Absolutely, Mel!
I told that story just last week in Burgundy with Jean and Noelle Francois. Though I didn’t add that the only dangerous part of the trip was when Jim overdosed on Jolt Cola as we headed down through Snake’s Pass
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"went to UCSB in 1971 to study pre-law, where the scene in Isla Vista was “unbelievable.”.
“We threw Halloween parties in the early ‘70s that were the most awe-inspiring, and terminally scary,” he recalls, laughing at today’s more puritanical sensitivities. “I come from a generation where, over a six-year period, there wasn’t a bra in the community.”
I went to UCSB from 1972-74. Jim was pretty much spot on. My girlfriend at the time didn’t wear one!
Thanks Blake for posting. I think Matt Kettman’s piece is a little more tactfully written than Robinson’s.
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Agreed Matt. The other Matt is a local guy and has first hand knowledge of Jim.
Knox has grown up quite a bit since this photo was taken a few years ago:
I first met Jim when he & BobLindquist were making wines in SamHale/LosAlamosVnyds in LosAlamos. I primarily arranged the visit to meet Bob, but Jim was
not about to let a new pigeon escape his clutches, so insisted I try his wines. I was, of course, impressed. And this from a guy who was then in the thralls of the DavidBruce Pinots.
The most amazing part of the visit was SamHale’s winemaker. Mary Vigarosa. This slight 90 + yr old lady was manhandling those barrels like you wouldn’t believe.
But I took an instant like to Jim and his outsized personality.
I used to attend the Food&Wine Aspen Wine Festival. I’d take some of my LosAlamos friends & we rent a condo & invite winemakers over for dinners we prepared.
There was wine involved. One time, Jim & Bob were in attendance & we invited them over. They came right after the grand tasting w/ a box of their leftover wines.
Afore dinner, Jim & Bob and a few of their entourage were lounging on the lawn in front of the condo & when somebody walked by down the sidewalk, he’d pour a
glass of his wine & shanghai them & insist they try it. And then he’d give them a short sales pitch.
On one of my early visits to their wnry on the BienNacido property, before I royally announced my presence, I saw a BB underneath this portable goal and casually picked it
up & started shooting a few baskets. This was back whin I was in my 40’s & playing BB down at PinonGradeSchool most every morning. Jim was a huge BB fan & spotted
me out there shooting baskets & hustled out & challenged me to a game of 1-on-1. Being from K-State & playing varsity level BB there thru my collegiate yrs, I was certain
I could put away this slightly porky winemaker. Boy…was I wrong. He smoked me. Of course, there was no ref & he roughed me up pretty badly. And it was not a full-court game, so I
couldn’t run my fast-break game.
After tasting w/ Bob/Jim/JimAdelman afterwards; Jim insisted I stay for one of those legendary lunches he prepared for the staff & guests. When we sat down at table,
Jim insisted I take the honored “RobertParker” seat at the table. It had a large hollow in the table top to accommodate Parker’s girth comfortably. Of course, that was wasted
on me at the time. Still prolly woudn’t fit me. But it was a fabulous/simple lunch w/ lots of wines being pulled from the library. Fortunately, I’d not made an appointment
for a Foxen visit that afternoon.
Anyway, we’ve lost a legend and the world will never be the same w/o Jim.
Tom
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A dead-ringer for MelKnox…handsome/innocent/fuzzy-cheeked!!
Tom
I put two and two together when I visited the tasting room a few years back and saw a reference to Knox, because I’d heard Mel’s stories of his escapades with Jim.
Quite a remarkable winemaker. He made everything from an excellent $25-$30 Chardonnay to first-rate nebbiolos, with more than a few other greats in between.
Sorry to hear the news.
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Terrible news–loved his wines and ran into him somewhat regularly over the years, always pleasurable and memorable: Santa Barbara Wine Festival in the '90’s, more recently La Paulée.
RIP
Such a sad loss for the wine world. I’ve always enjoyed his Knox bottling and wish I would have had a chance to meet him.
RIP. I’ve had some wonderful memories while drinking his wines, especially on Santa Barbara trips.
Thank you for posting the tribute by Matt Kettmann. I wept while reading it. We have lost a great one.
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Nice write up Tom.
Jim and I played some hoops on his home court from time to time and the old Kansas guy could still get the ball in the hole and being 6`6" tall, he could not get to my hook shot, but I could get to his.
Jim and I went to every b-ball game when Kansas and UCLA were playing in So Cal, a couple of times against each other at Pauley. The other games were in the John Wooden Classic when they played other teams all but once.
Jim bought an auction lot at the Central Coast Wine Classic one year that offered court side tickets to the Classic for 12, a limo down and back and a dinner in LA at Valentino. It was so much fun, he purchased the same tickets for another 7 years. He would rent a van for all of us and then pay for the dinner at Valentino where we sat upstairs in their private wine cellar dining room and would be personally served by charismatic owner, Piero Selvaggio. Often the number of courses equalled the number of wines. On one occasion that totaled 22. Also, we got smart and stayed over night across the street from Valentino before heading back.
The motley core group included Jim, Frank Ostini, Bob Lindquiat, Doug Margerum, Dick Dore, Bill Wathen {the latter 2 of Foxen}, Chef Rick Manson, assistant winemaker ABC Jim Adelman, ABC cellar master Enrique Rodriquez, Chuck Carlson {Curtis} and me.
What fun! A bunch of guys with a common passion for great food, wines and college hoops all hanging out for an annual memorable occasion, times 8.
Here’s the appropriate icon: 
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It was tearfully posted.
And another one just in:
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OUCH! Just saw this. What an inspirational and charismatic winemaker! One of the greats of US Pinot. Met him at IPNC (with hundreds of others). Some great Salmon bakes. Too young.
RT
Solo cups, or was this before mobile phones?
Only met him once, but loved his wines. Somehow the larger than life personality showed up as a more restrained but vibrant personality in his wines.
This hurts… I started out my wine journey with ABC wines, then they fell off my radar for no good reason. But was 8n Santa Barbara about three years ago and was BLOWN away by the quality of everything I tasted and started right back up with the wine club. Up there with the best.
I opened the 2005 30th anniversary Pinot from grapes selected from Bien Nacido. Remarkably fresh and dancing on the palate. It’s deeply pitched with plum and rose notes and lots of that clustery spice. Enough acid at end to keep it lively. Party on Jim!
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