2011 Diatom Chardonnays
 

Greg Brewer of Brewer-Clifton wines released two wines recently from
his Diaton project. The 2011 Hana Shinbu and 2011 Hamon Chardonnays.
These are tank fermented, see no wood at all and are very minamalist
in there handling. Hard to describe these wines but they bear very
little resemblence to any chardonnay that I've ever had before. Hana
Shinobu shows a saline character with lime, grapefruit and mineral
notes that reminds me more of Sake than Chardonnay. Quite lean and
precise. The Hamon was slightly heavier with pronounced citrus peel,
mandarin orange and slightly floral. These wines were more like
Sauvingon Blanc than chardonnay.

2011 Diatom Chardonnays
 

On Friday, September 14, 2012 8:41:41 AM UTC-6, Bi!! wrote:
> Greg Brewer of Brewer-Clifton wines released two wines recently from
>
> his Diaton project. The 2011 Hana Shinbu and 2011 Hamon Chardonnays.
>
> These are tank fermented, see no wood at all and are very minamalist
>
> in there handling. Hard to describe these wines but they bear very
>
> little resemblence to any chardonnay that I've ever had before. Hana
>
> Shinobu shows a saline character with lime, grapefruit and mineral
>
> notes that reminds me more of Sake than Chardonnay. Quite lean and
>
> precise. The Hamon was slightly heavier with pronounced citrus peel,
>
> mandarin orange and slightly floral. These wines were more like
>
> Sauvingon Blanc than chardonnay.

Not seen these around. Do they have a wide distribution?

2011 Diatom Chardonnays
 

On 9/14/2012 10:41 AM, Bi!! wrote:
> Greg Brewer of Brewer-Clifton wines released two wines recently from
> his Diaton project. The 2011 Hana Shinbu and 2011 Hamon Chardonnays.
> These are tank fermented, see no wood at all and are very minamalist
> in there handling. Hard to describe these wines but they bear very
> little resemblence to any chardonnay that I've ever had before. Hana
> Shinobu shows a saline character with lime, grapefruit and mineral
> notes that reminds me more of Sake than Chardonnay. Quite lean and
> precise. The Hamon was slightly heavier with pronounced citrus peel,
> mandarin orange and slightly floral. These wines were more like
> Sauvingon Blanc than chardonnay.
>
I was interested in the name (by the way, it is diato*m*.) Googling
Brewer's pages, all I see is mysticism about how pure is diatomaceous
earth and assignment of Kanji characters to land parcels. What's
actually going on; are the vines grown in diatomaceous dirt or are the
the wines filtered with diatomaceous earth? The pages are irritatingly
hard to read; typically gray letters on light gray, so I may have missed
something.

--
Jim Silverton (Potomac, MD)

Extraneous "not" in Reply To.

2011 Diatom Chardonnays
 

On 9/14/2012 2:21 PM, James Silverton wrote:
> On 9/14/2012 10:41 AM, Bi!! wrote:
>> Greg Brewer of Brewer-Clifton wines released two wines recently from
>> his Diaton project. The 2011 Hana Shinbu and 2011 Hamon Chardonnays.
>> These are tank fermented, see no wood at all and are very minamalist
>> in there handling. Hard to describe these wines but they bear very
>> little resemblence to any chardonnay that I've ever had before. Hana
>> Shinobu shows a saline character with lime, grapefruit and mineral
>> notes that reminds me more of Sake than Chardonnay. Quite lean and
>> precise. The Hamon was slightly heavier with pronounced citrus peel,
>> mandarin orange and slightly floral. These wines were more like
>> Sauvingon Blanc than chardonnay.
>>
> I was interested in the name (by the way, it is diato*m*.) Googling
> Brewer's pages, all I see is mysticism about how pure is diatomaceous
> earth and assignment of Kanji characters to land parcels. What's
> actually going on; are the vines grown in diatomaceous dirt or are the
> the wines filtered with diatomaceous earth? The pages are irritatingly
> hard to read; typically gray letters on light gray, so I may have missed
> something.
>
Can I just add one of the OED's quotes:

1883 Cassell's Family Mag. 507/1 The best diatomaceous earth is the
‘Kieselguhr’ of Hanover, which serves for the preparation of dynamite.

Should be able to make something of dynamite wine!




--
Jim Silverton (Potomac, MD)

Extraneous "not" in Reply To.

2011 Diatom Chardonnays
 

On 9/14/12 2:58 PM, James Silverton wrote:

> Can I just add one of the OED's quotes:
>
> 1883 Cassell's Family Mag. 507/1 The best diatomaceous earth is the
> ‘Kieselguhr’ of Hanover, which serves for the preparation of dynamite.

Kieselguhr, as you may know, Jim, is widely used in preparative
chemistry for the purification of compounds. It's quite a good
adsorbent (and I wouldn't be surprised if it has been used to fine wine
in the distant past). Most silaceous soil, though, has some amount of
diatomaceous earth in it, I would expect.

Mark Lipton


--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

2011 Diatom Chardonnays
 

On Sep 14, 2:21*pm, James Silverton > wrote:
> On 9/14/2012 10:41 AM, Bi!! wrote:> Greg Brewer of Brewer-Clifton wines released two wines recently from
> > his Diaton project. *The 2011 Hana Shinbu and 2011 Hamon Chardonnays.
> > These are tank fermented, see no wood at all and are very minamalist
> > in there handling. *Hard to describe these wines but they bear very
> > little resemblence to any chardonnay that I've ever had before. *Hana
> > Shinobu shows a saline character with lime, grapefruit and mineral
> > notes that reminds me more of Sake than Chardonnay. *Quite lean and
> > precise. *The Hamon was slightly heavier with pronounced citrus peel,
> > mandarin orange and slightly floral. *These wines were more like
> > Sauvingon Blanc than chardonnay.
>
> I was interested in the name (by the way, it is diato*m*.) Googling
> Brewer's pages, all I see is mysticism about how pure is diatomaceous
> earth and assignment of Kanji characters to land parcels. What's
> actually going on; are the vines grown in diatomaceous dirt or are the
> the wines filtered *with diatomaceous earth? The pages are irritatingly
> hard to read; typically gray letters on light gray, so I may have missed
> something.
>
> --
> Jim Silverton (Potomac, MD)
>
> Extraneous "not" in Reply To.

Sorry about the typo. I do much of this on an ipad now and frankly,
the touch-keypad stinks. I think Greg Brewer takes himself a bit too
seriously and all the mystical stuff is probably just marketing
bulls**t. It appears that there are some diatomaceous layers in the
vineyards but honestly, I think the wine is really about, cold
fermentation in stainless steel, no malo and very little interference
from the lees while aging. The wines are very linear and precise.
Interesting and fun to try but they bear little resemblence to
traditional Chardonnay or even Chablis. I'm not sure about
distribution but I suspect that wherever Melville and Brewer & Clifton
wines are distributed you can find Diatom.