Melville

We are pleased to release the first Small Lot Collection Pinot Noirs from 2012: Terraces and Block M.

Our Small Lot Collection wines represent specific and unique interpretations of our Sta. Rita Hills estate. With a wide variety of soil, elevation, sun, wind exposures and clonal diversity available, certain blocks within our vineyards exhibit their own special character and nuance. While we certainly recognize the comprehensive nature and ex...

Welcome to Melville Vineyards and Winery! Join us in our Mediterranean-style estate winery where we exclusively produce wines with wine grapes harvested from our own vineyards. Melville Winery and Vineyards is located within the Sta. Rita Hills appellation in Lompoc, California, in Western Santa Ynez Valley.

Located in the center of the Santa Rita Hills appellation, in Santa Barbara County, the estate currently has 85 acres planted to vineyards. The climate here is significantly impacted by its proximity to the ocean, and marked by consistent morning and evening fog and steady afternoon winds. These cooling trends are not only perfectly suited for pinot noir, syrah and chardonnay, but they also serve to prolong the growing season allowing for heig...

At the time of harvest, we consider the wines to already be made, and we take every precaution to not interfere with their own natural path of evolution. Compromised fruit is dropped before the time of harvest, though we also sort at picking to eliminate any possibility of marginal fruit entering the winery. The chardonnay is gently whole-cluster pressed at a cool temperature, is cold-settled overnight and is then gravity transferred to French...

To nurture the land, vines and fr uit to their purest form. Everything is done in the vineyard, as well as the winery, from a holistic point of view – with an emphasis on purity and oneness. As our winemaking begins in the vineyard, we take every precaution to farm aggressively, yet carefully at the same time. Our concentration is on quality, not quantity. We encourage our vines to produce low-yielding fruit each harvest, to arrive at a more i...