I know your probably tired of reading about me at this point so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to start talking about what really matters. Part of what I hope to accomplish with this blog and future web site is to present to you the winemakers who are doing things the right way. Following the path forged by Kermit Lynch, Joe Dressner, Alice Feiring, Terry Theise and others I am searching for wines that posses what I call Arete. Over the course of the last 18 months in preparation to launch this blog I have had the pleasure of talking with many winemakers in the area, searching for those who are allowing the land to speak through their wines.
I talked a little about "fake wines" in my first post Sink or Swim, but did not go into much detail. Also known as frakenwines or spoofulated wines, these are wines that have been technologically altered or have been added to in someway or are simply just too excessive.
I am a purist and I do not want to drink a wine that has been altered or added to in any way. Nor do I want to drink a wine that is so over-ripe, over-exctracted, and over-oaked that it taste like grape juice spiked with vodka garnished with an oak chip. It is impossible to get a true sense of the land and the people, terrior if you will, from wines which are being tampered with and are overblown. In my opinion we as a wine drinking community are allowing the soul of wine to be robbed by supporting these people. Let us take a stand against this adulteration and vow to only drink wines being made the right way.
Chanin Wine Co.,created by Gavin Chanin, is seeking to do things the right way. A young winemaker whose first vintage is still in barrel, he has been studying under two outstanding mentors, Jim Clendenin (Au Bon Climat) and Bob Lundquist (Qupe). Wise beyond his years Gavin believes in terroir and believes that the only way to make a wine is to get outstanding grapes from exceptional sites and then get out of the way. While I have not had the opportunity to taste his wines yet (we will be tackling that after harvest this year), I look forward with much anticipation and know that they will be outstanding.
You are probably wondering why I would ever write about a wine I have never tasted. Maybe I am a little crazy, but I am putting one of my theories to the test. I believe that you can understand what a wine is going to deliver to you simply by understanding the context of said wine (i.e. where and how and where it was grown, when the grapes were harvested, amount yielded per acre, as well as how it was allowed to develop over the course of fermentation and aging). I guess you will have to wait till November to find out if I am right or not.
Gavin believes that philosophy is the most important aspect of winemaking and I have to say that I agree with him wholeheartedly. Part of his philosophy includes picking earlier to ensure a lower alcohol, balanced wine embracing the belief that "There is no terroir in fruit juice, just like there is no terroir in 15% alc. Napa Cab." He also believes that "...great wine has to been a natural product made with respect for the soil, vine, grapes and finished wine. It also must be drunk with friends. And it needs to taste great!" Balance is what he strives to achieve more than anything.
Growing up as a Los Angeles city kid he graduated high school and was pretty dissatisfied with his lack of life experience. The thought of going into four years of cozy university life didn't sit well and somehow managed to convince his father to help him get a job at Au Bon Climat winery.
"My father had worked with Jim Clendenen and Bon Lindquist back in their Zaca Mesa days. I experienced my first harvest at 18 years old. 2004 was that big heat wave when all the fruit happened to ripen at once. The winery was a mad house. The second I started working and got dirty I realized I loved it. I worked my ass off in hope of being asked to return the following year, which I did. The following year Jim invited me to return. Eventually, after my third harvest, I built up the courage to ask him if I could make some wine in his winery and he obliged. That was the year before I went to work in South Africa and New Zealand."
"At this time I had also started taking summer school, and then skipping fall quarter so I could work from August to January without having to run back to UCLA. Its crazy for me to think that I am about to start my fifth California harvest and 8th harvest overall. Every harvest represents a new learning experience and another step towards the goal, which is to make great wine. I'm very proud that I came up in the business the honest way, working from the bottom and slowly learning and being given more responsibility. I didn't go to Davis and learn all the science and then sit in an office writing work orders. I wouldn't want to be a winemaker if I just sat in a lab all day."
Currently Gavin is working with three vineyards all located in Santa Maria, CA: Le Bon Climat (pinot only), Los Alamos (chardonnay only) and Bien Nacido (pinot and chard. Starting in 2008). He was gracious enough to give me a little insight to why he buys fruit from each vineyard.
"Los Alamos is where my mentor, Jim Clendenen, started his winery in a old dairy barn back in 1982. It just has good vibes. When I started in the business I lived in a little ranch house that overlooked this vineyard. The Chardonnay from here is very distinctive. It is always very clean, fresh and mineral driven. With some age it picks up a waxy texture that I can only relate with a grand gru white burgundy. Not to say that this is greatest vineyard in the world, or even Santa Barbara. Many winemakers would actually rank this vineyard very low because they are known to sell to large corporate clients and it is not the most manicured vineyard. It's actual plain ugly. For me though, the vineyard speaks in the wine and I respect that."
"Le Bon Climat vineyard is the only vineyard owned by Jim Clendenen. I buy some pinot noir from B block, which is situated on the top of the mesa. I used to think that the steeper the vineyard the better. That is, until I went to burgundy and I saw that almost every grand cru vineyard is located only on the most gentle of slopes. Now my vineyard philosophy is to find gentle slopes with high elevation and very low vigor. I find that this creates grapes with great ripeness at low sugars. Which plays into my whole low alcohol philosophy."
"There is not much to say about Bien Nacido. They have combined a great piece of land with the best farming team in the valley. I am very lucky to be able to buy fruit from them for the 2008 vintage."
After picking for balance, Gavin does little else to his wines. They receive 1/3 new oak and 2/3 neutral oak barrels. Fermentation lasts around 12 days for the red (including a three day cold soak) and about three weeks for the white, which starts fermenting very quickly and then takes about a week and a half to finish the last 10 percent. He uses a good amount of solids in the white wine (which adds to fermentation speed). After the wine settles for about 8 hours it is then put into barrel nice and cloudy. He really believe that the lees and solids in both red and white wine are part of the soul of the wine. The longer the wine can stay in contact with them the better, as long as it doesn't go reductive. His chardonnay spent almost a year on the lees.
Make sure you keep Chanin Wine Co. on your radar, and I will make sure and let you know if my theory holds up when I finally taste the wines. Thanks to Gavin for all his information and willingness to put up with all my questions. Keep up the good work.
Remember, we will never change the state of domestic wine until we shift our buying power to the winemakers who are doing things the right way. Stop buying wine made by corporations or retired dot commers. Support the ones who care! Only drink wines with Arete!
Hi Hubert,
Thanks for the question. The wines will be released around march-may 2009. I think both the Chardonnay and Pinot are going to be delicious young but will age comfortably for 7-10 years, and hopefully longer!
Check out the web site (www.ChaninWine.com) for updates and send an email if you are interested in the soon to be created mailing list.
Thanks,
Gavin
Posted by: Gavin Chanin | August 04, 2008 at 02:48 PM
Hubert, I am not exactly sure what the timeline is for bottling or release. I just sent Gavin an email and I will let you know as soon as I find out. Your best bet is to go on his website and see if you can get on the mailing list.
Thanks for the comment.
Posted by: adam | July 29, 2008 at 05:57 PM
I am looking fwd to tasting Gavin Chanin wines and am wondering how much time they should remain in the bottle after corking?
Posted by: Hubert Russell | July 29, 2008 at 05:00 PM