In the mid-1990s, when the Sta. Rita Hills was still a rumor rather than an appellation, two young sommeliers turned winemakers bet their careers on it. Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton wanted to make Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that tasted purely of place, with nothing in the way.

The purists of the Sta. Rita Hills

Brewer-Clifton was founded in 1996 by Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton, who set up shop among the no-frills warehouses of the Lompoc Wine Ghetto. Their philosophy was austere and uncompromising: farm cold-climate Sta. Rita Hills sites, ferment with whole clusters and native yeasts, and famously use no new oak, so nothing stands between the drinker and the vineyard. It was a radical, transparent style at a time when big, oaky California wine ruled, and it helped define what Sta. Rita Hills Pinot and Chardonnay could be. Clifton went on to pour his energy into Palmina and its Italian varieties, while Brewer became one of the region’s most decorated winemakers, named Wine Enthusiast’s Winemaker of the Year in 2020. Brewer-Clifton joined the Jackson Family Wines portfolio in 2015, with Brewer continuing to guide the wines.

No new oak, nothing to hide behind. Just the cold hills, in a glass.

Site by site

Brewer-Clifton is a single-vineyard house at heart, bottling Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from specific Sta. Rita Hills sites so you can taste the differences between neighboring patches of this cold, windy ground. The Pinots are bright, savory, and detailed; the Chardonnays, unmarked by new oak, are taut and electric, built on citrus, salt, and stone. These are wines of precision rather than power.

What to drink it with

Because the style is so pure and high in acid, Brewer-Clifton is exceptional at the table. The unoaked Chardonnay is one of the great oyster wines, and just as good with ceviche, crab, or a squeeze-of-lemon piece of grilled fish, its acidity doing the work of the citrus. The Pinot Noir, bright and earthy, wants grilled salmon, seared duck, or anything with mushrooms.

How Brewer-Clifton makes its wine

The Brewer-Clifton method is built on restraint. Pinot Noir is fermented with a large share of whole clusters and native yeast, then raised without new oak, so nothing stands between the fruit and the glass. Greg Brewer describes the goal as removing the winemaker’s signature and letting the voice of the vineyard carry the wine. The results are dark-fruited, savory Pinots with the firm spine that cool Sta. Rita Hills sites give.

The Chardonnays follow the same logic. Picked from vineyards that sit close to the Pacific, they carry a distinct saline, almost oyster-shell quality that Brewer treats as a signature of place rather than a flaw to polish away. Tradition meets precision: barrel fermentation and lees work for texture, but no heavy oak, no tropical excess. What you taste is the Sta. Rita Hills, clear and honest, which is exactly the point of a single-vineyard house.

Plan your visit

Brewer-Clifton today pours in the town of Los Olivos, about 45 minutes north of Santa Barbara in the Santa Ynez Valley, where founder and winemaker Greg Brewer hosts tastings by reservation. The label was born in the Lompoc Wine Ghetto in 1996, but the current tasting room sits on Alamo Pintado Avenue. Book ahead, especially on weekends.

Frequently asked questions