2016 Melville Pinot Noir Block M
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The 2016 Pinot Noir Block M offers a darker, slightly smoky style in its black raspberry, ground herbs, and earthy aromas and flavors. One of the more backward, tight wines in the lineup, with a vibrant texture, perfect balance and present tannins, it's going to benefit from short-term cellaring and keep for 15+ years. This cuvée is a mix of clones 114 and 115, and like everything here, was raised in neutral barrels.
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Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
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The 2016 Pinot Noir Estate Block M is another impressive wine. Dense, powerful and also closed in itself, the Block M has the most overt density of any of the Melville 2016s. Readers will have to give the 2016 at least a few years to unwind. The 80% whole clusters are totally buried by the sheer intensity of the fruit. An underlying hard pan of clay constricts the vines, which along with the windswept hillside and tiny clusters yields a potent, naturally concentrated wine.
The recently bottled 2016 Pinot Noir Block M is the most powerful and tight-knit of these Pinot Noir cuvées, unwinding in the glass with aromas of cherry preserve, hard candy, herbs and wood smoke. On the palate, it's full-bodied, concentrated and textural, with a deep core of fruit and a firm chassis of fine-grained tannins. This will need a few years in the cellar before hitting its stride.