-FORBES 30 UNDER 30

A Winemakers Perspective: Saturday at the Winery with Gavin Chanin - CA

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***FEATURED PACKAGE AS PART OF THE 2011 FORBES 30 UNDER 30: FOOD & WINE CATEGORY! HIGHLIGHTING 2011 RECIPIENT, GAVIN CHANIN OF CHANIN WINE COMPANY***

Spend a Saturday at the winery with Gavin Chanin, winemaker and owner of Chanin Wine Company. The focus will be on comprehensively tasting the single vineyard wines in barrel. Then walking the vineyards to see why they are so special!

Gavin Chanin learned to make wine with Jim Clendenen at Au Bon Climat winery when he was 18.

Vineyards

Bien Nacido Vineyard

Bien Nacido is one of the greatest vineyards in California. The vineyard spreads over a large chunk of the Santa Maria Bench, the most prime vineyard land in the Santa Maria appellation. The property dates back to an 1837 Spanish land grant. In 1969 the Miller family purchased the property and soon took full advantage of its potential.

The vineyard combines a great site with an almost perfect climate for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Its close proximity to the Pacific Ocean allows the cold marine layer in at night. Often we see temperatures in the low 50s at night and low eighties during the day. These are perfect ripening conditions for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay because it allows a slow maturing process. Vineyard manager Chris Hammell, who has moved the vineyard into sustainable and organic farming, is among the very best grape growers in California.

I source my fruit from four unique sections of the vineyard. This allows play with different clones and microterroirs.

My Chardonnay comes from vines dating back to the original 1973 plantings on Bien Nacido. These old vines are crucial to the quality of this wine. They give my Chardonnay its unique mineral and nutty note.

The Pinot Noir comes from ten-year-old plantings of Dijon clone 113 and 777 on “N” and “T“block. These blocks are located at the top of the bench and have historically produced the best Pinot Noir from this vineyard. The wines typically exude classic Bien Nacido white pepper as spice and wild strawberry fruit.

Los Alamos Vineyard

Los Alamos Vineyard dates back to the early days of Santa Barbara viniculture. Planted in 1974, it was one of the first five vineyards planted in Santa Barbara County. The others include Bien Nacido, Sierra Madre, and Firestone. Only adding to its lore, Los Alamos Vineyard was the birthplace of Au Bon Climat in a humble dairy barn in 1982.

Los Alamos grows great Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris; however, the Chardonnay at the vineyard is by far the most exciting. My section of Chardonnay is found at the top of the vineyard on a exposed, western facing slope.

These vines were planted in 1997. They are younger than those in the lower section of the vineyard because Los Alamos did not start planting the difficult hillsides until much later. The endeavor has proved to be well worth it.

The soil on this exposed face is truly amazing. It has a combination of calcaric shale, sand, clay and loam. It has a vein of lime at 2.5 feet below the surface.

The wines from this site are typically full of citrus and bright stone fruit. The lime in the soil gives the wine a solid mineral backbone. Los Alamos is a very cool climate that allows the fruit to reach ripeness at low alcohol and balance. Vintage after vintage I am constantly amazed by the elegance of this site and its ability to produce great California Chardonnay.