2010 Syrah Turner Vineyard

SAMsARA is one of the most dynamic, exciting young wineries in California. Proprietor Chad Melville turns out compelling Pinots, Syrahs and Grenaches from some of the top sites in Santa Barbara, including his family's Melville estate, where he is vineyard manager. The approach at SAMsARA is stripped down to the core. Native fermentations with high percentages of whole clusters, aging largely in neutral oak, very low SO2 during aging and minimal racking are all part of the approach at SAMsARA. These are some of the most compelling wines being made in California today. Readers who want to see and hear more of Chad Melville's thoughts on 2011 might enjoy this recent video interview.

"Two thousand ten was interesting all around, but in a good way, at least for me," Chad Melville told me this fall."Cold weather came down from Canada and the season averaged almost five degrees below normal, which gave us a drawn-out season."The slow maturation and sugar build-up in the grapes made for more complexity, he thinks, and the heat spell at the end of September gave the sugars a good late boost.Melville is paying especially close attention to the tools of his craft:he told me that "when it comes to equipment it's a mistake to get hung up on cost.Afteryou spread the cost out over the wines that you make it's really pretty minor.Imagine how good a big winery has it.Why would I skimp on barrels?What's a couple hundred extra bucks for the best barrel when I'll use it for four or five years, meaning that about 1,800 bottles are ultimately going to come out of it?"He said that as he continues to gain confidence as a winemaker he's trying to emphasize the savory side of his wines:"the earth, herbs and spices.I'm not trying to make fruit bombs."