The 2009 Pinot Noir Clos Pepe bursts onto the palate with a rush of super-ripe, exotic fruit. The fleshiness and sheer muscle of the Pommard clone come through in spades, while any suggestion of stems is very much in the background, if apparent at all. This is a fabulous showing from Brewer-Clifton. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2019. No one has done more to carry the banner for the Santa Rita Hills than Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton. Both together at Brewer-Clifton and separately in their other projects, Brewer and Clifton consistently deliver delicious wines that are also deeply thought provoking with regards to the potential these vineyard sites hold. The Pinots in particular are compelling. The 2009 Pinots saw a seven day cold soak and fermentations that lasted a total of 35-40 days, with 100% stems. Tel. (805) 735-9184; Fax (805) 735-9185; www.brewerclifton.com

The gorgeous 2008 Pinot Noir Clos Pepe (14.3% alcohol) has loads of forest floor notes along with damp earth, clove, allspice, raspberry, and pomegranate. The wine is medium-bodied and displays sweet, silky tannins, but has an overall layered, forceful personality, with zesty acids and medium weight. It should drink nicely for up to a decade. Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton continue to follow a strict philosophy of only using grapes from cool-climate Santa Rita Hills vineyards. Additionally, they have reduced what was a very tiny percentage of new oak to zero, as they prefer the vineyard sites and vintage character to be showcased without any cosmetic makeup. All of these Chardonnays (unlike Greg Brewer’s project, called Diatom) are put through full malolactic fermentation and bottled without filtration. The 2008s are elegant, tightly coiled Chardonnays with full flavor, and seem to have plenty of up-side. Their wines are extremely long-lived by California standards, with their 2000 Chardonnays still remarkably young, and their 2000 Pinot Noirs all seeming to have another decade of aging ability. However, 2000 was not nearly the quality vintage that recent years have been in the Santa Rita Hills. Now luckily, to introduce their philosophy of winemaking and singular style of wines to more consumers, they are producing generic Santa Rita Hills version of both the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. This makes sense, since they are not only high-quality wines, but are also larger production items that many consumers will be able to find. These 2008 Pinots had a little new oak, but that will be abolished completely as the winemakers move to old, completely neutral French oak for the maturation process. The one singular characteristic of Brewer Clifton Pinot Noirs is that they continue to use 100% whole clusters/stems. I am not a fan of stems in Pinot Noirs, but Brewer Clifton proves that if done properly, complex, ageworthy Pinots can be produced. Tel. (805) 735-9184; Fax (805) 735-9185

Another blockbuster, the 2007 Pinot Noir Clos Pepe may be the finest Pinot I have ever tasted from this vineyard. Fresh mushroom scents intermixed with red and black currants, soil undertones, and attractive barnyard-like terroir notes are all present in this full-bodied, super-textured, complex Pinot. It is just as good as the Cargasacchi cuvee, but shows more of the sassafras, loamy soil, and barnyard side of this varietal. Authentically Burgundian in complexity, this beauty appears capable of lasting 10-12+ years or more. Two brilliant young winemakers, Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton, are symbolic of both the present and future of California high quality wine production. Seemingly coming out of nowhere, with their own personal visions of wine quality formed by French and Italian experiences as well as their belief in the cool climate sites of Santa Rita Hills, they have proven time and time again that remarkable wines can emerge from this relatively new viticultural region. Their Chardonnays, which go through full malolactic fermentation, see very little new oak (usually one-third, but that has been declining in every vintage), and they are moving in the direction of almost 100% neutral or older wood casks. The wines are not fined or filtered, have high alcohols, and also possess extraordinary freshness and acidity because of their terroirs. When I visited this year, Brewer and Clifton surprised me by opening a 1996 Chardonnay Sweeney Canyon, a 13-year old California Chardonnay that was as young and vibrant as any two or three-year old white Burgundy. It remains a subtle white wine with great complexity, freshness, and not a trace of oxidation or fatigue. I rated it 94 points, and it seemed to get even better over the course of the several hours I spent with them. This should not have surprised me as the first wines I purchased from Brewer-Clifton were the 2000 Chardonnays, which are as vibrant as they were when I took delivery of them upon release.There are five Chardonnays being produced at this estate, none of them large productions, with most of the single vineyard cuvees ranging between 1,500 and 5,800 bottles. The Pinot Noirs see no more than one-third new oak, and Brewer-Clifton continues to advocate the use of 100% stems, which gives the wines a backward, earthy character early in life. However, based on how older vintages have matured, these wines have incredibly long lives, and may come closest to the brilliant Pinot Noirs made by Calera in the late eighties (although the terroirs are completely different). Brewer-Clifton’s 2007 Pinots represent another top-notch vintage for this estate. All of the wines are very young and primary, but are bursting with potential. Tel. (805) 735-9184; Fax (805) 735-9185