The Legend of Claiborne & Churchill Winery Founded By Clay Thompson And Fredericka Churchill Made Possible By The California Wine Revolution

Introduction

This is the Legend of Clay Thompson and Fredericka Churchill. These two people became successful winemakers because they discovered and embraced winemaking during the early years of the California Wine Revolution. In fact, they are the best example in San Luis Obispo County of two people with an optimistic attitude, naivete, and the courage to overcome every obstacle they encountered. 

They succeeded in making and selling the wines they wanted to make, the classic wines of the Alsace Region, in the European style that they cherished. Their warmth and openness attracted mentors, friends, supporters, and wine lovers who made all things possible. Their dreams came true. Their wines have received gold medals, praise from critics worldwide, and a loyal following. Clay, Fredericka, and their daughter Elizabeth, who has joined Claiborne & Churchill to work with her parents, are celebrating the 42nd anniversary of their winemaking.

First, I would like to step back in time to discuss the remarkable California Wine Revolution so that the reader will have a deeper understanding of the significance of all they have achieved.

The California Wine Revolution – 1970s and 1980s

The “California wine revolution” of the 1970s and 80s was a pivotal period in the wine history of the second half of the 20th Century. It was marked by increased grape acreage and wine production, the defining “Judgment of Paris” wine tasting in 1976, followed by the emergence of California wines on the global stage. This blind tasting event was organized by Steven Spurrier of Great Britain and his American partner, Patricia Gallagher. A panel of French judges tasted top French wines and the best of California Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Blindly, they voted for California (Napa County) wines; Stags Leap’s Cabernet Sauvignon and Chateau Montelena Chardonnay received the most votes. The results of this tasting challenged the long-held belief that French wines were superior. California wines received much recognition, Napa became the most famous wine region in California, and the California wine market expanded as exports surged. The revolution overthrew the established hierarchy of wine.

The California Wine Revolution changed everything, including agriculture, viticulture, food science, career opportunities, food and beverage production, technology,  restaurants, menus, home cooking, gourmet cuisine, travel, lifestyles, and marketing. Wine critics and wine writers emerged as forces of education and change alongside educational institutions such as UC Davis, Fresno State, and Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo, where students were introduced to viticultural practice and science labs. 

Wine and food became local and regional as the understanding of terroir and grape varieties developed. The AVAs were developed, focusing on the terroir, the history, geography, soils, climate, and grape varieties. The growers became as important as the winemakers, no longer anonymous on wine labels. New movements pairing wines and food were born, from fields to tables.

Hospitality became an industry that shaped lifestyle. This new industry celebrated food and wine with festivals, musical events, tastings, and wine competitions. Winemakers began receiving ratings and awards, and some became celebrities. The wine industry provided jobs of all kinds and gradually grew to be an important driver of the California economy.  Magazines were developed to focus on the wine industry, and newspapers featured wine columns and critics. 

The world of wine was new to everyone and had room for everyone. Tourism to winery destinations developed, and Robert Mondavi became a symbol of hospitality as he greeted his guests in person at his winery in Napa. Local individuals remodeled local hotels and opened restaurants.  Tasting rooms were developed at local wineries with trained staff to market local wines.

There was also freedom to learn and to share with your own community of collaborators. Clay had no experience in the wine industry until he was hired at Edna Valley Vineyard. He stepped into a new world that welcomed him. 

1976  “Judgment of Paris” Impact on San Luis Obispo County 

In the early 1960s, commercial growers in the Paso Robles area began planting and selling Cabernet Sauvignon grapes to Napa wineries. Winemakers in Northern California needed more grapes than Napa could produce. In the 1970s, there was a dramatic increase in new vineyards planted throughout California. The production of wine doubled.  The impact of the “Judgment of Paris“  on San Luis Obispo County included the establishment of three new American Viticultural Areas (AVAs):  the Edna Valley in 1982, Paso Robles, and York Mountain in 1983. The purpose of the AVA was to define unique soil types, microclimates, and conditions for grape growing. The development of AVAs highlighted the importance of “terroir,” the unique environment where grapes are grown, leading to more region-specific wines. During Prohibition, two generations of growers, vineyards, and winemakers were lost; it took almost three decades to reintroduce many grape varieties that had once thrived in California.

The Judgment of Paris had other impacts on local growers and winemakers. There were multi-generational families farming in San Luis Obispo County. They had grown multiple crops, including grapes. Many experienced grape growers of French, German, Italian, Swiss, Hispanic, and American descent who had been selling their grapes, dry farmed, to winemakers in Northern and Southern California for generations. They did not abandon their vineyards or winemaking during Prohibition. The quality of these grapes was highly regarded. These farmers were selling premium grapes growing on mature vines in the perfect terroir. These “old vines: were dry farmed and their roots went deep into the soil, which increased the intensity of the fruit.

People from all walks of life started moving and investing in land, vineyards, and winemaking opportunities in San Luis Obispo County in the 1970s. There were new tax benefits available to investors in agriculture. Several wineries with modern technology were built in the Adelaida region west of Paso Robles, in the Estrella River Valley east of Paso Robles, and in the Edna Valley south of the city of San Luis Obispo.

