Wow – today we drove up from Huntington Beach to Lompoc for a private tasting at Brewer-Clifton. Truly exceptional Burgundy-style Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays that all show great finesse and elegance. It’s interesting to compare the differences resulting from similar winemaking techniques applied to grapes from different vineyards; This is most notable on Brewer-Clifton’s Pinots from Sta. Maria Hills versus Mt. Carmel. Both are really tasty but the Mt. Carmel really shines. Meredith Caruso runs a great tasting environment and we both enjoyed the experience a lot.

Following that, we had an appointment with Norm Yost of Flying Goat… maker of really amazing Pinots. On a tip from a waiter at Sissy’s named Jim we tasted Norm’s clone 667 – really phenomenal. Norm is one of the great recent talents in Central Coast Pinots.

Then we went to Palmina, one of Richard and my common favorites. Picked up some club shipments and more olive oil.

Next, on to Ampelos. Highly recommended by Emily and Al Harris, Peter and Rebecca Work’s Rhone varietals are really impressive. They are masters of grenache – my favorite! We had a really nice time getting to know the Works and look forward to hosting events with them this year.

We finished the evening with a lovely dinner with Al and Emily at Chef Rick’s in Santa Maria – excellent cajun food, highlighted by a bottle of Armida Tina’s Block zin. What a great day!