156: Greg Brewer - Brewer-Clifton, Datom, and Ex Post Facto

Inside Winemaking - the art and science of growing grapes and crafting wine

Greg Brewer - Brewer-Clifton, Datom, and Ex Post facto

This episode features Greg Brewer, founder and winemaker at Brewer-Clifton, which is a winery in Santa Barbara producing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Our conversation runs the gamut from Greg’s background, his experience working with grapes from Santa Rita Hills, harvest and processing logistics, my jealousy for Santa Rita’s huge picking window, DIAM corks, Greg’s stainless bin fermentors, his philosophy in sourcing a block for vineyard designated wines before planting vines, how little analytical data plays into his winemaking, the stainless Chardonnay brand Diatom, and Syrah for Ex Post Facto.

• Brewer-Clifton - Santa Rita Hills

• Diatom Chardonnay - Santa Barbara County

• Ex Post Facto - Santa Barbara County

This podcast is sponsored by Flextank For nearly 20 years, winemakers in the United States and Europe have used Flextanks to make world-class wines. Flextanks have many uses in a winery including the maturation of wines. They breathe like a barrel with precise and consistent linear micro-oxygenation to your wines. The Flextank system uses its proprietary Flexstaves line of staves which are sourced from premier French and American cooperages to age both red and white wines.

Today’s technologies are playing a bigger and bigger role in wineries these days. Flextanks have a long track record of replacing traditional wood oak barrels with a revolutionary breathable polymer that is scientifically engineered to achieve Oxygen Transfer Rates similar to your choice of either a 2-year or neutral barrel. Independent scientific studies and trials have validated this technology. Unlike a barrel, however, the molecules you want to retain- like ethanol and water- do not escape the Flextank wall, which means these tanks do not lose the Angel’s share as with barrels…this means less topping is needed.

Not only do Flextanks breathe like a barrel, but they are also unbelievably simple to clean- reducing water and labor costs- and are designed in a variety of sizes and profiles to make more efficient space use in any cellar. Flextanks are built here in the United States and come with a free lifetime warranty.

To learn more about how you can modernize your winery and lower your barreling costs, simply go to Flextank.com. Discover how the Flextank system with Flexstaves is today’s new way to make award-winning wines.

Check out the Fundamentals of Winemaking Made Easy video course

The Inside Winemaking Podcast on iTunes

Now on Spotify

And Stitcher Radio Too