These new wineries were built with state-of-the-art design, vineyards, irrigation,  technology, equipment, and scientific labs, such as Estrella River Valley, which was built by Gary Eberle’s family in 1973. New grape varieties such as Syrah were introduced. For the first time, local winemakers included graduates from UC Davis, Fresno State, and Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo. Tom Meyers, a graduate of UC Davis, became the winemaker at Estrella Winery. Tom has been a mentor to many winemakers for over 45 years, including Niels Udsen, founder of Castoro Cellars in 1983. He is famous today for making the wine in over 240 million bottles in San Luis Obispo County. Dr. Stanley Hoffman and others who could afford his services hired André Tchelistcheff, as a consultant.

The Wine Revolution In San Luis Obispo County, 1970s & 1980s

In addition to the description above, there were several other unique events that impacted the growth of the wine industry in the 1970s and 1980s and transformed  San Luis Obispo County wines from relatively unknown into a globally recognized force in the wine industry. The Paso Robles AVA continued to lead the charge at home and abroad.

AVAs & Wine Labels

The Blake Printing in San Luis Obispo revolutionized California wine labels, designing new shapes and colors for each winery. Blake Printing became world famous for its designs, workmanship, and precision in labeling and marketing. The labeling standards, created by establishing three AVAs in San Luis Obispo County, allowed the world to identify California’s distinct wine regions based on their unique characteristics.

André Tchelistcheff, America’s most famous post-prohibition winemaker, shaped the rise of California’s premium wines and mentored dozens of winemakers in California. André provided consulting services to winemakers and growers in San Luis Obispo County, including Stanley Hoffman, Richard Sauret, John Munch, and Jack Niven, founder of Paragon Vineyard in the Edna Valley.

The Central Coast Wine Classic, Paso Robles Wine Festival, Tourism

Many San Luis Obispo County wines were unknown outside the county. The founding of organizations to promote local wines, including the Central Coast Wine Classic, the annual Paso Robles Wine Festival, and the wine marketing organizations like the California Central Coast Wine Growers Association, brought winelovers to the Central Coast. The development of a local hospitality industry with tasting rooms, wine events, and dinners encouraged local chefs, such as Ian McPhee in Templeton, to partner with wineries, pairing local wines and cuisine. Tourists began to visit wineries, join wine clubs, attend wine events, and buy wine for discounts as members. The Paso Robles Wine Festival, founded in 1982, became one of the largest in the country.

Wine Critics Become Influencers

The emergence of influential American wine critics and California wine writers like Robert Parker and Robert Lawrence Balzer identified local talent and the production of world-class wines that continued to challenge French dominance. The influential American critic Robert Parker emerged in the 1980s, promoting a love for ripe, opulent wines; it significantly impacted the style of California wines produced in Napa and San Luis Obispo County.

An Introduction To Claiborne And Churchill Winery In The Edna Valley, Made Possible By The California Wine Revolution In 1981 

Claiborne & Churchill is a partnership and winery shaped profoundly by the California Wine Revolution. Claiborne & Churchill was founded by Clay Thompson and Fredericka Churchill in 1983, just two years after they moved to San Luis Obispo. These newlyweds’ lives changed dramatically during a drive through the Central Coast in May  1981. They visited a new winery, Edna Valley Vineyard, a unique collaboration between the award-winning Chalone Vineyard in Monterey County and the newly established Paragon Vineyards, the second grower to plant Chardonnay vines in the Edna Valley.  

Clay had tasted the remarkable Edna Valley Vineyard Chardonnay at a wine tasting event in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he lived and worked, so he was familiar with the label. In fact, Clay was very impressed with the wine, so he made an appointment to visit the Edna Valley Vineyard. Please note that Ann Arbor, Michigan, is 2,390 miles from The Edna Valley. 

Clay and his fiancée, Fredericka Churchill, planned a trip to California in the spring. Clay started the trip on the academic circuit, lecturing first in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and then at the University of California in Los Angeles, while Fredericka visited her sister in Southern California. At this time, Clay was a Harvard-educated Professor teaching Norse mythology and folktales at the University of Michigan. He was making $30,000 a year, had three months off every summer, and was highly respected in his field. He had been appointed the Head of the department three years earlier.

Clay and Fredericka drove north on the California Central Coast together and visited several wineries in Santa Barbara County. The final stop was 100 miles north at a relatively new winery in the Edna Valley, located in San Luis Obispo County. It was well known for the Chardonnay wines made from grapes grown in the vineyard next door to the winery. Clay described his impressions. “We stopped to visit a few wineries, most of them only recently established and part of the rapid growth of the industry in the early 1980s. I soon discovered that the wine business was populated by a lot of people who came from outside the industry, with no agricultural or scientific background, and they loved what they were doing.”

The winery, Edna Valley Vineyard, was a collaboration between Dick Graff from Chalone Vineyard in Monterey County and Jack Niven, founder of Paragon Vineyard, in the Edna Valley. In 1976, Chalone won an award as one of the top California Chardonnays at the “Judgment of Paris“.  This recognition increased the demand for Chalone Chardonnay which in turn created a demand for the perfect grapes to make this wine. These grapes, recently planted, were found in the Edna Valley, which has the perfect terroir for both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. 

