A Visit with Steve Clifton of Palmina Wines

On the day after visiting Clos Pepe we drove to Lompoc to meet with Steve Clifton of Palmina Wines. We were already familiar with Steve Clifton of the Brewer-Clifton Pinot Noir fame, but our mission that day was to learn about Barbera.

Palmina is located in Lompoc in an area known as the Wine Ghetto. We arrived at 10 a.m. and met Steve, who welcomed us to Palmina and even though this was the first time that we were meeting Steve, we immediately felt very comfortable. The wines at Palmina are a nod to Italian varietals. Steve let us taste his Malvasia Blanco, a grape that originated in the Mediterranean region and now grows in the Friuli-Venezia area in Italy. We next tasted Steve's line of Barbera wines and as we tasted his Barbera, he told us some of the viticultural practices he uses to ripen Barbera. My husband and Steve talked about the Barbera clones that we were interested in and Steve mentioned that he imported the Italian Barbera clones known as VCR 15 and 19. Steve mentioned that the Barbera went through the virus testing protocol at Foundation Plant Services and was commercially available in 4 years, which he felt was a very short turnaround time. The last Barbera that we had was a total surprise. It was a sparkling Barbera made in the methode champagnoise, the traditional style of making champagne! Before leaving, Steve gifted us with two of his Barberas, the sparkling Barbera and the 2011 Barbera Walker Vineyards. We had on hand a wine to give Steve as well, it was a 2003 Lopez de Heredia Bosconia. Steven expressed interest in a grape variety that we are growing called Auxerrois, which he had never tasted, so my husband said that he would ship Steve a bottle of Odinstal, an Auxerrois from Germany.