2017 Melville Sta. Rita Hills Syrah

Syrah - 750ML
Reg: $37.94
$34.94
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REVIEWS

WE 94 WA 92 JD 90
WE 94

Wine Enthusiast, January 2020

Vivid aromas of cracked peppercorn, dewy pepper trees, spicy bay leaf and damp herbs show on the nose of this estate Syrah—a great way to experience the cool-climate expression. Underripe black-raspberry and juniper-berry...
WA 92

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, September 2019

Medium ruby colored, the 2017 Syrah Estate has a nose of spiced blueberries, blackberries, tricolored peppercorn, burnt sage, garrigue and olive with smoked meats and licorice. Medium to full-bodied, it offers restrained...
JD 90

jebdunnuck.com, October 2019

Moving to the Syrahs, the 2017 Syrah Estate Sta. Rita Hills was mostly destemmed (70%) and brought up in neutral barrels. It reveals a semi-opaque color as well as notes of blackberries, ground herbs, cedarwood, and...

WINE DETAILS

Color & Type Red
Varietal Syrah
Country USA
Region California
Sub-region Central Coast
Appellation Santa Barbara
Sub-appellation Santa Rita Hills
Vintage 2017
Size 750ML
Percent alcohol 13.8%
Closure Cork

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.

The fruit for this wine comes exclusively from Melville’s Sta. Rita Hills estate and is a combination of two different Syrah clones (Estrella and Clone 99). The Estrella is from Donna’s block which is planted on well-drained, nutrient-deficient sand. The neutrality of that soil always lends an intoxicating, high-toned bouquet of flowers and spice while the Clone 99 from Block I is planted on denser sandy-loam soil, bringing depth and richness.

70% of the fruit is gently de-stemmed with 30% remaining as whole clusters. It’s all fermented in small 1.5 ton open top fermenters. Total skin and stem contact average 30 days (7 day cold soak, 2+ weeks fermentation, and 1+ week extended maceration). From the press, the wine is transferred directly to neutral barrels (5-20 year old French oak) where it remains sur lie with no sulfur until May, when it is gently pressure racked for the first time and prepared for bottling in August.