Zotovich Chardonnay, Gavin Chanin, 2022

THE WINEMAKER: GAVIN CHANIN
Gavin Chanin's route into wine started almost as soon as he could drive — a Los Angeles kid who spent his first summer after high school as a harvest intern for Jim Clendenen at Au Bon Climat, then went on to work alongside Bob Lindquist at Qupé, two of the winemakers most responsible for putting Santa Barbara County on the fine wine map. He made his own first wine just three years later, and founded Chanin Wine Company in 2007 while still in his early twenties, starting with a single Pinot Noir from Le Bon Climat Vineyard. By 2011, aged just 25, Forbes had already named him one of thirty young "game changers" in the industry.
The winemaking philosophy has stayed remarkably consistent since: no added yeast, no enzymes, no fining or filtration, grapes picked early to limit alcohol and keep a site's true character intact. Every Chanin wine is a single-vineyard bottling with no blending before or after fermentation — a deliberate choice to let each site speak entirely on its own terms, sourced from vineyards across the Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley, all farmed organically or sustainably.
THE WINE: ZOTOVICH VINEYARD CHARDONNAY 2022
Zotovich is one of Sta. Rita Hills' most respected Chardonnay and Pinot Noir sites, prized for the same cool, wind-and-fog-driven conditions that define the appellation as a whole. 2022 was a steady, moderate growing season here, shaped by consistent maritime influence — morning fog and persistent afternoon winds slowing ripening enough to preserve real acidity and lift in the finished wine, while still allowing full flavour development.
True to Chanin's hands-off style, the wine is fermented and aged with minimal intervention, letting the vineyard's marine-influenced soils and cool climate carry the wine rather than winemaking artifice.
TASTING NOTES
Colour: Pale gold with a faint green edge.
Nose: Lemon, lime and wet stone lead, with a delicate floral lift underneath — a nose that reads more mineral than fruity at first approach.
Palate: Lean, sharp and precise, with citrus and stone fruit carried on real coastal tension. Savoury and fruity notes sit in careful balance, threaded through with a clear, chalky minerality that's become something of a Sta. Rita Hills signature.
Finish: Clean, taut and persistent, the mineral character lingering longest.
Serve: Lightly chilled, in a standard white wine glass — this is a Chardonnay built for precision rather than richness, so don't over-chill it. Excellent with raw oysters, ceviche, or anything that wants a wine with real cut and salinity behind it.