Greg Brewer's 2023 Diatom is magnificent. The near perfect, long and moderate growing season allowed him to select absolutely pristine Chardonnay fruit, at peak ripeness, providing the purest raw material needed for an ambitious wine like this. When I say ambitious, I mean that how Greg chooses to make this wine really requires the quality of fruit to stand alone without winemaking artifice to bolster it. His methodology for Diatom is almost like reverse engineered Chardonnay. In most iterations of this grape the aromas, textures, and flavors of the wine are altered and enhanced during the winemaking process with the use of toasted oak barrels, malolactic conversion, and all manner of other techniques to build up and add richness and complexity to the wine. With Diatom Greg seeks all the richness and complexity he wants in the raw material, and the minimalist winemaking approach is more about honing, refining, and focusing all that intensity into a laser-like expression of place and season. The wine is entirely fermented at cool temperatures in small stainless tanks. Malo is inhibited to retain ultimate vibrancy in the wine. A simple yet precise practice. Greg seems inspired by Japanese culture and food with this wine. He has used several examples from this great culture in describing his inspiration for this wine to me. Once he talked of a master itamae sushi chef meticulously shaving a prime piece of tuna. The quality of the fish has already been meticulously selected, now the skill is to very deliberately refine it in to the most precise and delicious morsel of sashimi. Continuing this analogy, he also compares his winemaking philosophy with the precise polishing of rice to make sake. The very finest sake wines often require the grain of rice to be milled or polished down 50% or even 70% in size so only the purest core of the grain is used. This idea of refining the purity and quality of the raw material is the absolute guiding principle of Diatom.

This gem has a very pretty floral nose with tropical fruit, pineapple first and foremost. It also has orange/tangerine scents, which remind of the "cuties" that I get from TJ's. On the palate, quite creamy with orange creamsicle, a little lime peel, light sea salt and a lingering finish with back of the throat fine acidity. Nice and bright in the end!

Diatom Chardonnay has been one of my go-tos for years. It is one of those bottles that you can even hand to customers that say they hate Chardonnay. Wonderful aromas of tropical fruit and lemon zest. This is un-oaked, non-malo Chardonnay so it deliveries a great intensity but with a nice mid-palate weight. The balance of acidity and weight which makes for complexity is Diatom's hallmark. Thank you Greg Brewer for showing another side of California Chardonnay! I raise a glass to you.