Melville, Donna's Syrah, Sta. Rita Hills

Melville · California › Sta. Rita Hills › United States of America

Red · Syrah
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LWIN 1624472
Critics Average score from professional wine critics and publications.
92 /100
Reviews
13
professional

Vintages

No vintages

No vintage-specific entries have been added for this wine.

NV

Community Reviews

18
18
Reviews
92.3
Avg Score
95
Highest
Taster #8186 · Jan 4, 2026
95/100
Complex, with notes of smokey meat, red cherry, blueberry, and anise. Long finish. Really nice.
2019 vintage
Taster #9893 · Dec 25, 2025
93/100
Savory with just enough fruit. Nice tannins with a smooth finish. Great bottle of wine.
2019 vintage
Taster #7933 · Mar 21, 2025
94/100
Still as good as before. Great wine.
2019 vintage
Taster #7933 · Sep 25, 2024
94/100
This wine is good really good. I have been a fan of Melville for a long time. Chad has done an amazing job keeping the wines so consistent to the same approach that single block wines then become all about the year and history of the season. If you’re looking for a play by play of the wine the tasting note below is spot on. My only comment is that this wine still seems young and seems like it will …
2019 vintage
Taster #4611 · Jul 12, 2024
93/100
90min decant. Nose is intense showing brine, olives, sanguine, blackberry, plum, white pepper and BBQ sauce while still presenting as quite fresh. Palate follows the nose while adding some florals, smoke/charcoal and some green/herbal qualities. Savory palate and finish with a beautiful core of stoney minerality. Stunningly suave tannin quality with a nice spicy mouthfeel. There’s room to meld & improve for sure, but why wait?
2019 vintage
Taster #2781 · May 21, 2024
93/100
Blackberry, smooth, long finish
2019 vintage
Taster #5742 · Nov 5, 2023
92/100
1hr decant. Expressive nose of red cherry, cranberry, vanilla (oak comes through). Bright & tart up front, but it mellowed out over the course of the evening. Drinks well with some air, but would also benefit from a couple of years in the cellar.
2019 vintage
Taster #8186 · Apr 7, 2023
94/100
Tart, with notes of smoke and spice, dried cranberry, and tobacco. Nicely balanced.
2019 vintage
Taster #5262 · Jan 28, 2023
92/100
Literally made my mouth water smelling it from the glass--Kalamata olive, smoked game, basil oil, white pepper, violet. The level of complexity is mind warping--as it opens up, roasted peppers, thyme, mulberry, and a sanguine character come into play. Mid-weight, medium plus acidity, rounded mid-palate, herbaceous finish. Ripe, but grippy tannins, with a mild bitterness on the finish that didn't shake fully with air. I am increasingly thinking this vintage needs like 5-7 years to knit together, with the 'raw' …
2019 vintage
Taster #5752 · Nov 25, 2022
Tasting Room visit. Aromas of black cherry & plum, peppercorn, mint, mesquite smoke, five spice. Dense and complex on the palate, fresh red and dark fruit with lavender, black tea spices and pepper. Medium bodied, finely textured, dense, with nice acid and round fleshy tannins and nice intensity and length to the finish.
2019 vintage
Taster #6171 · Oct 25, 2022
Green and savory fruit. A little bit more tart and hard and green. In its own way of still having Cali fruit and some lushness to it. Most concentrated and biggest wine they are telling me. I'm told it begs for food and actually, I betcha it would be pretty awesome with some food.
2019 vintage
Taster #5262 · Aug 21, 2022
Moderate sized pour at tasting room. Consistent with prior note, though worth adding the nose really emphasized incense-like lavender and violets, alongside primary, almost grapey aromas. Really enveloping, deep and layered from nose to finish . . . .
2019 vintage
Taster #4187 · Aug 16, 2022
85/100
Medium purple color; curious nose of dill and leather overwhelming any fruit aromas. Full bodied heavy unpleasant flavors
2019 vintage
Taster #8439 · Jun 13, 2022
94/100
Dark ruby red in appearance. Savory and meaty on the nose with black pepper and a hint of greenery. Medium tannins (6.5/10) with a medium plus to full body. Black fruits on the palate with bacon fat and a little spice. Long and lingering finish. Drink till 2032.
2019 vintage
Taster #5262 · May 20, 2022
Melville Spring 2022 Pickup Tasting (Melville Santa Barbara Tasting Room) : Deep, complex whole cluster aromas, on top of lavender and mulberry. Enveloping palate, concentrated, structured, mixes deep cool climate Syrah character with whole cluster profile. Drink or hold, great now or for a decade plus.
2019 vintage
Taster #9251 · Mar 1, 2022
88/100
Peppery Syrah. Strong wine. Paired really well worth steak and a peppercorn truffle sauce.
2019 vintage
Taster #6703 · Dec 13, 2021
93/100
Lean and flavorful Syrah with bright blue fruits, white pepper, stout structure. Better on day 2 than day 1 initially. Bright future for this Syrah.
2019 vintage
Taster #5262 · Nov 6, 2021
Tasted at SB tasting room. I'm continuing to slightly prefer Melville's Syrahs to their PN. This is unabashedly cool climate, whole cluster Syrah--violets, basil, white pepper, thyme and black fruit. Meal in a glass. I did find this less differentiated relative to the current Estate Syrah (2018) in terms of profile. Definitely it is more structured and needs 3-5 years laying down, though didn't seem quite as exotic as 2017 or 2018 releases at this point.
2019 vintage