WTN: Brewer-Clifton Pinot Noir

This was Zotovich (vineyard ?) 2008.
I was attracted to this bottle by two things. The alcohol was 12.8 and the price, the sign said, used to be 50 something and was now 36 bucks.
Does anybody know who these guys are and can express an opinion?

Apparently this is Santa Rita Hills. Usually I thought the wines from there are pretty high alcohol.

The wine itself is interesting but hasn't won me over. It tastes honest, but doesn't make me want to drink an entire bottle with glee.
The nose is changeable and interesting. The finish a bit astringent. I wonder if this will blossom with bottle age or the burgundians' hundreds of years experience gives them a leg up.

Brewer-Clifton is named for Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton who own that label. Both are connected to a number of wineries in that area. They are known for a more ripe and higher alcohol style but 2008 was a very cold growing season in the area so my guess is that is what they got from the vintage. By comparison their 2009 Brewer-Clifton Clos Pepe vineyard that I had a couple weeks ago was listed at 14.9 but reported to be 15.3%. Zotovich vineyard is in the SRH which as a region is a very cool climate that gets a lot of sun. I don't know where in the region that vineyard is located. For most vineyards there It is very easy to have 15% alcohol and retain significant acidity. I have noticed more Brewer-Clifton wines available at retail in my area lately so not sure if there has been a decrease in interest. Still $36 is a decent price for them in the current market. I have only a few years experience with SRH PN so not sure how they change with age.

Thanks Brian. I was hoping the 12.8 alc. was intentional. I still don't understand the herd-like mentality to produce high alcohol wines in Cali. In the 70's and 80's there were almost no wines above 14%. Certainly climate change alone doesn't account for the spike in alcohol levels. I don't see why they can make delicious, complex 13% alc. wines in Sicily which is almost north africa but not in California.

As far as the price, I guess they might be feeling the hard times. I did do a little reading on B-C and apparently you could only find their wines in restaurants before. I found this bottle (and there's another, Carmel vineyard, with 14.1 alc) at a crappy little wine store in NC, discounted.