2020 Chanin Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict Vineyard

From a site on the other (southern) side of the appellation, the 2020 Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Pinot Noir saw quite a bit more stems and was fermented with 40% stems and brought up in 20% new oak. It has a wonderful nose of ripe red and black currants as well as subtle woodsmoke, dried herbs, and forest floor. This carries to a pure, medium-bodied, balanced Pinot Noir with ripe tannins, nicely integrated acidity, and a great finish. It opens up nicely with time in the glass and will no doubt benefit from another year or two of bottle age. 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 Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict Vineyard presents gorgeous hints of dark red/purplish fruit, rose petal, mint, sage and lavender. The 2020 shows all the signatures of S&B in the smaller scaled style of the year. There's lovely texture and plenty of class, just less mid-palate than is typical here.