Event

Open Bottle - Diatom Chardonnay, Santa Barbara

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Time: 04:00pm - 08:00pm

Type: Wine Tasting

Location: The Wine Cabinet

Event Free

Every Thursday from 4:00 until 8:00 pm we open a special bottle of wine and offer to you at a highly discounted price.
The wines are typically 90 points or better and are discounted 20-40%. Sometimes even more! when we can get special pricing from our vendors , we pass the savings along to you!!
Come in on Thursday and sample. If you can't make it, call us and we can put some aside for you!! 
(All purchases must be accompanied by a credit card.)








 


Chardonnay 
2018



The Critics all agree... Beautiful!

This is a pet project of Greg Brewer of Clifton-Brewer Winery that only focuses on Chardonnay.
From one of the coolest climates on the west coast, Sta. Rita Hills enjoys the longest growing season,
making this a veritable paradise for the varietal.
The name diatom is inspired by the fossilized plankton (diatomaceous earth) which is in the appellation
and give this bottling it’s clean yet lush profile.
Though it is unoaked, it’s clearly medium bodied and fabulously Chablis like, austere at first, fattens up on the finish!


93 Points  The Wine Advocate
“The 2018 Chardonnay Bar-M has an open nose of quince, warm hay, green apple and pear, baker’s yeast, acacia and dried chamomile with white peach and nectarine plus hints of lime peel and crushed stone. Light to medium-bodied, it has a wonderful core of spicy fruit and wicked minerality in the mouth, amplified by juicy freshness and a long, energetic, layered finish.”

92 Points  The Wine Enthusiast
“From a vineyard in the Los Alamos Valley, this bottling by Greg Brewer begins with fresh aromas of passion fruit, citron, lime leaf and wet cement.
The palate is tightly wound with slightly sour tones of guava peel, presenting a very fresh, no-oak style that still has plenty of character.”

92 Points  Jeb Dunnuck
“From a vintage described as epic from Greg, the 2018 Chardonnay Bar-M comes from a vineyard just off Highway 101 and vines planted in 1996.
It offers Chablis-like lemon notes as well as hints of tropical fruits, a medium-bodied, rounded, textured style on the palate, beautiful fruit, and a clean finish.

 
 Elsewhere at $30.00

Our Regular price $28.99

Special Sale Price 

$22.00 by the bottle

 $114.00 for six  $19.00 )!


Call us at 703-668-WINE (9463)
 

Our Thoughts on this wine.....

 Nose of Lemon, citrus blossom, apple with white peach flavors.
Precise and balanced textures. This wine is multi-dimensional.
Enjoy its aromas and flavors of ripe core fruit, creamy oak, and mineral notes.



 From Humble Beginnings…
In 1995, Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton met while working on a committee meeting for the Santa Barbara Vintners’ Association. At the time both held production jobs at Sunstone and Beckmen, respectively, and forged an immediate friendship that would ultimately germinate in the creation of Brewer-Clifton just one year later.
 
Saving modest disposable income over a period of twelve months, $12,000 was set aside and fruit contracts secured to produce an inaugural 240 cases of wine within Santa Barbara Winery where Greg held the role of assistant winemaker in 1996. Always having their sights locked on an area that they would personally later map and define as the Sta. Rita Hills, they utilized relationships in the neighboring Santa Maria Valley for the majority of their fruit as vineyards were being developed closer to home. One exception to that adjacent provenance was Sweeney Canyon which Brewer-Clifton produced without interruption from 1996 through 2011.
 
When considering a logo and label, a priority was something that would not run the risk of being dated and that could remain timeless. The Wine Cask restaurant in Santa Barbara was an incubator for food and wine professionals during that time, and the hand stenciled gold ceiling of the dining room proved to be an ideal and subtle reference to carry through that message of tradition and region. A few exposures with a disposable camera then developed, photocopied and colored in with a black Sharpie pen and the brand took flight..
 
After brief periods being housed within other wineries of employ, Brewer-Clifton created their first stand alone facility in what would become Lompoc’s “Wine Ghetto” in 2000. Nestled immediately between the local legend Rick Longoria and the upstart Sea Smoke, Y2K was a pivotal impasse both for B-C and Sta. Rita Hills which was identified and approved as an American Viticultural Area (AVA) that same year.
 
Fueled by unbridled confidence and unprecedented media attention, Brewer-Clifton swiftly sought to better secure vineyard provenance which gave birth to their farming company shepherded by Francisco Ramirez in 2005. Greg and Francisco developed, planted and built Melville vineyard and winery in the mid 1990s and the decade working together there fostered the elite vineyard team that would eventually create Brewer-Clifton’s estate vineyards, which now includes sixty acres across four separate parcels within the AVA.

 



Thank you for shopping local!!