I was in Marthas Vineyard and ate at a really nice restaurant called Atrias. They had a pinot on their list called Brewer Clifton, and it was a 2009 Santa Rita Hills. I have heard the name before, though I wasn’t sure where. Perhaps I have seen the name in a thread or seen the name in a WA issue at one point? Regardless, the waiter described the wine as not being a typical California pinot, but instead being a pinot that was lighter in bodied and more Burgundy in style. Since that description is right up our alley, we decided to go for it, and it was a really nice find. Sour cherries, earth, and a light to medium body that really complemented the duck breast and crackling pig. I was quite pleased and so was my wife, so much so that she wants to buy more in the future. And it is very rare that my wife seeks to get on a winery mailing list(there are only 2 she cares about), so that is a big compliment. I gave it a solid 90 points.
Bob, remind me on your next trip out. I have a few bottles with some age on them that I will gladly share. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
yes
Not a typical California pinot - arguably true… but lighter bodied and more Burgundian in style??? Hard to make any sense of that claim. Aren’t these always 15% ABV or thereabouts?
I agree, which is why I posted our complete review above. I don’t see anything Burgundian other than stem inclusion
I thought you were linking the thread where Liotta and I were kicked off the list for making similar comments to these.
These are big pinots. I like them. Nothing Burgundian about them. Fwiw u can just sign up and order at least I did in the spring.
Used to buy. I liked the wines but stopped buying when they announced they dropped a customer from their mailing list because of a post on a wine board. I think it was a berserker but I don’t recall.
J
They make a Chard too, right? 
Fascinating responses to say the least. I did find this particular bottle to be lighter in style but I don’t recall the ETOH content.
![[shock.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0b1dcf699ec319f43254f92e3f145786dcd93904.gif "shock"){kind=small}
Bob, I’m going to tell you what I know. I hope that counts for something.
One day, when I was a buyer for a store that did about $3MM in annual sales, an older gentleman vendor, one of the few I happened to like, walked into the store with Brewer-Clifton Zotovich in his bag. I took one look at the bottle, it was like 16% abv of something, and I marched him right out of the store “how could any Pinot worth a damn have 16% abv” is basically what I recall saying.
Well, fast forward about 5 months, I throw a big party, open about 80 different wines from around the world (44 different growing regions, as I recall) and I’m serving that very same Zotovich. Mind you, I decanted it about 6 hours in advance, but as I recall, my reaction was the same as yours “it’s lighter than I think it should be”.
What I’m trying to say, in a beleaguered sort of way is that you’re right, it was light. Not something everyone (or anyone, save me) would ever use as a descriptor for B-C wines. At the end of the day, I looked for more of these, for personal consumption, as I prefer a lighter style. If there is a take-away to be had here, it’s to keep your mind open and your convictions even more open. Cheers to you. That your wife liked it is maybe the best part of this whole story. Go with that…
Don’t think so. If I recall from the last Diatom mailer, the alc were down. I am sure someone will correct me if I am off base but I believe they had pulled them way back on the 2010s. I recycled the mailer so I can’t offer anything more than memory. I just recall considering a purchase b/c the ETOH was really throttled back.
Oh shut up. You have no clue, as you only drink Burgundy now!
Not that I would ever recommend buying anything from these slugs…but the PLCB has some Brewer-Clifton on the SLO list with no minimum.
(slugs being the PLCB - not Greg or Steve who are wonderful guys)
IMO They’ve dialed back the ETOH quite a bit over the past few years. I’ve never had DRC but I did have the BC 07 Carg about a year ago and it was very good. Folks that thought the 03-05 vintages were way too hot might want to give them another shot.
FWIW, these are also available in Ohio (or at least were). I found them to be Californian in nature but perhaps on that scale, they are lighter than some. I haven’t had one recently though. I remember the alcohol being pretty high.
Diatom 2010 (from spring mailer): Hana 12.7% ABV, Hamon 16.0% ABV, Miya 13.5% ABV. They split the previous 2 vineyard designates into 5 different bottlings - supposedly releasing the other 2 this fall, I think. I’d bet that the other two have a huge spread of ABV, as well.
The vineyard designates used to clock in at 15-17% consistently. Appears they dialed it back - whether that’s due to people’s “feedback” on “wine boards”, following trends (similar), or realizing that 15-17% doesn’t show well, we will probably never know. But since everyone here tends to have the same impression these are heat bombs, then my guess is they want a wider range of ABV to blunt that argument from the RN74-belivers of the world.
Fair or not, I think these kind of fall in the scholium mold of something so far out of the box that it’s hard to relate them to what we typically link with flavor, ABV, style, etc.
Anyone heard of this wine called Robert Mondavi? I was at dinner the other night, and the waiter recommended this wine that was named after some guy. It was rich and tannic and really reminded me of a Left Bank bdx.