2009 Syrah Verna's Vineyard

Samsara is without question one of the hottest boutique wineries in California's Central Coast. Proprietor Chad Melville splits his time between Samsara and his family's Melville estate, an approach that seems to work. The 2010s are the product of a very cold year with heat spikes in October. Except for the Rita's Crown, the Pinots were harvested in October, but before the spikes. The Syrahs (which I will revie next year) were picked much later, into December in some cases, and benefited from the kick of heat earlier in the growing season. Overall, yields were down dramatically, but that may have turned out to be a positive, as normal yields might not have ripened under these conditions. The wines were fermented with natural yeasts, and bottled without fining or filtration. Melville used 25-100% whole clusters for most of the wines. The top selections saw a maximum of 50% new oak.

Chad Melville manages the vineyards for his family's Melville estate and makes the Samsara wines in a small rented facility in Lompoc. The wines are fermented with indigenous yeasts, aged in French oak (0$25.00% new) and bottled with no fining or filtration. The 2009 saw a fairly high percentage of whole clusters ranging from 50-100%. These are gorgeous, pure wines from an inspired, young producer whose career will be fascinating to follow. All of the Pinots were in bottle at the time of my June visit, while the Grenache and the three Syrahs I tasted were scheduled to be bottled in August.