Chanin

Mit dem Fokus sowohl auf Pinot Noir und Chardonnay als auch auf das Terroir der einzelnen Weinberge, erzeugt Garvin Chanin bemerkenswerte Weine.

- MSN wählt Chanin Wine Co. in top 100 wineries (September 2016): "19. Chanin Wine Co., Lompoc, Calif.: Gavin Chanin, who learned the winemaker's art working with Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat and Bob Lindqvist of Qupé, also logging time at wineries in New Zealand and South Africa, makes what John Tilson of The Underground Wineletter calls simply "wonderful pinot noir and chardonnay." These aren’t high-alcohol, heavily oaked wines. They have what David Sawyer, sommelier at Husk in Charleston, describes as "extraordinary elegance and finesse, sourced from such regal vineyards as Bien Nacido and Los Alamos." Chanin wines, he adds, are much sought after not just around the country but in Europe, too — "and that right there is pretty much all you need to know.""

- Auszüge aus einem Bericht, den Dorothy Gaiter, frühere Weinkolumnistin beim Wall St. Journal, über Gavin Chanin auf GrapeCollective.com geschrieben hat (April 2015):
"Chanin, 29, says he’s the youngest winemaker in Santa Barbara, and yet this is his 14th harvest. No slacker here! In 2007, when he was 21 and between his sophomore and junior years at UCLA, from which he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in art, he founded Chanin Wine Company. Those are his bold paintings on its labels. When he was 25, he made Forbes magazine’s “30 under 30 list,” along with Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Lady Gaga. Chanin’s wines from Lutum and Chanin have won acclaim from Food & Wine, Wine Enthusiast and Decanter magazines as well as from Jancis Robinson.

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"Years ago a wine magazine wrote a big piece on young winemakers and they were all in their early-to-mid 30s and I was 23 at the time selling my first vintage thinking, huh, I need to get out and show more people my wine so they call me next time," he told me.

"If anything, young age works against me,” he continued, “because people often interpret being young as being inexperienced, so I try to talk more about my experience with 14 harvests than age."

And that experience is impressive, not just because of the number of years, but also because of where he worked, who his teachers were. Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat is an old family friend. Clendenen and Bob Lindquist of Qupé winey, both Central Coast pioneers, worked with Chanin’s dad, Anthony, at Zaca Mesa winery, a pioneer in the Santa Ynez Valley, in the late 1970s. Gavin told me his dad drove trucks at Zaca Mesa.

After graduating from high school, the younger Chanin, who has two brothers, said he thought about going to Alaska to catch salmon, an idea, he says, "Mom was not excited about." So Catherine Chanin suggested that her son talk to Clendenen, instead, about summer employment. Chanin was 18 and by the time his summer internship was over with Clendenen and Lindquist, he knew what he wanted to do with his life.

Chanin took every fall quarter off during his years at UCLA to work harvests with Clendenen and Lindquist. He also worked harvests at Hamilton Russell Vineyards in South Africa and two wineries in New Zealand, and visited wineries in Burgundy and Italy. He made up for lost time at school by taking summer courses.

Chanin says he practically lived with Clendenen for years, learning all he could about a lot of things. "At Au Bon Climat, the youngest person had to do the dishes and by my sixth harvest, I was still doing the dishes," he said. He also learned to cook from Clendenen, who is legendary for his culinary skills and feeding his staff delicious meals, family-style.

In 2009, upon graduation, Chanin joined Clendenen and Lindquist full-time as an assistant winemaker, where in his off-duty time, he continued to make his own wine at their shared facility. "I was lucky to meet some of the best farmers in the area during my internships," he told UCLA magazine last year. "This allowed me to get my foot in the door and source some of the most sought after fruit."

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I asked Chanin if he’d considered making something other than Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. "I enjoy just making Pinot Noir and Chardonnay," he said, explaining that those grape types are especially well-suited to express the "subtle differences" in geography, geology and climate. "I like doing two things at a high level," he added.

Chanin also told me that after a brief hiatus, he’s getting back to painting. He told his alumni magazine that painting and winemaking are complementary endeavors. "You need a sense of touch and instinct in both painting and winemaking. They both have the potential to transform something unremarkable into something amazing — raw pigment into a painting, grapes into wine.""

- Unter den Top 100 Weingütern im Wine & Spirits buying guide 2016: "Working for Jim Clendenen at Au Bon Climat, Chanin was introduced to the best pinot noir and chardonnay vineyards in Santa Barbara County. Amid the trendy new vineyards planted in the post-Sideways boom, he gravitated toward older, overlooked sites. His best wines come from the oldest chardonnay blocks at Bien NAcido and Sanford & Benedict, planted in the early 1970s. In his hands, those old vines often produce some of California's most refined, vivid whites. "

- LE PAN – The Art of Fine Wine Living: Top 10 California wineries outside Napa and Sonoma

- Food & Wine: Winemaker oft he Year 2012

- Forbes: unter den "30 unter 30"

Weingut: Chanin

Menschen/Inhaber: Garvin Chanin

Region/Ort: Kalifornien, Santa Maria Valley