Melville Sta. Rita Hills Estate Pinot Noir 2017
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
The Somm
Journal -
Wilfred
Wong -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
Crisp aromas of raspberry sorbet and cherry-mint glaze meet with a touch of green herbs and menthol on the nose of this bottling, which enlivens the senses. Fresh strawberry and blistered tomato flavors arise on the sip, backed by eucalyp- tus and pine-needle touches, making for a glass that’s guzzled quickly.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from vines around the estate, the 2017 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills is based on a mix of clones and was 60% destemmed and brought up all in totally neutral oak. It’s a classic Melville Pinot Noir that jumps from the glass with its spiced red and black fruits, dried flower, marine-like salinity, bay leaf, and forest floor aromas and flavors. Balanced, medium-bodied, and elegant on the palate, with light tannins and nicely integrated acidity, it can be drunk today or cellared for a decade.
-
The Somm Journal
Utilizing 16 of the estate’s 17 Pinot Noir clones, this red-fruited roundup of flavor and texture starts with pungent aromas of damp tilled soil and mushroom. It’s an earth mother to its core, with a tart cherry middle and enthusiastic acidity. Sugared beets add a slightly chalky mouthfeel on the finish, making for an accomplished wine.
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 Melville Estate Pinot Noir shows excellent intensity and balance. TASTING NOTES: This wine brings aromas and flavors of wild strawberries, dried herbs, and earth. Enjoy it with a well-spiced, lamb stew. (Tasted: August 22, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Pinot Noir Estate was made using about 40% whole cluster, without new oak. Pale to medium ruby, the nose features bright cranberries, rhubarb, citrus peel and dusty earth aromas. The palate is light to medium-bodied with bright, bitters-laced fruits accented by notes of iodine and tea leaves, softly framed and fresh and finishing long.
Other Vintages
2021-
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine &
Spirits
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine &
Spirits -
Wilfred
Wong
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker -
Wilfred
Wong
- Decanter
-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker -
Wine &
Spirits -
Jeb
Dunnuck
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine &
Spirits -
Robert
Parker -
Jeb
Dunnuck
-
Wine
Enthusiast - Decanter
-
Robert
Parker
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker
-
Robert
Parker
-
Wine
Enthusiast
-
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast
-
Robert
Parker
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.
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.