2020 Melville Pinot Noir Block M

Pinot Noir - 750ML
$69.94
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REVIEWS

WA 97 WE 95 JD 94 VN 94
WA 97

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, December 2022

The 2020 Pinot Noir Block M is beautifully expressive this vintage, with very pretty scents of blackberry, raspberry and pomegranate with wafts of tar, lavender, prosciutto, mushrooms and blood orange. The medium-bodied...
WE 95

Wine Enthusiast, January 2023

Dark in the glass, this bottling is concentrated on the nose with black cherry, cola, loamy earth, wild thyme and black olive aromas. The palate is bold as well, showing ripe boysenberry, mint chocolate chip and peppered...
JD 94

jebdunnuck.com, August 2022

94+ Last of the Pinot Noir, the 2020 Pinot Noir Block M comes from a higher point in the estate vineyard and thin soils. It always sees a lot of stems, and the 2020 was fermented with 80% whole clusters and aged all in...
VN 94

Vinous, August 2022

The 2020 Pinot Noir Block M is a wild wine that very much reflects its site, perched atop a hill on the western side of the property where exposure to wind and sun, along with clay-rich soils, yields a distinctly virile...

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 2020
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.

Block M is a windswept mesa on the west side of Melville estate, lying adjacent to their Terraces block. Sitting atop a sun exposed mesa with several feet of botella clay soil, the extremity of Block M is enhanced by the gravitational pull of three exposed sides, forcing the roots to search deeper for sustenance.

Block M is made up of equal amounts of clones 114 and 115. The lesser known 114 is lush, velvety and textural with an elegantly pliant internal core, while clone 115 delivers fruit at a higher pitch and a more structurally pronounced personality. The marriage of these complementary components is what renders Melville’s Block M bottling so complete. 30% of the fruit is gently de-stemmed with 70% remaining as whole clusters.