Clay describes the moment of arrival at Edna Valley Vineyard. It was located in a small metal building. “There we were, welcomed by winemaker Gary Mosby and assistant winemaker Bruno D’Alfonso, both in their twenties and the sole employees of this recently built winery.”  Clay asked the two workers how he could get into the wine industry, and they encouraged him to apply for a job with the words, “Oh, just get your foot in the door. This is California, the go-for-it state.  Just go for it.”

Clay and Fredericka were given a tour of the cellar and tasted the 1981 Chardonnay from several different barrels, crafted from both old and new oak. Clay describes that moment as an “Epiphany” and a “wake-up call.” “This eye-opening experience proved to be the ultimate catalyst, the ‘aha’ moment. I got bit by the wine bug,” exclaims Clay. It is important to note that neither Clay nor Fredericka knew anything about making wine. According to Clay, “ when we visited California previously and toured wine country, everyone told us we could do anything  we wanted.” Clay recalls, “They were all very encouraging. It was the California frontier mentality!” And so they discussed it briefly and made new plans. The California Wine Revolution pulled them right into the middle of a dramatic movement that remade the wines of California.

“The upshot was that I went home to Ann Arbor, quit my $30,000-a-year job at the university, sold my house, married Fredericka, said goodbye to my friends, told off my enemies, and went west (by Amtrak) to seek my fortune.” They arrived just two days before one of the earliest harvests in years. They found an apartment, and Fredericka started looking for a job. Clay went to work on his first harvest at age 41.

How did that happen?  It was the magic of the California Wine Revolution. Anything was possible.

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Impact On Wine History In San Luis Obispo County: Clay Thompson And Fredericka Churchill, Founders Of Claiborne & Churchill Winery, Contribute The Following List

• Passionately sharing love of Alsatian and German culture, food, and wine. Claiborne Watkins Thompson was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, to George Watkins Thompson and Jane Cockrill Thompson on September 19, 1940. His father was an air force officer; the family moved to Germany in Clay’s late teens. Clay was introduced to German and European food, wine, and culture. He became interested in foreign languages, eventually learning German. The first wine he remembers drinking was German Riesling. In Alsace, Riesling is the king of grapes! Clay and Fredericka shared their love of Alsatian culture, food, and wine over the next 42 years.

   

• The oldest “Cellar Rat” with a PhD in 1981
  Clay was the only “cellar rat” in San Luis Obispo County to have abandoned his career at the University of Michigan as a Professor teaching Norse Mythology and Folklore, as well as Norwegian language and Icelandic Sagas. He was chairman of the Department for three years and published an award-winning book on Runic Inscriptions discovered in Sweden: Studies in Upplandic Runography 1/1/1975, University of Texas Press. His first job in the wine industry was at Edna Valley Vineyard, starting with the early 1981 harvest. He lost 15 pounds in the first two weeks but continued working as a cellar rat for the next five years, learning everything he could about harvesting grapes, winemaking, fermentation, aging in oak barrels, sales, marketing, and distribution. One of his fellow “cellar rats” was a well-known sculptor, Tim Lloyd. This unusual cellar team was the most talented duo in the arts in SLO County at the time.
• Learning the Secrets of Alsatian WinemakingA research trip and seminar in Freiberg, Germany, followed by a walking trip in the Alsace Wine region in France, opened up new possibilities for the Claiborne & Churchill winery. They traveled by train from Strasbourg to a valley with a 75-mile stretch of winding roads dotted with hundreds of wineries. Clay and Fredericka walked with backpacks along the Route du Vin of Alsace, visiting the region’s wine villages. They interviewed local vintners, toured their wineries, and tasted the wines along this route. Fredericka describes the trip,  “We’d hike about 15 km a day and then we would eat and drink!” Clay and Fredericka were able to learn the winemaking techniques, including the nuances, from their Alsatian hosts. According to Clay,” we found that the methods did not vary much from the Edna Valley Vineyard, where the philosophy was not to manipulate or engineer the wine. You get yourself good fruit and let the wine make itself. Some California wines are almost too sterile. We belong to the French dirty school of winemaking.”
• The focus on “niche wines”.
  Clay and Fredericka felt their fondness and familiarity with Alsatian wines provided a special niche of concentration, which included Dry Riesling, Dry Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, and Muscat. They are affectionately known as the first to specialize in what was later identified as ABC wines (Anything But Chardonnay.) They also thought it was not wise to make wines in competition with the winery specializing in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that was providing the first production space for Claiborne and Churchill winemaking. The concept of “niche wines” was started by Claiborne & Churchill Vintners.  Clay describes their decision, “we made this decision despite the advice we got to make Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and hire a pretty girl to sell it. It turned out to be very difficult to sell these unusual wines, but we were too stubborn to change.”
• Founding Claiborne and Churchill Winery in a cellar corner.
  The Claiborne & Churchill Winery was founded in a corner of the cellar at Edna Valley Vineyard with Dick Graff’s blessing in 1983. As Clay explains, “We had no money, no land, no grapes, and no winery.” The 1983 vintage produced 565 cases of Dry Gewurztraminer and Dry Riesling, inspired by the fruity but dry dinner wines of the French province of Alsace. The values, enthusiasm, and generosity of spirit of those winemakers working during the California Wine Revolution made it possible. Clay was invited by Dick Graff to make his wines at the Edna Valley Vineyard in the cellar with new modern equipment. Friends and family were supportive and generous. Fifteen thousand dollars was loaned by family members to purchase 30 oak barrels and 8 tons of Riesling and Gewurztraminer grapes from a vineyard in the Edna Valley. Fredericka’s sister designed the wine labels, which were printed locally at the Blake Printery.  Three vintages of Claiborne & Churchill were made in the cellar. In 1985, Claiborne and Churchill moved their winery into a warehouse unit located in the industrial park known as the “Gourmet Ghetto” in San Luis Obispo. They were located there until January 1996.
• Gewurztraminer became the signature wine for Claiborne & Churchill Vintners.
  During the 1983 trip to France, Clay and Fredericka tasted the dry Alsatian Gewurztraminers so well known in Alsace. This specific wine inspired them to choose Gewurztraminer as the hallmark wine of the future Claiborne & Churchill Vintners. They did not want to produce Edna Valley Chardonnay. Instead, they decided to focus on Alsatian wines. Claiborne & Churchill wines are unique to San Luis Obispo County. The Alsatian wines they produce in California taste like those of France.
• Noble Nectar-A Haunting Dry Gewurztraminer: Raise your glass!
  Clay has produced dry Gewurztraminer wines in the Alsatian style, which have received rave reviews and awards for over 40 years. Here is a vivid description of this dry white wine, A Haunting Gewurztraminer, by Los Angeles wine writer Robert Lawrence Balzer in 1990.“This silken wine…haunted me. It was easily the most magnificent wine of the afternoon’s tasting. Through the years that I’ve been writing this column, I’ve sung my most passionate praises about a wine with a funny name that sounds more like a sneeze than a noble nectar – Gewurztraminer. Centuries ago, astute German grape growers discovered that some vines in the northern Italian village of Tramin produced exceptionally wonderful grapes that had a most exotic richness. These clonal variants of Traminer vines were dubbed gewurz, German for “spice.” But when most people think of spice, they think of cinnamon, cloves, or pepper, all of which Gewurztraminer is not. The incomparable taste of this grape suggests a tropical litchi nut, or pink grapefruit, or of the haunting perfume of grandiflora roses.

