2020 Brewer-Clifton Pinot Noir, Sta Rita Hills, California

We love those kinds of stories. The Brewer-Clifton label represents the partnership of two outstanding winemakers, Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton. Clifton developed a passion for winemaking while working as a buyer for a restaurant in San Diego in the late 1980s. He moved to Santa Barbara in 1991, staying with a family friend and working as a cellar rat in a number of Santa Barbara County wineries. Clifton hooked up with another young winemaker, Greg Brewer, who became the winemaker at Melville Vineyards and Winery when it was formed in 1997. Brewer’s originally came into wine from an academic background, working as a French literature professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The pair decided to dedicate their new label to single-vineyard Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in 1996, when many Santa Barbara wineries were concentrating on varieties blended from multiple sources. Why do we like it? This classy Pinot Noir is a blend of three distinctive vineyards from the sandy and clay-loam northern rim of the Sta. Rita Hills, this wine offers ripe forest fruit, mushroom, and baking spice aromas. The palate is rich and broad, with an earthy core framed by black cherry, ripe pomegranate, and chai tea. Lots of lifted perfumes that are extremely pleasant for the senses!   Grape           Pinot Noir   Country        USA                   Region          Santa Barbara                     Vintage         2020