2010 Melville Pinot Noir Estate Santa Rita Hills

Pinot Noir - 375ML
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REVIEWS

WS 92 WA 91 WE 91 BH 90
WS 92

Wine Spectator, September 2012

Tight and fresh with vivid wild berry and raspberry character that's pure and spicy with a stemmy edge yet it works well as the fruit density and tannins fold together in a pleasing way. Drink now through 2022. -JL
WA 91

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, August 2012

Melville's 2010 Pinot Noir Estate presents an intriguing fabric of sweet candied cherries rose petals mint and sweet herbs. This is an especially juicy yet medium-bodied Pinot built on finesse and elegance. The 2010 is...
WE 91

Wine Enthusiast, May 2012

Rich and ripe in berry jam and spice flavors this Pinot is enjoyable now for its silky texture and bright acidity. At the same time it should develop bottle notes over the next six years.- S.H.
BH 90

Burghound, September 2012

Chad Melville noted that this was made with about 40% whole clusters. A notably floral nose also displays notes of red cherry raspberry and subtle spice nuances. There is excellent phenolic maturity to the lush round and...

WINE DETAILS

Color & Type Red
Varietal Pinot Noir
Country USA
Region California
Sub-region Central Coast
Appellation Santa Barbara
Sub-appellation Santa Rita Hills
Vintage 2010
Size 375ML

In 1996, founder Ron Melville's desire to grow cold-climate Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Syrah brought him to the Sta. Rita Hills where he established his winery, situated amongst the beautiful rolling hills where the grapes are grown exclusively in their three estate vineyards.

Melville currently has 120 acres under vine. The soil is mostly Lompoc dune sand, interspersed with clay loam and shallow hard pans of Monterey shale. The estate currently has 16 clones of Pinot Noir, 9 clones of Syrah, and 6 clones of Chardonnay - all on a variety of low-vigor rootstocks. All blocks are fermented in small lots and isolated through their entire period of elevage, which provides Melville’s team with an ongoing exhibition of how they can fine tune vineyard practices in order to achieve the most unmanipulated and site-specific wines possible.

Melville “grows their flavors,” using no new oak and adding only yeast.

This is 100% Melville fruit from their Sta. Rita Hills estate, and is a collection of 16 pinot noir clones. 40% of the fruit was fermented as whole-clusters with 60% gently de-stemmed in small (1.5 ton) open-top fermenters. Total skin and stem contact averages 30 days (7 day cold soak, 2 + weeks of fermentation and 1 + week extended maceration). From the press, the wine is transferred directly into neutral barrels (10+ year old French oak), where it remains sur lie without sulfur until June, when it is gently racked for the first time and prepared for bottling in August.