Ex Post Facto Pinot Noir 2024, Sta Rita Hills

From The Winemaker

Motivated by a desire to demonstrate our appellation in its most streamlined form, we are thrilled to launch our inaugural release of Ex Post Facto Pinot Noir with the 2024 vintage. Thoughtfully selected blocks within our estate vineyards were completely destemmed, managed solely by hand throughout fermentation and subsequently raised in completely neutral barrels for a succinct chapter of élevage. The outcome of those collective circumstances is a wine with tremendous purity, showcasing the unbridled energy and vibrancy of our Sta. Rita Hills.

As we approach twenty years of Diatom and the thirtieth harvest of Brewer-Clifton, we felt overwhelming compelled to articulate the voice of Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir through a somewhat divergent lens from our established aesthetic. Having played a role in mapping the appellation in the late 1990s and working singularly within its borders for over three decades, our appetite to express it in an alternate form has proven to be exhilarating. While we maintain a firm commitment to arrive at a unique outcome from the dialect of Brewer-Clifton, there also remains a priority to remain within the same vocabulary of transparency, neutrality, vulnerability and ultimately… surrender. As such, whereas Brewer-Clifton relies almost entirely on whole cluster fermentation, Ex Post Facto Pinot Noir is completely destemmed. Upon the long duration of time in micro-lot fermenters, the wine is aged in completely neutral cooperage for a succinct élevage period of only three to four months prior to bottling in the early spring.

The resultant wine emanating from this approach displays tremendous freshness, vibrancy, and energy to all of the senses. Exotic floral aromatics, pure fruit and a supple mouthfeel that will complement a myriad food style, be enjoyable in its youth and will similarly reward patience in the cellar.