In remarkably short order, Santa Barbara has exploded onto the scene, Chanin has earned dangerously high marks across the board, and our subscribership has absorbed his highly artistic, micro-production bottlings like they’re going out of style. Really, it doesn’t matter how you spin it: Chanin’s Grand Cru-equivalent gems have emphatically disrupted the Pinot Noir sphere with poise and grace, and entered the conversation for America’s best. You may be thinking to yourself that he’s stumbled upon some complex, impossible-to-duplicate formula but the answer is far simpler—they're the product of a minimalist winemaker who’s mastered the subtleties of Pinot Noir from world-class terroirs.
Because we’ve been extremely vocal torchbearers for these painfully limited mono-parcel gems over the years, Gavin Chanin has provided us with one of the most thrilling and exclusive opportunities of 2020. Today, we’ve bundled together both his 2016 Bien Nacido and Sanford & Benedict Pinot Noir creations with free Ground Shipping. So my elevator pitch to you, if even necessary at this late stage, is this: These are outrageously delicious masterpieces that vividly showcase the breathtaking finesse and rip-roaring intensity of two cool-climate, best-in-class Santa Barbara vineyards. They’re cellar magnets, eye candy, centerpieces for the table—really, perfect for just about anything.
Gavin is the king of his craft when it comes to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but there’s no denying he’s a full-blooded jack of all trades. If he’s not out surveying vineyards or buried in a row of barrels at his cellar in Lompoc’s “Wine Ghetto,” you’d have trouble pinning him down: He could be in Los Angeles crunching numbers with his mother/bookkeeper, out on a recovery mission for his volunteer work at the local search and rescue (his unit was called up for the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise), designing new label artwork for upcoming releases, or racing around Europe talking about his increasingly buzzed-about wines. That’s right: Each rotating artistic label is hand-crafted by Gavin, so on top of his wines being incredibly sought after, his paintings and labels have also become somewhat of a hot collectors’ item. Inside and out, these wines truly are masterful works of art that allude to why this micro-batch project has launched into stardom.
There’s a reason his nascent label has caught the world’s attention so swiftly: Gavin’s first harvest came at 18 under the mentorship of Au Bon Climat’s Jim Clendenen, and with the additional guidance of Qupé’s Bob Lindquist, Gavin was making his own wine (from the best vineyard sites) within a matter of years. Learning under two of California’s greatest wine minds and crafting wine from premium, sustainably farmed grapes from the beginning propelled him into launching his own eponymous label in 2007.
Santa Barbara County’s combination of cool climate, rolling fog, and uniquely complex soils are a match made in heaven for rich, elegantly layered Pinot Noir, and today we have two of its strongest beating hearts: (1) Bien Nacido from the sub-AVA of Santa Maria Valley and (2) Sanford & Benedict from the sub-AVA of Sta. Rita Hills. The sustainably farmed site of Bien Nacido has been identified as a “Top Grand Cru Vineyard,” “Vineyard of the Year,” and “Top 25 Vineyard of the World” since it was first planted in 1973. But not to be outmatched, Sanford & Benedict was planted on self-rooted vines in 1971, making it Pinot Noir’s grand debut in Santa Barbara County.
For the most part, both of these wines were farmed and raised entirely the same yet they yield entirely different drinking experiences. From both sites, sustainably farmed grapes were handpicked in the fall of 2017 and a partial whole-cluster fermentation followed back at the Chanin’s spot in the Lompoc Wine Ghetto. Aging occurred in French barrels, 15% new, for approximately 14-15 months and the final wine was bottled unfiltered. The parcel of wines that we’re offering has never left his cellar—in fact, they’re still resting there as I write this.
Now at four years of age, both of these wines are slipping right into a beautiful drinking window that will (1) stay wide open and (2) continue improving over the next 5-7 years. Each sip brings finely nuanced soil complexities, rushes of vibrant acid, and fine-grained tannins that form the foundation of each broad, brightly layered sip. Their impeccable balance, however, is what resonates most with me. From crushed minerals and spice to piquant, high-toned fruit, Chanin’s 2016 “Bien Nacido” is an elegant masterpiece that sings a sweet-sounding ode to its magical soils.” Although a mere 12.5% ABV, you’ll uncover a fusion of black cherry blossoms, black raspberry, moss, dried plum, Kola nut, orange peel, baking spice, loose tea, and candied violets. It is delicate, soft, and beautifully layered. Then, not to be outdone again, Sanford & Benedict erupts with powerfully explosive energy and an intense richness in the form of ripe raspberry, huckleberry, cherry liqueur, Christmas spices, redcurrant, underbrush, highly perfumed rose petal, and crushed stone. This is clearly the fuller, deeper, and richer wine—but that doesn’t automatically make it the better one. For me, it’s a toss-up, one I would love to revisit year after year. When serving, do so in your largest Burgundy stems and pour the wines (ideally side by side to showcase their remarkable differences) after a 30-minute decant. Cheers!
