2005 Melville Pinot Noir Estate

Community Tasting Notes (68) Avg Score: 89.6 points

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  4/8/2022 - forceberry wrote: 87 Points

  100% Pinot from estate-grown fruit in multiple vineyards in Sta. Rita Hills. Fermented in open-top fermentors, macerated with the skins for around 4 weeks, aged in old, neutral French oak barrels. 15% alcohol.
  
  Somewhat translucent cherry red color with an evolved maroon hue. The nose feels fragrant and quite big yet not overripe with sweetish aromas of juicy red cherries and raspberry jam, some evolved meaty tones, a little bit of sappy herby character (stemmy notes, perhaps?), light nuances of beet root and a hint of strawberry. The wine is ripe, dense and textural on the palate with a quite full body and bold flavors of strawberries, beet, some umami notes of developed meatiness, a little bit of juicy black cherry, light floral nuances of violets, a hint of peppery spice and a touch of boozy alcohol. Although the wine isn't fat or blowzy, its rather high acidity and medium tannins don't manage to bring much freshness or sense of structure, which is why the wine is a bit on the soft and round side. The high alcohol lends some noticeable warmth to the palate. The finish is ripe, big and quite warm with long, powerful flavors of sweet black cherries and wild strawberries, some gamey meat, a little bit of peppery spice, light jammy nuances of raspberries and a hint of beet root.
  
  Well, this was a rather big and powerful effort for a Pinot Noir. Fortunately, it didn't feel like an Amarone despite its big body and high alcohol - on the contrary, the wine showed surprising finesse for such a big and ripe wine - but it was still a bit too sweet, soft and ripe for my preference. Despite its age it is still drinking quite wonderfully and even if the wine showed some evolved nuances, it still feels the wine is on an upward trajectory and could improve for a good number of years more. However, if you like your Pinot Noir made in a fresh, "Burgundian" style (like I), you might want to keep your distance - or at least serve it quite cool, to push the acidity up and alcohol down. Even if the producer is known to make their wines in a quite "old world" style, this wine is just screaming CALIFORNIA with its lush, sunny Pinot fruit and high alcohol. Perhaps a bit on the pricey side for the quality at 33€.

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  5/12/2015 - norsktorsk wrote: 93 Points

  Drinking quite nice.

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  9/13/2014 - NicholsPK Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Properly cared for, this one is still going strong cellarTracker shows a drink by date of 2012. We drank it September 2014 and it was delicious

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  6/2/2014 - norsktorsk wrote: 88 Points

  Thin, acidic. I did not like.

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  11/24/2012 - 911henrik wrote: 81 Points

  Quite sour, dull.

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