   

  But these nuances occur only if the grapes are picked at maturity, when clusters turn from greenish to blush-pink. Peasant growers in Alsace say you have to sleep in the vineyard to catch these grapes at the moment of ripeness. Picked too early, they have no lusciousness or perfume; picked too late, the acidity level drops, resulting in flat wine. Just right, the grapes make a fantastic wine.

  Speaking of more-than-worthy wines, I encountered one on a Sunday afternoon at the 10th annual Winefest in Irvine to benefit the Orange County Philharmonic. More than eighty California wineries poured their best for more than 500 wine lovers. Among the vintners were Claiborne Thompson, who offered me his 1987 Gewurztraminer ($8). I tasted it and was absolutely flabbergasted.

  This silken wine, labeled Dry Alsatian style – no residual grape sugar – had a bouquet of litchi and roses. It would be ideal with Cajun, Thai, or Mexican foods.

  As I progressed from winery table to winery table, sampling other very fine California wines, the Gewurztraminer haunted me. I went back to the Claiborne and Churchill table for another sample. It tasted even better the second time. It was easily the most magnificent of the afternoon tastings.”

• Introducing Dry Riesling and Gewurztraminer at Pairings with Flavorful Cuisines: The wines that made Claiborne & Churchill famous are their Dry Riesling and Dry Gewurztraminer, handcrafted in the Alsatian style. Clay and Fredericka have spent years educating the public about these famous dry wines and developed a large and loyal following. The pairing of Alsatian wines with Thai, Mexican, Asian, and other flavorful cuisines influenced local chefs who served the wines in their restaurants and taught the public how to enjoy these wines.

• Hospitality blossomed during the California Wine Revolution.
  Clay and Fredericka have excelled in making their guests feel like old friends or family when they sit in the garden sipping wines, attending trivia night, musical concerts, or a lecture on the constellations above. The wines are served among the beautiful landscaping designed and maintained by Fredericka. Music is often in the air. It is a place for local musicians to entertain guests on Fridays and Sundays. Clay and Fredericka became known for their hospitality, warmth, and time spent with guests, serving wines in a garden adjacent to the winery and vineyards. Their presence represents a sense of community where everyone is welcome. Their style is admired and emulated by many local winemakers. The winery was voted Best White Wine Winery in San Luis Obispo County in 2024 and again in 2025.
• The Cellar Club is the First Wine Club in the Edna Valley.
  In 1994, Clay and Fredericka established the Cellar Club. It was the first in the Edna Valley. Clay was consulting with winemakers in Santa Barbara County when he heard about the idea of establishing a club of winelovers who could buy wines at a discount several times a year and were invited to social events and pick-up parties. The newsletter described the current celebrations and introduced specific wines in great detail.  Membership offered both inside information and discounts on upcoming wines. In the first year, 50 members joined. The second year membership doubled. Today it exceeds 1500 wine lovers. There are three levels of membership – Discover, Classic, and Social.

