2009 Melville Chardonnay Estate
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Tasting notes
The 2009 Chardonnay Estate Sta. Rita Hills is another terrific effort from Chad Melville and winemaker Greg Brewer. Brought up all in neutral oak, with terrific notes of orchard fruits, cream, and spice, it’s medium to full-bodied on the palate, has a deep, layered texture, and terrific purity of fruit. Anyone who purchased this on release has one serious Chardonnay that sold for a song and has aged beautifully. It’s worth noting that the clones changed slightly with this vintage and includes some Mount Eden and Hanzell. Melville is unquestionably one of the leading estates in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA and up through the 2014 vintage, the wines were made by Greg Brewer and Chad Melville (they’re made exclusively by Chad Melville today). Their Estate Chardonnay comes from a handful of different vineyards and delivers classic Sta. Rita Hills character while not breaking the bank. Based off this tasting, it can easily drink well for a decade or more after the vintage.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
Earthy, forest, perfume-spiced aromatics. Muted mid palate. Riper flavours and feels hot on the palate – lower recorded alcohol on the 2009 but it feels less balanced than the 2008 or 2007. Less apparent acidity than the previous vintages. Feels like a hot vintage. Not a lot of life left. (ECB)
The 2009 Chardonnay emerges from the glass with apricots, flowers and sweet honey. It shows gorgeous roundness all the way through to the finish. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2018. Melville is one of the better known properties in Santa Barbara. The estate makes a wide range of wines under the direction of oenologist Greg Brewer, and also sells fruit to a number of other producers. The 2009 Pinot Noirs in particular are standouts. Brewer vinified the Pinots with one-third whole clusters. The 2010 Chardonnays had only recently been bottled and needed quite a bit of air to blow off some of their reductive qualities. Tel. (805) 735-7030; www.melvillewinery.com
Vivid gold. A pungent, complex bouquet of orange zest, pear, anise and jasmine, with a strong spicy quality that expands with aeration. Sappy, palate-staining citrus and floral qualities are complemented by notes of succulent herbs and mango, with a bitter lime bite on the back half. Quite complex now but there's very good spine too. The finish is firm, focused and very long.