Chanin Chardonnay Bien Nacido Vineyard 2017

- 93 Punkte Robert Parkers WINE ADVOCATE, Erin Brooks: "From 40-year-old vines, the 2017 Chardonnay Bien Nacido Vineyard has a very pretty, giving nose of sweet hay, toast, toasted hazelnut, pastry crust, yellow peach, baked apple pie, baker's yeast and stony hints. Medium to full-bodied, it has a great core of warm spiced fruit with a creamy texture and long, mineral-driven finish. 829 cases produced.
"Actually, it was a nice cool growing season," Gavin Chanin says of the 2017 vintage, "even though we had that historic heat wave. I've never seen anything like it. It was around 120 degrees in Los Alamos. We had just finished picking the Pinot Noir the day before the heat. I had that feeling you get when you’ve almost had an accident and you get that adrenaline rush. I felt like I had avoided disaster. For me, this is an elegant, floral vintage, but you had to beat the heat. I looked at some neighbor's vines after the heat to see the affect—grapes were 2.5 brix higher than they were two days earlier. All my fruit was in except for some Chardonnay, which did fine weathering through that heat. It was Sanford & Benedict vineyard, and it was like 19 or 20 brix before the heat. So it did OK. We picked everything in a week, and all the fruit was in so quick. I would definitely be shocked if it wasn't kind of a tale of two vintages. Similar to 2010, a cool beautiful year but also with a big heat wave." The Chanin wines (3,500 annual case production) incorporate about 10% to 20% new oak across the board, and some whole cluster is used. "I love stems, but I don't want to taste them in the wine," Gavin says. "To me, that would make the wine more about winemaking than site. I enjoy drinking oaky and stemmy wines, but that's not what I'm after for these wines.""

- 96 Punkte und "TOP 100 Cellar Selection" WINE ENTHUSIAST, Matt Kettmann: "Extremely delicate and pure aromas of lemon, nectarine, gardenia and lily are soft and inviting on the nose of this bottling. The palate sizzles with acidity, offering focused but austere flavors of lemon zest and crushed gravel that surround an immensely chalky core. It will mature well through 2042."

- 94 Punkte VINOUS, Antonio Galloni: "The 2017 Chardonnay Bien Nacido Vineyard is bright, energetic and full of character. Lemon confit, white flowers, mint and white pepper all give the Bien Nacido a super-distinctive upper register. In the glass, the 2017 is bright and tightly wound, with lovely veins of salinity that lend focus and drive. I would give the 2017 at least a year or two in bottle, as it is decidedly taut in the early going."

- 93 Punkte INTERNATIONAL WINEREPORT: "The 2017 Bien Nacido Vineyard Chardonnay is a sensational showing from Gavin Chanin. This fabulous Chardonnay bursts open with inviting aromas ripe pear, Meyer lemon cream, lime zest, starfruit, mango and white flowers. On the palate this possesses a gorgeous soft, round texture, along with delicious flavors of orchard fruit citrus and wet stones that persist through the focused finish. While this is nothing short of outstanding now, this should really begin to hit its stride in year or two and go on to drink beautifully over the course of next decade."

- 94 Punkte JEB DUNNUCK: "There are only 35 barrels of the 2017 Chardonnay Bien Nacido Vineyard, which comes from the crème de la crème of vineyards in the Santa Maria Valley. Aged 15 months in 10% new French oak, it has a textbook bouquet of stone fruits, crushed rocks, toasted spice, and the salty, iodine, seaside-like marine influence that's so common from this region. Medium-bodied, balanced, tight, and juicy on the palate, it has beautiful purity of fruit and a great finish."