Jon Bonné of the SF Chronicle weighs in on Santa Rita Hills

It was nice to get mentioned in the Chronicle’s piece on the Santa Rita Hills. The article focused on some of the stylistic changes that have been on many of our minds. Since picking our first grapes in 2007 Chanin Wine Company has been dedicated to making wines that represent vineyards through an elegant, and balanced style.

As Jon writes:

SIGNS COULD BE SEEN SEVERAL YEARS AGO, WHEN ADAM TOLMACH OF OJAI VINEYARD EXPERIMENTED WITH EARLIER HARVESTS IN VINEYARDS SUCH AS CLOS PEPE. BUT MORE RECENTLY OTHER WINEMAKERS BEGAN PICKING GRAPES WEEKS EARLIER THAN SOME OF THEIR COUNTERPARTS. IN ADDITION TO EVENING LAND, THERE’S ALSO SANDHI, RUN BY MICHAEL MINA CORPORATE WINE DIRECTOR RAJAT PARR AND INVESTOR CHARLES BANKS (MOORMAN ALSO MAKES THEIR WINE), PLUS LABELS LIKE TYLER AND CHANIN WINES.

…

IT IS NO SURPRISE THAT A STYLISTIC CLASH ENSUED.

“WHEN YOU CAPITALIZE OFF THE UBER-POPULAR STYLE FOR YEARS AND YEARS,” SAYS WINEMAKER GAVIN CHANIN, WHO BEGAN USING STA. RITA FRUIT LAST YEAR, “AND ALL OF A SUDDEN THE STYLES SWITCH, AND THEN YOUR WINES SWITCH TOO, THEN IT’S LIKE, WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IN?”