Melville Sandy's Block Pinot Noir 2021
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Wine
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Jeb
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Robert
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Wine &
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Aromatically is full of enticingly ripe fruits such as black currents and bing cherries, along with oranges, rose hips, and smoky sandalwood. On the palate, the wine has a lively amount of acidity as well as juicy, well-integrated tannins that provide a strong backbone for the wine that just won't quit.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Lively aromas of strawberry, raspberry, wild mint and tarragon make for a stunning nose on this bottling, presenting bright, juicy red fruit with potent herbs in complementary ways. Bay, eucalyptus leaf and cracked rainbow-pepper-corn flavors spice up the raspberry jam core of the palate.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Leading off the reds, the 2021 Pinot Noir Sandy's comes from vines planted in 1997 (by Brent and Chad Melville) and was 50% destemmed and aged in neutral oak. It reveals a translucent ruby hue as well as terrific intensity in its mulled cherries, black tea, orange zest, and loamy soil-like nuances. It's complex, medium to full-bodied, has a fresher, focused, chiseled style, and outstanding length, with just a kiss of classic Sta. Rita Hills marine-like salinity on the finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Pinot Noir Sandy's Block, vinified with 50% whole clusters, has detailed aromas of smoked cranberries, mossy bark, wildflowers and bitter orange. The medium-bodied palate features a surprisingly concentrated core of fruit framed by chalky tannins and fireworks of fresh acidity, and it has a long, perfumed finish.
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Wine & Spirits
Sandy is Melville’s aunt, as well as an appropriate name for this stretch of pure sand planted to a range of clones. That mix of vines builds complexity into the aromatics of this wine, boosted by 25 percent of whole clusters in the fermentation, matured in neutral oak barrels. It’s all lavender and black-tea notes, with fleshy plum fruit, ready for a game feast, like venison tenderloin with a cherry reduction.
Other Vintages
2020-
Robert
Parker -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine
Enthusiast
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine &
Spirits
-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker -
Wine &
Spirits
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker -
Wine &
Spirits
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast
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.