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: 2014 Melville "Terraces" Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir

2014 Melville "Terraces" Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir

SKU #1241464 95 points Wine Advocate

Outer quote mark The silky and finesse-oriented 2014 Pinot Noir Terraces (60% destemmed and aged 14 months in neutral oak) offers tons of dried flowers, spice, red currants and sweet cherry fruit in a medium-bodied, nicely textured and polished style. Like the Indigene, it has no shortage of building tannin, but is impeccably balanced. This is a beautiful wine that will be better in another year and will have a decade of longevity. (JD) Inner quote mark (8/2016)

93 points Wine Enthusiast

Outer quote mark Very light in the glass, this bottling is also delicate on the nose in terms of power. But it offers tons of action nonetheless, with fresh and dried herbs, flint and a tiny bit of smoke adding to the red-fruit aromas. The palate is tense with energy, showing thyme, oregano and eucalyptus spice, placing more emphasis on the herbal backbone than the red-fruit ripeness. (MK) Inner quote mark (2/2017)

92 points Vinous

Outer quote mark Crushed rose petals, mint, sweet red berries, cranberries, blood orange and chalk are some of the signatures in the 2014 Pinot Noir Terraces. Focused and tense in style, the 2014 offers striking depth in an understated, mid-weight expression of Pinot Noir. This is a decidedly taut Sta. Rita Hills Pinot that could use another year or two in bottle. The Terraces was done with 50% whole clusters. (AG) Inner quote mark (6/2016)

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2014 Melville "Terraces" Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir

Price: $49.99

Quantity:

RP: 95

WE: 93

VN: 92

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Varietal:

Pinot Noir

- One of France's most legendary grapes and the grape that earned Burgundy its reputation. The parent of varietals like Pinot Gris/Grigio and Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir is blue to violet to indigo in color with relatively thin skins, and it is said to have been cultivated in France for more than 2,000 years. At its best, Pinot Noir creates elegant wines that are filled with primary red fruit aromas and flavors while young, revealing with an array of secondary characteristics like earth, smoke, violet, truffle and game with age. The varietal is also known, perhaps better than any, for its ability to translate terroir, or a sense of place. While the best Pinot Noir still comes from Burgundy, it is being produced with increasing success in cooler climates around the world. In France, it is part of the trifecta of grapes that can go into Champagne, and it is also grown in Alsace, Irancy, Jura, Savoie, Lorraine and Sancerre. Outside of France it is produced under the names Pinot Nero and Blauburgunder in Italy's mountainous regions, as Spätburgunder in Germany and as Blauburgunder in Austria. In the US, Pinot Noir has found suitable growing conditions in the cooler parts of California, including Carneros, the Russian River Valley, the Anderson Valley, the Sonoma Coast, Monterey County, the Santa Lucia Highlands and Santa Barbara County, as well as in Oregon's Willamette Valley. In recent years, New Zealand has demonstrated its ability to interpret this hard-to-grow varietal, with successful bottlings coming from careful and attentive growers in Central Otago, Martinborough and Canterbury. Chile is also an up-and-coming region for Pinot Noir, creating fresh, fruit-forward, early-drinking and affordable Pinots from the coastal Casablanca Valley and the Limari Valley.

Country:

United States

- When people consider domestic wine, they normally think about the state of California. The fine viticultural Region within California, including the Napa Valley, Sonoma, Santa Cruz Mountains, Mendocino and Santa Barbara, are capable of growing grapes of world-class quality. But there's plenty of fabulous wine coming from other states, too. Oregon, Washington and New York are also causing eyebrows (and glassware) to be raised around the world.

Sub-Region:

California

- With the explosive growth that California's wine industry has seen the past several years, it's easy to view winemaking and grape growing in the Golden State as a recent phenomenon. And while it's true that California's viticultural history is brief compared to several European countries, this state's roots date back well over 200 years. Due to the enormous response to California wine within the United States and worldwide, there are thousands of excellent and diverse wines being produced within the state each year.

Specific Appellation:

Santa Maria/Santa Barbara

- Santa Maria and Santa Ynez make up the two AVAs of Santa Barbara County, an area known for its natural beauty and temperate climate. The best grape-growing areas, however, are located on the very coastal reaches of these two appellations, and are cooled by ever-present fog and ocean breezes (it is even cooler and foggier here than Carneros!). As expected, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir thrive while the more inland zones lay claim to Bordeaux varietals and some Rhône blends.