2020 Los Alamos Chardonnay

Classic high-quality Chardonnay notes of orchard fruits, classy oak, brioche, and honeysuckle all emerge from the 2020 Chardonnay Los Alamos Vineyard, a medium-bodied, pure, balanced, straight-up impressive white from this team. With plenty of mid-palate depth, it brings bright acidity, good precision and focus, and outstanding length, and while I like it today, I see no reason this won't evolve for 7-8 years, if not over a decade. These latest releases from Gavin Chanin are pretty much straight-up brilliant across the board. Gavin pulls from some of the top sites in Santa Barbara County and favors a little bit of stems depending on the vineyard and aging in mostly neutral barrels. These are pure, classic, incredibly impressive wines that offer plenty of enjoyment in their youth, yet they can also evolve and age gracefully. As I write in the reviews, these wines are rarely about power and opulence and shine for their remarkable elegance, purity, and finesse. I love the wines.

The 2020 Chardonnay Los Alamos Vineyard is bright, airy and lifted. In this vintage, the Los Alamos Chardonnay has a bit more texture and mid-palate pliancy than is often the case. That's not a bad thing at all. In fact, orchard fruit, white flowers, spice and tangerine oil build in the oily, beautifully textured finish.