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2010 Chardonnay Verna's

Wine Details
Producer

Melville

Place of Origin

United States

Santa Barbara County

Central Coast

Color

White

Grape/Blend

Chardonnay

Vintages
20132012201120102009200820052004
Reviews & Tasting Notes

00

Drinking Window

2013 - 2015

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Longtime winemaker Greg Brewer has done a great job with these new releases. Although there are a number of highlights here, it is the Pinots that truly shine in 2010. I also tasted the 2010 Chardonnay Estate, but it was completely closed down and in no mood to be evaluated, so I will have to wait for another opportunity to get a better read.

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Greg Brewer, who has been at Melville since its first vintage, says that his winemaking approach here is "less radical" than his practices at Brewer-Clifton (100% whole-cluster fermentations for the pinots, virtually no new oak) and with his Diatom project (all stainless steel, blocked malos). Here the chardonnays are allowed to do their malos and there's more oak influence, and destemming is mostly practiced on the red grapes. Brewer's light touch is in evidence with the Melville wines and pricing is extremely fair, especially at the entry level. The coolness of the 2010 growing season "helped us get the sort of fruit we want to make bright, fresh wines, which is the style we're after," he told me. Unfortunately, the spring frost curtailed yields. "You can always count on nature to throw some kind of curve ball, so we have exactly the quality we want, just not enough of it," said Brewer.

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2013 - 2018

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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 1/3rd whole clusters.