• The First Straw Bale Winery in California.
  Claiborne and Churchill built the first commercial winery in California with straw bale technology. It was designed by local architect Marilyn Farmer, known for her dedication to sustainability and environmental architecture. The building was designed to provide ecological protection and insulation, resulting in a consistent interior temperature for storing and aging wine – no heat or cooling systems needed. The construction started in 1995 with a pad of cement poured on site after the ground was leveled. On a crisp Sunday morning in November, surrounded by the post and beam structures built of wood and 400 rice straw bales, the walls were lifted into place by 40 friends and winelovers who installed the large rice straw bales in the walls. Those walls were 16 inches thick.  Layers of stucco were later applied over the bales and wood framing with one small window for guests to view the inner structure of the wall. The winery was completed in 1996. It has inspired others around the world to build wineries from these materials and has delivered all the advantages promised.
• Traditional European Winemaking Techniques Prevail
  Clay’s philosophy is to bring out the flavor and character that is latent in the grape. He wants to create dinner wines in which there is a harmonious balance of fruit and oak, structure and texture. There is an extensive use of barrel-aging with the Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and all his other wines. There is minimal manipulation of the juice and wine, natural or spontaneous fermentation using indigenous yeast, and limited use of SO2 to achieve this harmonious balance. This description by the late Archie McLaren, Founder of the Central Coast Wine Classic.

• Financial Success, Attitudes and Ethos
  Clay and Fredericka had one plan: to make the wines they love, in the style they felt best expressed their craft. So many people joining the California Wine Revolution shared their goals. The business results were unknown and not the focus of their efforts. Clay feels that the lack of a business background led to different attitudes and consequences.”We hired our employees based on character rather than experience, and we taught them to love what they do, to be proud of their work, and to share the spirit and camaraderie of our workplace. Fredericka and I celebrated the growth and maturity of our young employees and were proud of them when they left our employ to do bigger and better things. I can list a good fifteen to twenty former employees of Claiborne & Churchill who have gone on to excel in their careers, and not just in the wine business. And I believe they took with them a bit of our ethical approach to what we do”.
• Claiborne & Churchill Winery and founders Clay Thompson and Fredericka Churchill were honored at the Central Coast Wine Classic in 2010.
  The Central Coast Wine Classic was an event that highlighted the winemakers and the wines of the Central Coast. Founder Archie McLaren’s mission was to introduce wine lovers and collectors to local winemakers on the Central Coast.  It brought visitors from Europe and around the United States to the Central Coast to taste the wines and meet the winemakers. During several days of educational seminars, dinners, wine tastings, and tours, Clay and Fredericka were celebrated for their wines, their winery, and ingenuity. Archie describes the moment, “These extraordinary and remarkably interesting, gracious and generous individuals, highly valued members of the Central Coast Wine Classic Family, have substantively and enthusiastically supported the Wine Classic over the years. It is a significant joy for us to continue to share the fruits of Clay and Fredericka’s endeavors and recognize them as 2010 Central Coast Wine Classic Fine Wine Honorees.”
• Pinot Noir became the third flagship wine at Claiborne & Churchill.
  Clay had been making Pinot Noir since his first days in the cellar at Edna Valley Vineyard. Over the years, Pinot Noir was planted in the Edna Valley and thrived in the unique terroir. In the year 2000, the World of Pinot tasting event was founded by Brian Talley and Archie McLaren to attract visitors to the Central Coast to taste Pinot Noir. Clay has sourced grapes from local growers and introduced Pinot Noir as his third flagship wine. He has made as many as eight or nine different bottlings of Pinot Noir, sourcing grapes from a variety of local growers.
• National and International Recognition
  Clay and Frederick received many awards and gold medals for their wines. Wine critics as far away as Washington DC wrote about their wines. Distributors located as far away as Switzerland visited the winery, purchased and presented wines in wine stores. You will find the details in the Claiborne and Churchill Timeline article.

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The Legend of Claiborne and Churchill Vintners Continues

This California Wine Revolution started in the late 1960s, grew in the 1970s, and exploded in the 1980s. The impact of this Revolution brought new insights, new techniques, and a new generation of growers, winemakers, wine critics, and wine writers to vineyards throughout California. It is difficult to imagine the excitement and upheaval that was taking place at the time. Many people were optimistic about the future and confident that their generation would be remembered as the “changemakers” in the world. Everything seemed possible. 1981 was the year that Clay Thompson and Fredericka Churchill visited the Edna Valley. Clay and Fredericka rode the California Wine Revolution from 1981 to the present. Their contributions, while shaping local wine history in San Luis Obispo County, also exemplify the times, the colleagues, the wines, the commitments and collaborations, the courage, the friendships, and the generosity of spirit in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. It was the best of times…

