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Melville
www.melvillewinery.com
Map location of Melville

Melville Team (left to right): Brent Melville, Ron Melville, Chad Melville, Greg Brewer


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Map of Melville Vineyard
Country of Origin: USA
Location: Sta. Rita Hills
People: Ron Melville, Owner | Greg Brewer, Winemaker


History: In 1989, Melville Vineyards, a family-owned and operated enterprise was founded in Sonoma County's Knights Valley, where Ron Melville grew high quality, much sought after Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. In 1996, Ron's desire to grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay brought Melville Vineyards and his sons Chad and Brent, to Lompoc's Sta. Rita Hills appellation, located in the western Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County, California. Since then, they have also developed an interest in Rhone varietals, particularly Northern Rhone Syrah and Viognier. The Melville estate achieves quality through the integrity of its farming practice and its respect to the microclimate.

Vineyards:The soil is Lompoc dune sand, with various blocks possessing clay loam with shallow hard pans of Monterey shale. The vineyard is planted at a spacing of 8 x 3 (1812 vines per acre) and are oriented North/South.139 acres planted with 255,000 vines of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and two Rhone varietals, Syrah and Viognier between both Sta. Rita Hills location and Verna's Vineyard in Los Alamos. There are 14 different clones of Pinot Noir, 9 different clones of Syrah and 6 different clones of Chardonnay all grafted on a variety of low vigor rootstocks. 100 acres on Verna's Vineyard in Cat Canyon, 2 miles North of Los Alamos in the Santa Barbara County Appellation, which is primarily dedicated to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah. Vines are all vertically shoot positioned with aggressive canopy management to insure proper ripening and varietal development.

Winemaking: At the time of harvest, they consider the wines to already be made, and take every precaution to not interfere with their own natural path of evolution. Compromised fruit is dropped before the time of harvest, and fruit is sorted at picking to eliminate any possibility of marginal fruit entering the winery. The Chardonnay is gently whole-cluster pressed at a cool temperature, is cold-settled overnight and then gravity transferred to French cooperage for fermentation and aging. The Pinot Noir and Syrah are either de-stemmed or transferred directly to small, 1.5 ton fermenters where they are cold-soaked for five to eight days before the initiation of fermentation. Upon the completion of fermentation, the wine will remain in contact with the stems and skins for an additional seven to ten days allowing for the development of long chain, supple tannins. At pressing, the fermenters are dumped directly into the press with the wine then transferred directly into barrel. Upon elevage on gross lees with no SO2, the wines are pressure racked once following the waning moon after the Summer solstice, and are bottled two lunar cycles thereafter with neither fining nor filtration. Melville's strength as wine growers consists of careful selection of vineyard properties, isolation and study of vineyard blocks, calculated composting, complex cover cropping practice and deficit irrigation, matched with a tremendous amount of crop reduction and canopy management.

"Winemaker Greg Brewer and grower Chad Melville continue to knock it out of the park with these Melville releases. Focusing on site, if not plot, specific releases, neutral oak, no SO2 until racking and varying degrees of whole cluster are the norm here. The wines have individual characters and, stylistically, lean toward the more complex, finesse-driven side of the spectrum. They 'wow' more for their balance and nuance than their power and richness. They also remain reasonably priced!" - The Wine Advocate 8/2013

Melville wines are vegetarian. No egg or fish products are used.

Media Links
cdsavoia YouTube: Atypical Wine - Winemaker Greg Brewer
cdsavoia YouTube: Potential to be profound with simplicity...

Social Media
Melville Facebook
Items
Melville 2011 Chardonnay, Verna's, Santa Barbara Net Price Reviews —
Melville 2012 Estate Chardonnay, Sta. Rita Hills Net Price Reviews —
Melville 2012 Viognier, Verna's, Santa Barbara Net Price Reviews —
Melville 2012 Estate Pinot Noir, Block M, Sta. Rita Hills Net Price — —
Melville 2011 Estate Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills Net Price Reviews —
Melville 2012 Estate Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills Net Price Reviews —
Melville 2012 Estate Pinot Noir, Terraces, Sta. Rita Hills Net Price — —
Melville 2012 Pinot Noir, Verna's, Santa Barbara Net Price — —
Melville 2011 Syrah, Verna's, Santa Barbara Net Price Reviews —
Reviews
Melville 2011 Chardonnay, Verna's, Santa Barbara
Rating: 91

Light gold. Musky aromas of orchard and pit fruits, toasty lees and butter. Sweet and full but vibrant too, with suavely integrated acidity leavening the ripe pear and nectarine flavors. Spreads out on the back end without any loss of vivacity. Finishes ripe and smooth, with lingering smokiness and excellent persistence.

