2013 Chardonnay Clone 76 Inox

According to Chad Melville, his family recently sold their Verna's vineyard, north of Los Alamos and in the Santa Barbara County appellation, because they want to focus completely on their estate vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills. Melville explained that "it just makes more sense to be self-contained, and while Verna's is a great vineyard, it seems removed from our other sites," all of which surround the Melville winery on Highway 246 in the sweet spot between Buellton and Lompoc. The pricing for entry-level wines here has always been a gift by design, Chad's father Ron said, because the Melvilles "want as many people as possible to be able to try the wines." Maybe they'll be inspired to check out the higher-end, single-vineyard wines, he reasons, "but [we] don't want to make people start off at that level."

Melville's 2012s are gorgeous. Winemaker Greg Brewer has done a magnificent job with these new releases, starting with the Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir, which may be the best Pinot in the range. The Melville family recently sold their Verna's Vineyard, so those wines will naturally no longer be made. Verna's which is in Los Alamos, yields wines that are very different and frankly less distinctive than those Melville makes in the Sta. Rita Hills, so the sale of the vineyard makes sense. As is often the case, the Chardonnays are bottled with a little bit of reduction and need air, especially if they are opened young.