool to have found a white king bolete, which is a very prized porcini variant. I’ll go looking around that spot again for a fresh one.
Just 8 @ Clean Slate
We did our 14th (we think) Just 8 Supper Club at Clean Slate in Solvang last Thursday, December 11. If you haven’t learned the drill, it’s an intimate gathering of eight diners served eight courses by chef-owner Melissa Scrymgeour, all paired with wines that I select from my personal cellar.
We are lining up dates for 2026 right now, but if you’re interested in a buy-out night, email me directly. We could work on a date around your schedule.
The main reason I’m mentioning it this week is that I finally got some good photos in the low-light situation and wanted to share them!
Vincent Vineyards
This will be a longer story later, but I popped into Vincent Vineyards last week to meet with GM Charles Williams, who I reconnected with during November’s Just 8 dinner. He was actually the first guy I ever bought a case of wine from back in 2005, but that too is another story for later.
Much has changed at Vincent since I wrote this introductory feature back in 2015. Winemaking is now handled by Zach Perron with hospitality under the management of Jake Benner. The wines are definitely worth revisiting, as they’ve charted a direction that makes sense and should hold steady. More to come.
From Our Table
Here are a couple stories you may have missed:
- Ella Heydenfeldt files her second piece about the sparse selection of late night eats in Santa Barbara.
- I talk to Pacific Pickle Works founder Bradley Bennett about his second, more affordable brand, The People’s Provisions. Pro tip: Pickles make great Hanukkah and Xmas gifts!
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