Notes of Lemon, Citrus Blossom, and Wet Sand on the nose. White Peach, apple, citrus and saline cross the palate. Mouthfeel is Precise and Balanced.

Diatom is sourced from the stunning contiguous blocks of clone 76 Chardonnay planted over 20 years ago in the Los Alamos region of Santa Barbara County. Los Alamos is a magnificent and relatively unknown region whose sandy loam soil lends itself to fruit with a bit more flesh and weight - perfectly suited to the diatom model.

Motivated mostly by a reverence for raw materials, precision, negative space, restraint, solitude and dynamics, Greg Brewer launched diatom in 2005. He strives to remove all extraneous elements when crafting chardonnay for this extreme project, to showcase the pure essence of place. Greg finds inspiration in both nature itself and the culture and ideas of various regions through-out the world. His travels in Japan, Scandinavia and Europe have lent elements to diatom’s extreme focus. Prior to his partnership with Steve Clifton and the formation of Brewer - Clifton in 1995, Greg was a French instructor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In addition to crafting pinot noir and chardonnay under the Brewer-Clifton label, Greg continues to produce highly respected wines for Melville, where he has worked since the formation of that winery in 1997. For over forty million years, the diatom has been a crucial source of food for marine life and carbon dioxide for all living things on earth. Encased by a microscopic, jewel-like shell extracted from the water, these skeletons of silica fossilize on the ocean floor forming a bed of diatomite. Replete with this chalky white earth, the Sta. Rita Hills appellation serves as an ideal platform to explore and exploit this instrumental medium in our world. These soils, coupled with the severe marine influence from the oceans of their provenance, warrant attentive execution.

Varietal: Chardonnay

Region: Santa Barbara County, California