2016 Chardonnay Los Alamos Vineyard

Gavin Chanin's 2016s are very pretty and expressive wines. In 2016, the wines are built on a sense of translucence and weightless elegance, with a bit less overt textural richness than in some other previous years. Harvest started on August 12, a bit later than 2014 and 2015, but still very early. That precocious start helped Chanin avoid the heat spikes that arrived in September. Chanin told me he makes his Chanin and Lutum Chardonnays more or less in the same style, with no bâtonnage and only about 15% new oak. Stylistic choices are a bit more divergent within the Pinots, which see a bit of whole cluster influence at Chanin and none at Lutum. François Frères is the cooper of choice.