$80
2021 - 2031
Made with 100% whole cluster, the 2017 Pinot Noir Machado has a pale to medium ruby color and gives up warm cranberry, black cherry, red and black currants and licorice with hints of peppercorn, woodsmoke, pipe tobacco, dried rose petals and garrigue. The silky, light to medium-bodied palate fleshes out in the mouth with spicy fruits supported by firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and layered. Give this more time in bottle. About 750 cases were made.
"2017 was super, a return to normal really," says Greg Brewer. "It was tempered, straightforward and with normal timing. There was one little heat bump over Labor Day weekend that kicked off the harvest. It was over 100 degrees, which is nuts for us down here. Most of our grapes weren't quite ready, so it accelerated ripening. Then a couple days later it returned to normal and got mellow, so we did our normal thing. We pick on the riper side anyway. For people who pick earlier, that heat might have been an 'Oh shit' moment. For us, it accelerated ripening a bit before we were ready to pick. Otherwise, it was pretty straightforward." He also notes that there was no impact in 2017 from the ferocious fires in Northern California. "We had no fire threats or smoke issues down here. We've had a couple of fire episodes in the past couple of years and some have come kind of close, but the wind pushed it all away. It's not even part of the dialogue down here, thankfully." As readers will know, the Brewer-Clifton wines see no new oak at all. "I want all the expression and the decadence to come from the outside, so I use very old barrels and no stirring for Chardonnay," Greg explains. "Chardonnay is whole-cluster pressed, and the Pinot Noirs are whole-cluster fermented, from 70% to 100% for the single-vineyard designates. For me, stems are like a corset. We have so much fruit out here. I’ve spent 25 years working with stems as a means of framing and corseting, so we work with stems to shape and lift."