Just prior to the 2000 vintage, on a whim and a prayer, Campion began as a partnership to produce Pinot Noir from Los Carneros, Edna Valley, and Santa Lucia Highlands three appellations.

The label pursued this dream and continued in that way for more than a decade until 2011. In 2016, Larry Brooks, the winemaker, principal from the beginning, relaunched Campion to focus exclusively on producing Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The primary focus is on making an appellation wine from each variety every vintage. Occasionally small quantities of designated single vineyard reserve Pinot Noirs are made. 

Vintage  |  2018
Production  |  Eighteen barrels
Location  |  Smith Home Ranch Blocks 3 & 10
Clones  |  Dijon 95 & 76

Chardonnay is strongly influenced by winemaking technique. Therein lies part of its appeal to winemakers. Over the decades I’ve made small modifications to the basic Burgundian recipe. Night harvest is followed by a low yield press cycle. The juice is fermented exclusively in French oak barrels. About 25% of them are new. Most of the barrels are uninoculated. I use Montrachet yeast for the new barrels as I find it integrates and enhances the oak more so than other selections. Malolactic fermentation is encouraged and went to completion this year. The better the vintage the more advantageous lees stirring is, so this year got a lot of battonage. The wine spends a few months in stainless steel after the barrel ageing to improve mid palate textures.

One of the most common responses I get to my Chardonnays is, “I don’t even like Chardonnay, but I like this wine.” It is amazingly easy to make ordinary Chardonnay, but quite difficult to make delicious Chardonnay. Many folks have had so many boring and cynical Chardonnays that they’ve given up on the category. This is a shame as Chardonnay from the right region and in the right hands can be sublime. In general, I am aiming for fullness of flavor held within a medium structure. I try to keep the alcohol moderate and the extract low. In some years this confers good age ability, but you only discover this with time. Why some vintages age and others do not remains a mystery to me even after more than four decades of winemaking.

This wine will work with a surprisingly wide range of foods. While some employ Chardonnay as an aperitif – this one was made to accompany meals. Chardonnay has a known affinity for shellfish. Crab is an excellent choice. It loves root vegetables, and a potato soup would go well. Most cheeses show better with Chardonnay than red wine so you may wish to consider bringing this wine out at the end of the meal with the cheese course. I sometimes pair Chardonnay with a cold steak salad, and it is my go to for pork.

Vintage  |  2018
Production  |  Twelve barrels
Location  |  Smith Home Ranch and Sarmento Vineyard
Clones  |  Dijon 943, Dijon 115, and Pommard

When you are dealing with a great vintage such as 2018 there’s no need to get fancy with the winemaking. The most basic French wine farm recipe works like a charm. Fermentation was in small hand punched down bins. Free run wine only was employed. The wine was aged for 11 months in French oak barrels. The new barrels were puncheons which seemed to work very well. The wine was aged in 1/3 new oak with most of the balance being once used barrels. 

When it comes to Pinot Noir, I am a classicist. I want a medium bodied wine with high levels of perfume and a dynamic palate where both the tannins and the acidity are evident. Vintages such as this will deliver the correct style as long as you harvest them in the early middle of their ripening curve. I have never been a proponent of high ripeness in Pinot Noir. I believe that Pinot is about elegance and balance – not about power. Wines made in this style tend to age more gracefully as well for those who care about it. 

Pinot Noir is ever the diplomat at the table and gets along with almost everything. I like to pair it with fowl – the richer flavored ones such as quail and pigeon are particularly good foils for Pinot. Smoked and salted foods are also a great choice. Many people seem to enjoy Pinot with Salmon. If I were pairing it with cheese I’d choose a goat cheese.