Melville, Estate Syrah, Sta. Rita Hills

Amazing how bottles bought at the same time and held in the same condition can be so different. I last had a bottle of this in January and it was definitely past its prime, with a good amount of bricking and a loss of fruit. But this bottle (PnP) tasted as if it was bottled about 3 years ago. Lots of fruit on the attack and good lift. Not a great deal of complexity, and the finish was not great, …

2014 vintage

Amazing with age. Whole cluster fully integrated. 97 points.

2014 vintage

Saturated dark reddish purple turning to garnet. Black raspberry and blueberry candy, hint of roasted meat, pepper on the nose. Shows sweet-savory dark berry compote, lowish acidity, melting tannins and a medium finish.

2014 vintage

PnP. This wine is starting downhill. While still drinkable, it has lost a lot of fruit and lift. Some secondary flavors have emerged, but in more of a dull way than an exciting one. Drank over two nights, cork put back in bottle neck overnight. No real change from day one to day two. Drink 'em if you got 'em.

2014 vintage

Typical SRH Syrah, a little on the Pinot-ey side.

2014 vintage

Drinking well. Slightly over ripe. Drink

2014 vintage

Fruit forward, relatively simple, but a good wine none the less.

2014 vintage

Clear purple ruby in color. Lifted aromas of black and blue fruits, florals, hint of pepper and a menthol note. The palate is awash with rich and sweet fruit compote, a hint of savory element, low acidity and a long floral and fruity finish.

2014 vintage

Sublime, in the bubble juice. Drink now thru 2025

2014 vintage

Plum is the real standout here. Very light for a Syrah almost a Pinot in taste.

2017 vintage

Quite good - much better than the 2021 bottle. Does not have the medicinal flavor. Bad bottle last time? Very well balanced, good fruit, slight sweetness.

2014 vintage

Easy Drinking. A bit too fruity for a higher score for me. Clear medium ruby, significant meniscus. Great fruit on the nose. Black currant, blueberry, blackberry, bit of plum and rasp, along with a bit of vanilla. P - Fruit was a bit less dominant, and not "sweet" if "fruity" implied that earlier. But fruit was pretty powerful (confirming nose). Hints of tomato leaf and tobacco on the palate..

2014 vintage

Coravin pour with aerator. Last bottle of 3 - best bottle yet. Aged very well - still ripe and rich. 2nd pour on 1/25 - after a decant... still so powerful and fruit forward. Drinking perfectly now.

2014 vintage

This is just plain great. A wonderful middle road between typical California blueberry pie syrahs and N. Rhone black olives and meat. Here you get both! Mid-weight, with just bit of bitterness. I got no greenness or stem notes, and just a hint of iodine -- this was as close as I got to the medicinal quality that others mentioned. This appears to have many years of life left.

2014 vintage

This would be a very decent syrah except for the medicinal-tasting aspect. That flavor did not diminish with time, even after airing out for couple of days. Perhaps some people like that, or don't mind, but to me it is a significant negative. Too bad, because otherwise this is quite good.

2014 vintage

A strange wine. Open in glass about 40 minutes before drinking. On first sip, the tip of my tongue got a medicinal, bitter, off-putting taste, but mid-palate and finish was very nice and what you'd expect from a Syrah. Even after another hour, the wine retained that unpleasant attack but was otherwise very good. Never really experienced that before.

2014 vintage

The missus consumed while I was backpacking in the Winds. Would have been nice to be able to porter some wine in.

2014 vintage

Classic northern rhone style syrah with blood and meat nice spice on the finish.

2014 vintage

Drinking well, has improved with age. Quite full bodied, very dark fruit. Opens up with about an hour. Paired with ribeye.

2014 vintage

Not sure I like this wine. Very green on the front and back end. Decent fruit in the middle. Didn't improve with 3 hours of air.

2014 vintage

Consistent with my previous note from Sep 2018, with the emergence of additional earthy flavors, adding complexity. "Drink by" date in Cellartracker was set to 2020, but I decanted my bottle 2 hours and it showed no sign that this will not continue to age well. Updated the date to 2026.

2014 vintage

Pronounced aromas of olive tapenade, incense, and cologne. On the palate there's some dark fruit, but in general this wine is much better on the nose than the palate. There really limited acidity and the wine feels a little unstructured and flat without much sense of tension. Some decent things going on, but an incomplete wine.

2014 vintage

Gave it some air - probably two hours - and the missus gave it two thumbs up. Probably higher than the 91. Full-bodied, bold fruit, still with some tannins. Big finish.

2014 vintage

90 minutes of air. Full-bodied, inky, deep red fruit. Still has that astringent harsh tannic mid tongue finish. Don't know if that will mellow with age.

2014 vintage

A bit bitter and harsh on opening. Gave it a couple hours of air and still had an acidic lateral/mid-tongue bitterness. Decent fruit. Very full-bodied. Lingering finish. Don't know if more time will allow for more integration/smoothness.

2014 vintage

Nice inky color. Medium bodied with olive and smoked meats notes. fairly ripe dark fruits without being overdone. Surprisingly well balanced considering 15% alc. Good lengthy finish with just enough tannin to give structure with food. delightful!

2014 vintage

From a 3.0L at a house warming party. Delicious party pleaser that got emptied within 45 minutes between 7 people along w/a few other offerings. Aussie like richness. Held up well.

2000 vintage

Good, not great. Held it to long, a little over the hill...

2000 vintage

still a great wine w/beautiful color nose and finish

2000 vintage

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Melville, Estate Syrah, Sta. Rita Hills

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