2005 Diatom Chardonnay Clos Pepe Santa Rita Hills

Greg Brewer of Brewer-Clifton has a good thing going with his new project Diatom. Using fruit from the famous Clos Pepe vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills, he has made a thrilling Chardonnay. The idea is to let the pure expression -- what he calls the voice -- of the terroir come through by eliminating everything extraneous. He doesn’t use any oak, for example. The result is a focused, finely nuanced Chardonnay with scents of ocean and flowers, an alluring mineral character, and a finespun, lingering finish.

This is a Chardonnay that shines with food: Oysters immediately come to mind because it has something of a Chablis-like character.

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Quick swirl

Region: Santa Rita Hills

Price: About $36

Style: Focused and pure

Food it goes with: Oysters, spot prawns, Dungeness crab, Copper River salmon.

Where you find it: Lazy Acres Market in Santa Barbara, (805) 564-4410; Mission Wines in South Pasadena, (626) 403-9463; and Silverlake Wine in Los Angeles, (323) 662-9024. Also available from the winery at

(805) 452-5609; www.diatomwines.com.

S. Irene Virbila