• The Cellar Rat – First Harvest
  Clay was hired as a “cellar rat” with no experience to work the 1981 harvest at Edna Valley Vineyard in the Edna Valley just south of San Luis Obispo. The nearby vineyards had recently been planted with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the winter of 1973. The annual harvests of Chardonnay grapes were well-known throughout California by 1977; they made award-winning wines. Starting at 41 years of age, Clay was trained by extraordinary growers, including Jim Efird, and winemakers at Edna Valley Vineyard.Clay remembers. “The Pinot Noir Crush started during the second week of August 1981, and I had severely underestimated my fitness level.” Clay describes his job as rolling around barrels in the cellar. He says,”they got a lot of grunt work out of me.” But because there were only three people employed in the winery, Clay confirms, “I got to learn every aspect of the business.” During the next two years, he learned how to make wine, “a thorough education” in Clay’s own words. The winemaking style was labor-intensive, the wines hand-crafted. He had the extraordinary good fortune to have Dick Graff as his mentor. He learned all about the crushing of grapes, bottling, laboratory work, quality craftsmanship, and ethical business practices. Later, Dick Graff also put him to work selling wine, making trips around California to promote the wines and increase sales. Clay worked at Edna Valley Vineyard from 1981 to 1986.

  Clay had never been happier in his life. He loved working in the wine business and described it as a breath of fresh air in contrast to the stale and stultifying atmosphere of the university. “Here I found co-workers who reveled in hard work, who supported each other at all times, and whose satisfaction came from creating a product of the highest quality.” He started to dream of having his own winery.

• Route de Vin in Alsace-Traveling and Tasting
  In 1983, Clay and Fredericka traveled to Alsace to taste wines and learn the European winemaking techniques. They traveled by train from Strasbourg to a valley with a 75-mile stretch of winding roads dotted with hundreds of wineries. Fredericka describes the trip, “We’d hike about 15 km a day and then we would eat and drink!” Clay and Fredericka were able to interview their hosts about wine and winemaking. According to Clay, “I had a whole list of questions in my notebook. At what sugar level did they pick the grapes? Did they crush and destem the grapes immediately? Did they settle the juice first? What kind of yeast did they use? We found that the methods did not vary much from Edna Valley Vineyard, where the philosophy is not to manipulate or engineer the wine. You get yourself good fruit and let the wine make itself. Some California wines are almost too sterile. We belong to the “French dirty school” of winemaking.”
• Defining their Future in the Edna Valley
  The trip to Alsace defined their future. Clay and Fredericka decided to establish a winery that focused on two niche wines, Alsatian Dry Riesling and Dry Gewurztraminer. Clay and Fredericka both had grown up drinking these wines. Neither Clay nor Fredericka was interested in producing Chardonnay, although years later they would make a very special Chardonnay in their new winery. Clay was aware that several wineries in California were making Riesling and Gewurztraminer. However, the wines they produced were sweet or semi-sweet. Clay declared that his niche would be to produce dry wines in the Alsatian style. Clay has often said that he was an outlier. His ideas were unusual but not daunting to him; he had the confidence to make these new, dynamic wines. The focus was on specializing in “Alternative White Wines “ or “Niche Wines” inspired by the dry white wines of Alsace. Clay says, “We jokingly told our friends that we were going to make wines that nobody drinks with names no one can pronounce.”

  The terroir near the border of France and Germany was different from that of California. However, Clay and Fredericka knew they could purchase the  Gewurztraminer and Riesling grapes in San Luis Obispo County and Monterey County to make the Alsace dry white wines they envisioned for California wine drinkers.

• A New Winery In The Cellar
  When Clay and Fredericka returned from their trip to Alsace, they announced their plans for establishing Claiborne & Churchill. Dick Graff and the cellar crew were very supportive. Dick offered a corner of the cellar to Clay for his own winemaking, a generous offer from one of the founders of the California Wine Revolution.

  The dream of starting their own winery should have been daunting. Although they had a place to make their own wine in a modern new space, Clay and Fredericka had no money to start their venture. They presented their plan to family members who lent them $15,000 to buy eight tons of Riesling and Gewurztraminer grapes and thirty used oak barrels to make their wine in the French style. Fredericka’s sister designed the labels, and they were printed at the local Blake Printery, soon to become world famous for the design and production of California wine labels.

  Claiborne & Churchill produced 563 cases of barrel-fermented dry wines in their first vintage. There were three wines: 224 cases of Dry Gewurztraminer, 128 cases of Dry Riesling, and 211 cases of a blend of the two wines, which they named “Edelzwicker” after the Alsatian name. Clay continued working at Edna Valley Vineyard for three more years, but each of those years, he sourced local grapes for his niche wines and made them in his corner of the cellar. 

  Fredericka took on the marketing of their Alsatian wines in the summer of 1984.

  The first few years it was very difficult to sell the Alsace wines. The public was not familiar with dry white wines, especially those made in the Alsatian style. In the 1980s, Chardonnay overshadowed all other white varietals. Unlike today, where grocery stores, Costco, Bev Mo, and warehouse stores sell a wide variety of alcoholic drinks, there were very few options to sell directly to the public. The mail retail source was the “fine wine shops.”  Each shop was established by a savvy wine buyer who sold a limited selection of prestigious California and European wines to an enthusiastic client base, most of whom were affluent and eager to learn about new wines.

