Melville Winery

​Doc Ed did some scouting for us, hitting the wineries in the Santa Barbara area.  One of the wineries that he loved was Melville Winery, so we stopped there first on our way north.  As expected, it was well worth the visit.  Melville is located in Lompoc, on a main road going through the northern row of Lompoc wineries.  Very nice facility, with outside seating and a nice view – see pictures below.

​The tasting room is quite comfortable, but only had high chairs for seating – not my favorite set up.  Water available, but one had to buy munchies if so inclined.  Pictures of the inside follow.

​All of their wines are estate.  You can select tasting from one of two menus, a $15 dollar one and a $20 dollar one, though they don’t necessarily hold you to either one.  Menus are shown below.  I must admit to being a little perturbed by the winery.  You see, here they had some really great wines – in particular one super Pinot Noir – yet they served them at room temperature, which, while nice for the visitors was not particularly nice to the wines.  I just don’t understand why they didn’t serve them at the right temperature, especially their Pinot Noirs which really need to be served in the 55-60 F range.

​Now on to the most important thing, the wine.  Unlike many wineries, they pay particular attention to the clones, both of their Pinot Noir and their Syrah.  Attention to such details results in some pretty good wines.  For example, their Anna’s Pinot Noir is a mix of two clones – 667 and 114.  And it is fermented with the stems!  The result is a very, very good wine – which, not surprisingly, I am not the first to notice.  It was rated 96 by Wine Enthusiast!
But it wasn’t the highest rated.  That award goes to their Donna’s Syrah.  A mix of two clones – Estrella and 1 – it has a nice high black pepper, and was rated a 97 by Wine Enthusiast!  Bought some!!!  I really like the black pepper in wines, but to date only had Zinfandels with such high black pepper notes.  Also of note is their mixed clone Estate Pinot Noir – really good wine for the price.  Bought one of those as well.
The winery has three club levels – Premier Cru, Grand Cru, and Monopole – requiring purchase of 9, 18, and 36 bottles a year (in three sets), with 15, 20, and 25% discounts and 2, 4, and 8 free tastings per month.  Grand Cru membership limited to 600, Monopole limited to 200, so there is some exclusivity in joining the higher-level clubs.