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All tasting notes
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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 88 pts. and median of 89 pts. in 24 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by SABERD1 on 10/16/2015 & rated 91 points: While the cork was crumbly, the wine was quite gorgeous with a great nose (1045 views) | | | Tasted by MLwine on 8/22/2012 & rated 87 points: Overly strong on both fruit and alcohol. No sense of balance whatsoever. (1721 views) | | | Tasted by DCHeel84 on 10/27/2011 & rated 88 points: some interesting and unusual fruit flavors, but disjointed (2011 views) | | | Tasted by blondon on 11/10/2009: Popped, enjoyed 1/2 the bottle over a couple of hours. Smoky nose with a hint of black olive. Tart blueberry flavors dominate, tons of acidity, good with baked ziti & turkey sausages. Midweight mouthfeel. Good finish. Nice QPR. (2151 views) | | | Tasted by Ben Christiansen on 3/12/2009: Just impenetrable fruit. The fruit is there but I can't get through it. (1636 views) | | | Tasted by ToniJ on 3/12/2009: definite olive neutral wood 1/3 whole cluster olive balck and green (3168 views) | | | Tasted by malper on 6/18/2008: graduation at Roy's (1193 views) | | | Tasted by Pool Boy on 3/13/2008 & rated 90 points: Smokiness on the nose, kind of like hickory bacon salt with some twigginess too. Nice brambliness and a bit of river stone. Nice. 90 pts. (1203 views) | | | Tasted by Pool Boy on 1/18/2008 & rated 89 points: Great note of salty pork products and brambly fruits with a hint of greenery (juniper branches?). Nice and not too thick. 89 pts. (1187 views) | | | Tasted by GOL on 10/16/2007: Good, but the Flora Springs Merlot was better than night for its varietal. Not as good as I had hoped, but I've come to expect a lot from Melville. Had with T, Scott, Meghan (1403 views) | | | Tasted by EMichels on 7/14/2007 & rated 87 points: Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant: Fruit is in the background; Strong - not sure what is up front; Quite a bit of pepper; A bit too much alcohol showing through; Good long finish (2026 views) | | | Tasted by MeMyself&I on 6/8/2007 & rated 88 points: Another great syrah from SB County. Subtle spice and berries. Great winemaker doing great wines for very few bucks. Can't get enough of their stuff! (1454 views) | | | Tasted by GOL on 5/6/2007: Again, didn't decant. Read previous notes. Drank at Mike's during bulls-pistons game 1 (1458 views) | | | Tasted by OneLastSyrah on 4/28/2007: ($18) 15.2% ABV. Nice olive tapenade, black fruit nose. Full bodied with round supple fruit and a hint of pepper. Like this wine. (1086 views) | | | Tasted by pgm on 4/3/2007 & rated 86 points: Started thin, tart and with a slightly sulfuric nose. The off notes blew off after about an hour, leaving currants, mostly, but with some spiced nuances. Pretty good, but still a little thin. (1651 views) | | | Tasted by aes0300 on 3/5/2007 & rated 89 points: Meat with red fruits and black licorice. Too much acidity, lacking in tannins. (1849 views) | | | Tasted by andrewstevenson.com on 2/15/2007 & rated 90 points: Initially the nose feels slightly reduced and damp, but it’s not corked, as the down notes largely blow off. Quite a cured meat nose – prosciutto, salami, dried meat/pork – quite a fascinating nose, and very unusual. Very good palate. It has a nice purity. Overall, it feels a touch simple, but it’s very attractive. Very Good Indeed. (1225 views) | | | Tasted by decaturwinedude on 1/25/2007 & rated 91 points: This a brooding and brawny Syrah for $18. Packed with dark, meaty notes on the nose followed by lots of blue fruit, licorice and more gaminess on the palate. Rather massive wall of tannins on the long backside suggest this could use a little more time, at least for my palate. Still an excellent buy under $20. (1751 views) | | | Tasted by GOL on 1/15/2007: One dimensional fruit upfront, but not decanting this bottle was a mistake as 3 hrs after opening earthy tones started to give this wine great balance. Remember to decant the next bottle. It is ready to drink now though. (1667 views) | | | Tasted by swp3 on 12/16/2006 & rated 90 points: Drank this alongside Lucia Susan's 2004. Just pulled these from the closet and had no idea what they cost. Lucia dominated the tasting, and we find out this morning it's twice the price. Duh.
That said, the Melville was good wine and at $20 an excellent value. The color was surprisinly light and you can actually see through it. The nose is sort of salty (if that's a smell) and gamey. In the mouth it's a little lean but refined. Fruit flavors are a restrained and mostly dark. Wood components are neutral, which works perfectly. Finish is gamey with moderate tannins. Balanced, medium bodied Syrah. Really not fair to taste this alongside the Lucia, which was in a diffent league in terms of extraction and complexity. (1888 views) |
| Melville Producer web site
In 1989, Melville Vineyards, a family owned and operated enterprise was founded in Sonoma County's Knights Valley, where Ron Melville grew high quality, much sought after Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. In 1996, Ron's desire to grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay brought Melville Vineyards to Lompoc's Sta. Rita Hills, located in the western Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County, California. The Sta. Rita Hills appellation is where Ron Melville and his sons Brent and Chad Melville decided to develop their estate vineyards and winery. Since then, they have also developed an interest in Rhone varietals, particularly Northern Rhone Syrah and Viognier. The Melville estate achieves quality through the integrity of its farming practice and its respect to the microclimate.
2004 Melville Syrah Estate Verna's15.2%
This wine is composed of eight different syrah clones (Estrella, Durell, Shiraz 1, Tablas 99, 174, 383, 470 and 877). Yields were less than 1 lb per vine, which equates to less than one ton per acre. Three quarters of the grapes were de-stemmed, the remaining quarter left as whole bunches, then fermented in small open-top fermenters. From the press, the wine was transferred directly into neutral 10 year old barrels, where it stayed, without any sulphur being added, until May when it was gently racked, before being bottled on 20th August 2006. 1049 cases were produced. $20 at the cellar door (Feb 07).
Syrah Varietal article (Wikipedia) | (Wines Northwest)
Note that some producers in the Northern Rhone distinguish between simply Syrah and "Serine", the latter described as ‘an ancient clone of Syrah, the berries of which are more oval-shaped and less deeply pigmented than Syrah’ by producer Tardieu-Laurent. EstateIn the United States, "Wines with “estate bottled” designations must: a) also designate an appellation of origin or an AVA, and both the vineyards and the winery must be located there; b) the grapes must come from vineyards owned or controlled by the winery; and c) the wine must have been produced, from crush to bottle, in a continuous process without leaving the winery’s premises."
- WINE LABEL FAQS: A QUICK SUMMARY OF LABEL DESIGNATION RULES" by David E. StollUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Central Coasthttp://www.ccwinegrowers.org/links.html
http://www.discovercaliforniawines.com/regional-wine-organizations/
http://beveragetradenetwork.com/en/btn-academy/list-of-winegrowers-association-in-central-coast-california-274.htm
Central Coast AVA WikipediaSanta Barbara County Santa Barbara County |
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