  These fine wine shops hosted seminars and wine tastings, and often traveled with customers to Napa, Sonoma, and other destinations, including the Central Coast Wine Classic and other charitable wine auctions. Most importantly, these wine sellers educated their clients with newsletters, tastings, and lectures.

  Fredericka already had important connections with these fine wine shops as a marketing person for Chalone. She was able to make appointments at a number of wine shops in the Bay Area, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and Orange Counties. As soon as an appointment was booked, Clay describes the excitement as they “grabbed samples, hopped in the pick-up truck and took off to sell these wines that nobody drank.” The entire vintage sold out in a few months. The wine buyers were excited to taste a fruity but dry wine. The Alsatian wines were delightfully different from anything else the wine buyers were selling. Claiborne & Churchill was featured in their newsletters. It gave Clay and Fredericka the impression that selling their wines would be easy.

  Unfortunately, although the wine buyers were excited by these new wines, the public was stuck in the Chardonnay/Cabernet rut and were seldom interested in the new varietals in the mid-eighties.

• Claiborne & Churchill Move To The Gourmet Ghetto
  In 1986, Clay and Fredericka moved their winery to an industrial space in San Luis Obispo in an area known as the Gourmet Ghetto. It was a small but immaculate space. At the same time, Clay began consulting with wineries in the Edna Valley and in Santa Barbara County. His skills were remarkable for a man with only five years of experience. Norman Goss, founder of Chamisal Vineyard and the first to plant Chardonnay vines in the Edna Valley, hired Clay to make his 1986 Chardonnay. Three years later, the wine was awarded 91 points from Wine Spectator.

• A Child is Born
  Elizabeth Thompson was born on April 13, 1986. She joined Clay and Fredericka as the third team member at Claiborne and Churchill. She rode in Fredericka’s backpack and learned the wine business from the top down. Four years later, in 1990, the family bought a property in the Edna Valley that included a home, several acres for vineyards, and plenty of space for a winery, tasting room, and garden.
• New Strategies for Marketing and Selling Wine emerged in the early 1990s.
  Fredericka and Clay developed other methods for selling their wines. They began selling directly to the public in their winery in the Gourmet Ghetto. They hosted wine tastings and elegant dinners. A March 3, 1990, menu bore the title “Claiborne & Churchill, Dinner at the Winery: A Vintage Exploration”. This exploration included five courses, each paired with their vintage wines from 1983 to 1987; the appetizers with Edelwicker, the second course with five individual vintages of Gewurztraminers, the third with five individual vintages of Rieslings, the fourth with a 1987 Muscat, and the dessert with 1987 Late Harvest Riesling.

   

  They also joined with other winemakers to create larger events to attract travelers, tourists, and winelovers. The Harvest Celebration, with 16 wineries participating, was founded in the Edna Valley in November 1991 and became an annual event. The Edna Valley Arroyo Grande Valley Vintners was established as a marketing group after the Edna Valley and Arroyo Grande Valley AVAs were established. They created brochures and invited wine writers to visit the Edna Valley and write about the unusual terroir and growing season.

• A New Vision for Claiborne and Churchill – The Rustic Strawbale Winery

  The concept of rustic barn appealed to Clay and Fredericka as the design for a new winery. The elements of their future success would be realized in the design of the building by architect Marilyn Farmer, who was known for designing sustainable architecture. The strawbale building technology created the first commercial building designed with walls that insulated the winery, holding the interior space at a constant temperature for aging and storing wine. The strawbale building also contained offices and a tasting room, which foreshadowed the increase in staff to welcome visitors and pour wines in the garden and the tasting room. This winery was the first commercial building in California to use strawbale technology and recycled materials. It has become an inspiration to others around the world to use this type of sustainable architecture to save energy.

  The rustic barn/winery is surrounded by a garden with seating among lovely landscaping designed and cared for by Fredericka. Vineyards would eventually be planted to wrap around the garden and winery, creating more beauty and atmosphere. This is the garden where one can sit with friends and enjoy music each weekend, taste the wines, play trivia games, and attend lectures describing the cosmos. Five panels, telling the story of Claiborne & Churchill wines, stand among the plants for visitors to browse. However, the most important attractions are the wines and the warmth and hospitality one enjoys from Clay, Fredericka, Elizabeth, and the staff. It is this pairing that has created their success. There is no other place after a busy week we want to be but here in the garden with them. 

• Recognition – Poetry, Awards and The Central Coast Wine Classic
  There are many awards that these vintners received, and they are listed in the Timeline. I have included a few of the significant ones in this section.A 1989 Press Release entitled A Showbiz Debut for C & C Wines announces the first guest appearance of the wine on a Television Show – a first for the Edna Valley. The show was Thirty Something; the main characters Michael and Hope are seen unpacking it from a grocery bag and later pouring and drinking it.

   

  The first significant recognition of Clay’s winemaking talent was the score assigned to the 1986 Chardonnay made with Clay’s consultation at Chamisal Vineyard. It scored 91 points from Wine Spectator three years later in 1989. Lori Dixon, a tasting room employee, describes the change in Chamisal Chardonnay when Clay continued as the consulting winemaker. “Mr. Thompson talks about making his wine in the style of the great whites of Burgundy, and he produces a crisp, full-bodied chardonnay filled with fruit and oak flavors.” The source is the New York Times, 10/28/1990, in the travel section, Fare of the Country, The Vineyards Far South of Napa by Robin Garr.

