Melville Donna's Syrah 2016

  • 95 Wine &
    Spirits
Sold Out - was $49.99
OFFER Take $20 off your order of $100+
Ships Thu, Apr 4
You purchased this 3/17/24
0
Limit Reached
You purchased this 3/17/24
Alert me about new vintages and availability
Melville Donna's Syrah 2016  Front Bottle Shot
Melville Donna's Syrah 2016  Front Bottle Shot Melville Donna's Syrah 2016 Front Label

Product Details


Varietal

Region

Producer

Vintage
2016

Size
750ML

ABV
14.8%

Features
Boutique

Your Rating

0.0 Not For Me NaN/NaN/N

Somm Note

Winemaker Notes

Dark magenta in color, with rich and savory aromatics of beef tartare, teriyaki, cocoa powder, and dried nori are immediately apparent. With time, lifted nuances of white peppercorns, ginger, fennel and salt water taffy emerge. The palate presence is juicy and concentrated, with mouthwatering ripe tannins and excellent purity along with a vibrant streak of acidity that anchors the wine’s voluptuous and elongated finish.

Professional Ratings

  • 95

    The sand at Donna’s Block is 20 feet deep, well drained and lacking much in terms of nutrients for the vines. Chad Melville ferments the grapes from those vines entirely as whole clusters, then ages the wine for a year in neutral French oak. The result is a wine with intensity and length of flavor, rather than any excess weight. It smells coastal, like beach roses in a sand dune, and it feels as curvaceous as a dune, salty, spicy, floral and shaped by the wind. The flavors are delicious and remarkably long.

Other Vintages

2012
  • 99 Robert
    Parker
2004
  • 91 Robert
    Parker
  • 90 Wine
    Enthusiast
Melville

Melville

View all products
Melville, California
Melville The Story of Melville Winery Video

Melville is a family-owned, 100% estate, organic vineyard and winery in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA of Santa Barbara County.

They produce Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah, and a small amount of Grenache. All their wines, from the flagship Estate

Pinot Noir to the Small Lot Collection Donna's Block Syrah, are hand-grown and hand-made 100 cases at a time.

Their founder Ron Melville carefully selected the location of the estate for its proximity to the Pacific Ocean as well as

the soil composition - predominantly sandy loam and diatomaceous earth with sections of clay. You can be too close

to the ocean and struggle with getting fruit ripe, and you can also be further away and struggle with temperatures that

are too hot...Melville is in the sweet spot.

The Melville's have been practicing responsible farming for over three decades, and since 1997 in the Sta. Rita Hills

when brothers Chad and Brent Melville planted the estate vineyards (before the AVA was formally established). They

take great pride in their commitment to "winegrowing"…working in harmony with Mother Nature to nurture their land

through organic and sustainable farming practices to ensure that all of the most crucial work is done in the vineyard.

The Sta. Rita Hills AVA is incredibly unique for a few reasons:

• It lies within a transverse mountain range, meaning that the mountains on either side of the valley are running

east-to-west from the ocean rather than north-to south. This is the only transverse mountain range in North

America.

• It has the longest growing season in North America. The growing season starts early (bud bread in late

February) and ends relatively late (Melville is often harvesting into late November) because they have a mild winter

and a cold, sunny summer. This environment of consistent "cold sunshine" allows for a long, slow ripening

and wines that showcase high acidity with ripe aromas/flavors.

Stylistically, They choose to only use neutral wood. With the vines being 25+ years old, they have reached a maturity

that Melville is proud of. The vines are creating the best fruit ever and they want their customers taste the flavors of Sta.

Rita Hills and Mother Nature in their purest form.

Stem inclusion during fermentation has been a key to Melville wines. They create aromatic lift, add tannins, and can

bring another dimension of flavor to the palate, including savoriness and spiciness. When using stems, it is important

to ensure they are fully ripe to avoid green, unpleasant, vegetal flavors. Fortunately, the Sta. Rita Hills' long growing

season allows for fully ripened stems.

Image for Syrah / Shiraz Wine content section
View all products

Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”

Image for Sta. Rita Hills Wine Santa Barbara, California content section

Sta. Rita Hills Wine

Santa Barbara, California

View all products

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.

CHMMLV4101116_2016 Item# 395951

Internet Explorer is no longer supported.
Please use a different browser like Edge, Chrome or Firefox to enjoy all that Wine.com has to offer.

It's easy to make the switch.
Enjoy better browsing and increased security.

Yes, Update Now

Search for ""