Winemaker Notes
#63 Jeb Dunnuck Top 100 of 2025
One of the darker, more sultry pinots from our Small Lot Collection, Block M is an intriguing wine with a slightly “unfriendly” attitude (think dark red fruits, dark soil aromas, nori and soy). Once you get to know it, however, the experience becomes highly rewarding. The magic is found in the density of fruit concentration...Block M’s tiny berries have thicker skins with more grip, tannins, and phenolics than any other pinot in our repertoire. This wine is full of dark cherry, plum, cedar box and blood orange, with fresh acidity and a depth of concentration on the mouth. It is best paired with a grilled prime ribeye, freshly- cracked white pepper, a drizzle of the best extra virgin olive oil, and some fleur de sel finishing salt.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Fermented with 80% whole clusters and aged in neutral wood, the 2023 Pinot Noir Block M sees the highest stem inclusion in the lineup. Ruby/plum in hue, it offers black raspberries, spice, rose petals, and damp underbrush, with beautifully integrated stems. Medium-bodied and vibrant, it has a seamless texture, sound underlying structure, and a gorgeous finish. This might be the finest Pinot Noir I've tasted from Melville.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The most multifaceted and complete of the Melville Pinot Noirs is the 2023 Pinot Noir Block M, a selection of 114 and 115 clones situated above the blocks that supply the Terraces bottling, fermented with 80% whole clusters. It bounds from the glass with the most expressive aromatic profile of the range, seamlessly fusing mineral, saline, citrus and floral notes with a complex web that perfectly encapsulates the profile typical of the northern Sta. Rita Hills. The palate paints a similarly complex picture, combining density, elasticity and a distinct sense of buoyancy that carries through the concentrated, lively and multidimensional finish, only growing more complex and refined as it opens in the glass. Despite the youthfully taut nature of the Melville lineup.
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Vinous
The 2023 Pinot Noir Estate Block M is wonderful, and also the most generous, accessible and complete of these small-lot bottlings today. Rounded and supple, it's soft-spoken but oozes with floral complexity. Blood orange, lavender, potpourri, incense and sandalwood aromas drip with finesse and elegance, enshrouding a long, layered finish. The 80% whole clusters are perfectly integrated. The 2023 rings out in harmony.
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Wine Spectator
A distinctive red, with savory, rosemary, sanguine and rose hip threads that ripple through a core of gently mulled blood orange, bitter cherry and damson plum. Subtle echoes of mesquite and sous-bois linger on the finish.
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.