Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesComing from one of the top sites in the Sta. Rita Hills, the 2020 Chardonnay Sanford & Benedict Vineyard spent 15 months in 20% new French oak. A brilliant effort, it reveals pure, crisp notes of orchard fruits, chalky minerality, honeyed flowers, and brioche. These carry to a medium-bodied Chardonnay that stays tight and compact on the palate, with good mid-palate density, integrated yet high acidity, and a distinct salinity and minerality on the finish.
The 2020 Chardonnay Sanford & Benedict Vineyard has soft scents of panna cotta, Meyer lemon, crushed almonds and beeswax, with additional nuances emerging as it spends time in the glass. Medium-bodied and silky with bright bursts of acidity, it features creamy citrus fruits and a touch of texture that draws out the finish. Best after 2022.
Gavin Chanin has been working with older blocks at Sanford & Benedict since 2012; if there was ever a chardonnay vineyard deserving of Chanin’s low impact winemaking, this is it. There’s a directness of expression here that inspires: The fruit character—made savory by toasted lees and an earthy overlay—is pure, unadorned, just-ripe pear and a bit of caramel. The texture is broad and firm, with a natural concentration that is a ‘tell’ for old vines in good hands, reposing in a lacy structure. It went into the bottle balanced; keep a few of those bottles on hand to open in three, or even five years.
Chanin Wine Co. is dedicated to crafting wines from Santa Barbara County that reflect the individual vineyard in which they are grown. They focus on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, two grapes that are especially revealing of subtle differences in geography, geology and climate. The grapes are grown in Santa Barbara County, where cool coastal winds, diverse marine based soils and a long growing season provide an exciting and unique environment for Burgundian varieties.
The vineyards are the focus of all of the wines and each wine is made from grapes grown at one vineyard and not blended. Chanin searches out old vines, and makes wine from some of the oldest in the county. This allows them to make refreshingly balanced wines at lower alcohol levels than most California "blockbuster" or "cult" styled wines. Through low yields, improved farming techniques and gentle winemaking we aim to create a wine that pairs well with food and is delicious young, but is also age-worthy. All of the vineyards are organic or sustainably farmed.
Their winemaking philosophy is rooted in representing each individual vineyard by emphasizing balance, finesse, and complexity. They avoid excessive alcohol, and modern winemaking additives (such as commercial yeasts, bacteria, enzymes) that can overshadow vineyard characteristics. They also do not filter the wines or use intrusive wine processing machines. The goal is to grow grapes that are so healthy none of the above is needed.
A superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.