2013 Melville Chardonnay Estate

Community Tasting Notes (25) Avg Score: 89.3 points

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  10/23/2021 - forceberry wrote: 89 Points

  A selection of different Chardonnay clones sourced from multiple vineyards in Sta. Rita Hills. Fermented and aged for 8 months in used, neutral (5 to 20 years old) French oak barrels. No MLF, no bâtonnage. 14% alcohol.
  
  Pale lime-green color. Bright but also surprisingly restrained nose with understated aromas of green apples, some lemony citrus fruit notes, a little bit of leesy character, light stony mineral notes and a developed nutty hint of slivered almonds. The wine feels ripe, broad and juicy on the palate with a moderately full body and quite ripe but also slightly reticent flavors of sweet Golden Delicious apple, some white peach, light almondy tones, a little bit of leesy creaminess and a hint of chalk dust. Despite its quite full body and ripe overall character, the wine comes across enjoyably balanced, thanks to its quite high acidity. The finish is ripe, long and juicy with vibrant flavors of sweet white peach, some golden apple tones, a little bit of leesy creaminess, light stony mineral notes and a hint of slivered almonds.
  
  A balanced, tasty and enjoyably fresh California Chardonnay where the emphasis is on the brightness of the fruit, not on the weight and massive oak influence. However, the nose here is remarkably understated and also the flavors are a bit muted, lending a somewhat linear and slightly underwhelming feel to the wine. Tasting this side-by-side with the 2010 Clone 76 Inox Chardonnay that was aged in stainless steel, this wine shows slightly more complexity, but otherwise comes across as somewhat less impressive compared to the Clone 76. It's hard to say whether the wine was in a dumb phase, starting to fade away or if we just had a slightly dud bottle. This was good, but nothing too thrilling. Priced according to its quality at 29€.

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  5/5/2018 - WineGeek1989 Likes this wine: 92 Points

  On the nose- Lemon, lime, white flowers, green apple, pear skin, fresh peaches, toasted sesame seeds, minerality, very classic Burgundy like but with a twist of Calfornia character
  
  On the Palate- Lemon and lime mix with white flowers, apple and pear skin, fresh peaches and toasted sesame seeds and great minerality and acidity on the finish which is very linear and percise, very Burgundy like but with a twis of California sunshine, the fruit and the acidity work well together and the wine is focused from start to finish, this wine is drinking well now but could age 5-7 more years, I would say its great as a PNP but could used 20-30min in the glass to open up and show its stuff

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  4/7/2018 - devraj Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Pale yellow in color. Lovely aromas of toasted sesame, crushed peaches, orange oils, white flowers, very Puligny like. Linear and focused on the palate shows sweet poached orchard fruits, toast, good acidity and a long inner mouth perfume of fresh cut flowers on the finish.

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  3/27/2018 - BernieMSY wrote: 88 Points

  Medium yellow. Tart, a bit of minerality.

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  12/18/2017 - Nojomoschwa Likes this wine: 91 Points

  This was a very beautiful Chardonnay – so delineated and precise, yet not mean in any way. Always something new to taste when I went back to it. A great buy on Black Friday sale at Sokolin for $14.99.

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