“If you try to make a wine to please everyone, you won’t please anyone.”—Gavin Chanin

This title is one of those sayings that gives us the confidence to do what we think makes the greatest wines, regardless of “industry standards.” Blake Gray hosted another fantastic round table with a bunch of great winemakers. Please read the whole piece.

He had some very kind things to say about us:

What made this discussion interesting is that while it was collegial, it brought together proponents of very different styles of wine. Two of the county’s top names in particular are wonderboy Gavin Chanin, 26, named one of Forbes’ top 30 food professionals under 30, and Greg Brewer, who isn’t a senior citizen but was making some of Santa Barbara County’s most exciting wines while Chanin was in elementary school.

Chanin, who runs his own Chanin Wine Company and also assists at Au Bon Climat and Qupe, made me swoon with his Chanin Bien Nacido Vineyard Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay 2009 ($35), one of the best Chardonnays I’ve had this year, and I spent a week in Burgundy. It’s chalky initially and leesy with lime fruit and great texture, as it softens and gets comfortable on the tongue but never gets flabby. It’s not at all lean, yet it’s only 12.8% alcohol.