  The second important award was presented by the wine critic for the Los Angeles Times, Robert Lawrence Balzer, for the Best Wine of 1990 in the White Wine Category to Claiborne & Churchill Vintner’s 1987 Gewurztraminer. It sold for $8.00. The announcement was published on December 16, 1990, in the Los Angeles Times Magazine. Mr. Balzer was so impressed by this wine that he wrote a beautiful description of this wine which was widely published and brought the experience of drinking the wine to life. You will find it in the timeline under 1990.  If you have never tasted Gewurztraminer, the poem will inspire you to do so. The name of the poem is Noble Nectar-A Haunting Dry Gewurztraminer.

  The Wine Spectator presented two important awards celebrating the Claiborne & Churchill Decennium II with a score of 82 in 1994 and the 1993 Gewurztraminer as a top pick and best buy at $10 among the new releases in 1995.

  Decennium II was the 10th anniversary wine made to celebrate winemaking at  Claiborne & Churchill. A little bit of every wine made in the last ten years was blended into the non-vintage wine called Decennium. Though composed mainly of 1992 fruit – a blend of Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, and Riesling – and one cup of Pinot Noir made a wine described by wine writer Dan Berger as a pure delight. It had the aroma of a Gewurztraminer, the taste of Riesling, and the complexity and aftertaste of Chardonnay. 100 cases were produced. The wine sold for $10 per bottle.

  The Wine Enthusiast noted the quality of the 1993 Chardonnay made from grapes harvested from the famous Andrew MacGregor Vineyard planted in the Edna Valley. It was awarded a score of 89 points in February 1996.

  But most impressive of all was the Claiborne & Churchill 2001 Riesling. It was the sole American wine to take a Gold Medal at the annual Riesling du Monde competition in Strasbourg, France 2003. Clay and Fredericka also founded their wine club in 1995. It was the first one in the Edna Valley. It started with 50 members and has grown to over 1500 in 2024.

  Pinot Noir became the red wine of choice at Claiborne & Churchill. Clay sourced his grapes from two local vineyards, and each of them won 90 points from the Wine Enthusiast in 2004 in the competition, World Series of Pinot Noir. Clay increased production of the Pinot as the sales increased.

• • 2004 Awards: Wine Enthusiast November Issue
     “World Series of Pinot Noir” 90 Points
    Claiborne & Churchill 2002 Pinot Noir (Edna Valley) $16. “What a lovely wine. It showcases the success that Edna Valley enjoyed this vintage. Rich, oaky forest floor, mushroom, spice, and tomato notes. Red Stone fruits also are in the complex flavors. Fairly tannic and bone dry with great balance, this is a wine that will benefit from mid-term aging or decanting.”  The wine sells for $16.
  • 2004 Awards: Wine Enthusiast November Issue
    “World Series of Pinot Noir” 90 Points
    Claiborne & Churchill 2002 Twin Creeks Pinot Noir (Edna Valley) with refined structure and lovely flavors of cola, sassafras, orange peel, and red tart cherries. Very dry with firm tannins, the wine is closed now and will benefit from hours of decanting.”  The wine sells for $33.
• 2004 Claiborne & Churchill Third Flagship Wine – Pinot Noir
  Clay Thompson describes Pinot Noir as “a warm, powerful wine in a velvety cloak that doesn’t beat you over the head.” Clay’s sales increased after the awards. He had produced 1000 cases of each award-winning wine. “Our California distributors have doubled their orders. Also, new people who have never been to our winery are calling and asking for cases. Clay announced that the varietal will join the dry Riesling and dry Gewurztraminer as flagship wines.

  2018 Pinot Noir is now more than half of Claiborne and Churchill’s production. Zack Geers is the new winemaker. He sources grapes from Twin Creek and Greengate vineyards. 

• Conclusion
  The Central Coast Wine Classic was an event that highlighted the winemakers and the wines of the Central Coast from 1985 to 2017. Founder Archie McLaren’s mission was to introduce wine lovers and collectors to local winemakers on the Central Coast. He brought visitors from Europe and around the United States to the Central Coast to taste the wines and meet the winemakers. During several days of educational seminars, dinners, wine tastings, and tours, Clay and Fredericka were celebrated for their wines and contributions to the wine culture of San Luis Obispo County. Archie describes the moment, “These extraordinary and remarkably interesting, gracious and generous individuals, highly valued members of the Central Coast Wine Classic Family, have substantively and enthusiastically supported the Wine Classic over the years. It is a significant joy for us to continue to share the fruits of Clay and Fredericka’s endeavors and recognize them as 2010 Central Coast Wine Classic Fine Wine Honorees.” Clay and Fredericka are retiring from active management. Their daughter, Elizabeth, is now the director of sales. You will continue to find Clay and Fredericka in the tasting room or the garden, welcoming guests and pouring their wine.

   

  In 2024 and again in 2025, Claiborne & Churchill was named Best White Wine Winery in San Luis Obispo County by the New Times.