MSN names Chanin Wine Co. in top 100 wineries!
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.”