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ARTISAN WINE & SPIRITS · MOUNTAIN VIEW
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⚠ 100% Unoaked · The Highest-Quality American Chardonnay at This Price · $21.97
Diatom 2024 by Greg Brewer · JD 94 · WS 93 (#18 of 2025) · VM 93 · JS 93
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DIATOM · GREG BREWER · SANTA BARBARA COUNTY · CHARDONNAY 2024
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Wine Spectator Top 100 · Second Year Running · 100% Unoaked
Greg Brewer Walked
So Sea Smoke Could Run.
The 2024 Diatom is here.
Four critics at 93+ points. 100% unoaked · pure stainless steel · $21.97 a bottle. The most highly-reviewed unoaked Chardonnay in California.
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94
Jeb Dunnuck
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93
#18 WS 2025
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93
Suckling
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93
Vinous
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All four major American critics. All at 93+ points. All for a $21.97 Chardonnay.
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What Makes Diatom Different
100% Unoaked.
Pure Stainless Steel.
No oak. No malolactic. Just salinity, citrus, white peach and minerality — Chardonnay as a transparent expression of the ocean-fossilized soil it grows in.
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The Story
The Man Who Put
the Santa Rita Hills on the Map.
In 1995, Greg Brewer co-founded Brewer-Clifton and almost immediately changed how California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir were sold — he was one of the earliest producers to bottle single-vineyard wines rather than regional blends. The trade noticed. Accolades piled up.
In 1999, he helped start Melville Winery and stole the spotlight a second time. That put the Santa Rita Hills on the map. Two years later, when Sea Smoke debuted in 2001, the region had finally earned its due respect — and Greg had quietly been the architect of it all.
In 2005, he started Diatom as a passion project to capture Chardonnay in its most pure, unadulterated state. Named for diatomaceous earth — the plankton fossil that forms the oceanic landscape of Santa Barbara County — Diatom is fermented at low temperatures in small stainless-steel tanks with inhibited malolactic fermentation. No oak. No tricks. Just Chardonnay.
Greg has now outdone himself with the 2024 Diatom — its second appearance in Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of the Year (this year at #18; the previous vintage was #37 of 2023). Aged six months in stainless steel. Zero oak. Inhibited malolactic. This isn't a flash in the pan. This is the standard.
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The Punchline
The Highest-Quality $21.97
American Chardonnay in Existence.
Vinous put it best: "a gorgeous, singular wine… especially at its ridiculously low price point."
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All Four Reviews · Word for Word
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94 Points — Jeb Dunnuck
"Based on 100% Chardonnay and aged six months in stainless steel vats, the 2024 Chardonnay has a medium to light gold hue and offers exotic citrus, minty herbs, and subtle tropical flower notes that all define this clean, crisp, remarkably pure Chardonnay. It puts on weight and richness with time in the glass and is a terrific mix of both richness and freshness. This is a no-brainer purchase for those who love Santa Barbara County Chardonnay, and I love its purity. Drink 2025–2030."
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93 Points — Wine Spectator · #18 of 2025
"This white's sleek mix of ripe pear, ginger and pomelo flavors show striking restraint, coiled around a mouthwatering thread of acidity. Details of lime zest, white peppercorn and dried tarragon linger, along with a whiff of sea spray. Drink now." — MaryAnn Worobiec
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93 Points — Vinous · Antonio Galloni
"The 2024 Chardonnay is, yet again, a gorgeous, singular wine with so much regional identity and soul, especially at its ridiculously low price point. There's fabulous weight and density here, eschewing varietal signature in favor of floral lift, creamy, oily yet weightless textures, and a long, salt-lick of a finish. This is such an impressively high-quality wine. 2025–2031."
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93 Points — James Suckling
"This has a succulent texture, remaining pure and long throughout. Salinity, minerals and springtime blossoms stay taut alongside lemons and crunchy orchard fruit with a lingering kick of tactile melon pith. Drink or hold."
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Order the 2024 Diatom
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2024 Diatom Chardonnay
Santa Barbara County
JD 94 · WS 93 #18 of '25 · VM 93 · JS 93
Was: $27.00
$21.97
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★ Top California Chardonnays With Finesse of 2026 ★
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Our Curated Finesse Lineup
Four More California Chardonnays
Built on Restraint, Not Oak.
If the Diatom philosophy resonates — transparency, purity, salinity over oak — these four are the natural next bottles to know. While they last.
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JS 92 · JD 91 · VM 91 · 7 in Stock
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Jonata / The Hilt's Little Sibling · Matt Dees
2023 The Paring by Jonata Chardonnay
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92
Suckling
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91
Dunnuck
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91
Vinous
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Sourced from the same Ballard Canyon / Sta. Rita Hills / Santa Maria fruit as Jonata and The Hilt — just younger blocks and broader-appellation parcels. Jeb Dunnuck calls it "a terrific value." Suckling: "energetic and textural… a filigree of minerality."
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WA 93+ · VM 93 · 11 in Stock
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Santa Cruz Mtns · Own-Rooted Wente Clone · Planted 1980
2022 Arnot-Roberts "Trout Gulch Vineyard" Chardonnay
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93+
Wine Advocate
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93
Vinous (Galloni)
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From own-rooted, dry-farmed vines planted in 1980. Wine Advocate: "Cutting and laser-like… one of the more consistent Chardonnays in California, and its bright, strident style has positively influenced others toward restraint and vibrancy." Galloni: "a stellar wine… steely and vibrant."
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JS 95 · WS 90 · 9 in Stock
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Sonoma Valley · The Burgundian Pioneer Estate (1953)
2022 Hanzell Vineyards "Sebella" Chardonnay
Hanzell was founded in 1953 by Ambassador James D. Zellerbach to make Burgundy in California — one of the first estates ever to plant Chardonnay and Pinot Noir at scale in North America. The "Sebella" is from younger blocks of their historic Day & Zellerbach vineyards, 100% stainless steel + 6 months neutral French oak. Suckling: "precise and focused… lovely freshness and tension."
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DM 94 · VM 91 · 9 in Stock
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Napa · Spring Mountain · 2,100 ft Above the Fog
2024 Pride Mountain Vineyards Chardonnay
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94
Decanter
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91
Vinous (Galloni)
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From the historic Summit Ranch estate above the fog line at 2,100 ft on Spring Mountain. Only 10% new oak. Decanter (94): "beautifully bright, crisp, sea-spray-driven… tension-driven and full of energy." Galloni: "Bright, lithe and nuanced." A more textured, higher-priced Chardonnay for the cellar.
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Diatom 2024 · Greg Brewer · The Best Value in American Chardonnay
JD 94. WS 93 (#18 of '25).
VM 93. JS 93.
$21.97.
Greg Brewer walked so Sea Smoke could run — and the wine he's making for under $25 is what every other producer in Santa Barbara is trying to make for three times the price. Wine Spectator put it in the Top 100 two of the last three years. This is what a Chardonnay genius delivers on a value bottle.
Cheers,
James Tran
Artisan Wine & Spirits · Mountain View, CA
Questions? Chat live · sales@artisan.wine
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