The Brewer-Clifton team began planting this sandy ten-acre vineyard in 2007 and has five types of Chardonnay clones, including Hyde, Mount Eden, and Sea Smoke Wente on the property. The 2022 Chardonnay is fresh and energetic with notes of Meyer lemon, key lime, and saline. Only neutral barrels are employed, and malolactic fermentation is neither blocked, nor stimulated. Loads of freshness is complemented by a rich mid-palate. This is a wine that is showing beautifully now but will also easily lay down for another ten years.

Brewer-Clifton Wines
Greg Brewer was an early believer in the potential of the Santa Rita Hills, having co-founded Brewer-Clifton in 1996 before the area was officially recognized as an AVA. In fact, Greg helped map and define the Santa Rita Hills in 2001 and was a signatory on the AVA petition. To that end, the winery employs no new oak, believing that more neutral vessels leave space for the natural character of the site to express itself.

Greg was kind enough to open some back vintages, and we were absolutely stunned by the amount of verve these 20-year-old wines expressed. They are prime examples that Santa Rita Hills is a classic region, alongside Burgundy and Sonoma, whose wines are capable of aging and gaining remarkable complexity.