Winemaker Notes
The epitome of “sense of place,” Block M mirrors in the glass the intensity endured at the hand of Mother Nature. Thick skinned berries create textural power and intensity, flooding the mouth with flavors of rhubarb, concentrated dried cassis, and warming fall spices. Hints of slow-drip coffee grounds follow with savory tannins, balanced by an electric freshness.
Block M holds up beautifully with grilled or braised red meats and rich sauces.
Blend: 100% Pinot Noir
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Similarly hued, the 2021 Pinot Noir Block M (80% whole clusters) has a gorgeous perfume of ripe red fruits, flowery incense, perfume, rose hips, and orange blossom. Complex, medium-bodied, and seamless on the palate, it has fine-grained tannins, wonderful purity, and a great finish. It's one of the most complex, nuanced, and perfumed wines in the vintage and I absolutely love it. Give bottles a year or three and enjoy over the following decade or more.
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Wine Enthusiast
Dark cherry and juicy strawberry aromas fit well into the Melville lineup, but this bottling is more brooding, with dark bay leaf and peppercorn depth. Zippy in acidity, the palate is loaded with patchouli and incense flavors that balance the strawberry fruit. Sappy tannins ensure a long life.
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James Suckling
Very clear aromas of terra-cotta and strawberries. Hibiscus as well. Spices like white pepper. Medium- to full-bodied. Linear and energetic with structure and intensity. Chewy yet agile.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Pinot Noir Block M is scented of raspberry and blackberry preserves, blood orange, aniseed, tobacco and wildflowers with amaro-like undertones. The medium-bodied palate has a concentrated core of fragrant fruit framed by dusty tannins and vibrant acidity, and it has a long, spicy finish.
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Wine & Spirits
Chad Melville’s pinot noirs remain some of the most stylish in the Sta. Rita Hills, as his collection of 2021s demonstrate. Block M is a hilltop in the direct line of the ocean winds. That partly accounts for the smoky, black-fruited, chiseled quality to the fruit here, with its scents of clove and cardamom, lavender and black tea. There’s a meatiness lent by herby stem notes, all of it delivered with a linear textural thrust, giving it great potential for cellaring.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
A superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.