2015 Hapgood Vineyard Chardonnay - Brewer-Clifton

Juicy passionfruit, pineapple chunks, fresh guava. Candied apricot, honeysuckle, a head-high pile of straw bales. Unbaked dough sprinkled with a touch of sea salt ready to go into the oven. Big, bright, and tropical with mouthwatering acidity and a bit of grip. This 2015 Hapgood Vineyard Chardonnay by Brewer-Clifton is bottled California sunshine.

Greg Brewer and Steven Clifton started the aptly named Brewer-Clifton in 1995. The project began as a small operation sourcing fruit from all over Santa Barbara county into a minuscule case production and eventually developed into one of the most iconic and revered Pinot Noir and Chardonnay houses in all of California. Robert Parker has even gone as far as to compare the wines of Brewer-Clifton to the illustrious Domaine de la Romanee Conti. The wines are big, ripe, heady, and complex, and absolutely impeccably balanced. They are definitely not for the faint of heart, but if you dig amplification of flavor then these wines will take you for one heck of a ride.