- International Wine Cellar (12/1/2012)

Melville 2011 Estate Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills
Rating: 92

Bright red. Assertive aromas of raspberry, cherry and candied rose, with suave Asian spice and mineral accents building with air. Juicy and precise on the palate, offering sappy red fruit preserve flavors and a hint of star anise. Shows impressive energy and clarity on the long finish, featuring a zesty blood orange nuance.

- International Wine Cellar (12/1/2013)

Melville 2011 Estate Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills
Rating: 91

Looking at the reds, the 2011 Pinot Noir Estate, which saw 40% whole clusters in fermentation, offers up a translucent ruby color as well as a complex, savory bouquet of currants, black cherries, stem, pepper, smoke and a gun flint-like minerality. Aged all in neutral barrels, this medium-bodied, supple 2011 has good ripeness, a light, clean texture and solid length on the finish. While there’s not a huge amount of depth here, I love the overall balance and it is downright fun to drink. Enjoy it over the coming 3-4 years. Drink now-2017.

- The Wine Advocate (8/29/2013)

Melville 2011 Syrah, Verna's, Santa Barbara
Rating: 91

Inky ruby. Potent dark berry, Indian spices, minerals and black olive on the nose. Fat, juicy, gently sweet blackberry and cassis flavors are underscored by peppery spice and candied licorice qualities that gain energy with air. The smoke and dark fruit elements repeat on the youthfully tannic, spice-tinged finish: sweet, focused and long.

- International Wine Cellar (12/1/2013)

Melville 2011 Syrah, Verna's, Santa Barbara
Rating: 92

Looking at the Syrah, the 2011 Syrah Verna’s is a supple, sexy effort that’s loaded with black cherry liqueur, blackberry, pepper, stem, bacon fat and assorted meatiness on the nose. Filling in beautifully on the palate, with a medium-bodied profile, this knockout, voluptuously textured effort has no hard edges, serious purity of fruit and ripe tannin that emerges through the finish. Taking the better part of a day to shine, this beauty should be given another 2-3 years of bottle age and consumed over the following 7-8 years. Drink 2015-2022.

- The Wine Advocate (8/29/2013)

Melville 2012 Estate Chardonnay, Sta. Rita Hills
Rating: 91

Pale gold. Powerful scents of tangerine, pear skin and iodine, with a racy streak of smoky minerals adding vivacity. Pure, focused and linear on the palate, offering fresh lemon, orange and orchard fruit flavors and a musky floral quality. Very deep but refreshingly brisk, with a penetrating note of dusty minerals on the long, focused finish.

- International Wine Cellar (12/1/2013)

Melville 2012 Estate Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills
Rating: 92

Deep, vivid red. Sexy raspberry preserve and blood orange aromas are complemented by white flowers and Asian spices. Silky and round on the palate, with tangy minerality lifting pliant red fruit preserve flavors. Balances opulence and vivacity and finishes sappy, focused and very long, with a suave floral nuance.

- International Wine Cellar (12/1/2013)

Melville 2012 Viognier, Verna's, Santa Barbara
Rating: 91

Light yellow. Fresh lemon and peach aromas are complemented by notes of violet, white pepper and beeswax. Pliant, gently creamy citrus and pit flavors are enlivened by tangy minerality, which adds lift and nervy cut. A hint of succulent herbs comes up on the sharply focused, spicy finish, which lingers on. Quite racy for the variety, especially for a New World version.

- International Wine Cellar (12/1/2013)

Melville 2012 Viognier, Verna's, Santa Barbara
Rating: 90

A beautifully done Viognier that has both richness and freshness, the 2012 Viognier Estate Verna’s, which had no malolactic fermentation and spent three months in neutral barrel, offers up classic white peach, white flower, apricots and hints of honey blossom as well as medium-bodied, textured palate and a clean, focused finish. Drink this beauty over the coming year or two. Drink now-2014.

- The Wine Advocate (8/29/2013)