2010 Melville Chardonnay Clone 76 Inox
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
Pale yellow. Highly perfumed bouquet evokes fresh pear, melon and Meyer lemon, with suave notes of minerals and white flowers. Deeply pitched but vibrant as well, with very good clarity to its spicy orchard fruit flavors. Aeration brings out a subtle anise note that carries through an impressively long, spicy, tightly focused finish. Give this another year or so of bottle age or an hour in a decanter if you want to drink it now.
Critic scores
Average Score
Josh Raynolds
Antonio Galloni, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The 2010 Chardonnay Clone 76 Inox emerges from the glass with layers of vibrant fruit. It is an energetic, polished wine that needs time in the bottle to come together. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2018. Melville is one of the better known properties in Santa Barbara. The estate makes a wide range of wines under the direction of oenologist Greg Brewer, and also sells fruit to a number of other producers. The 2009 Pinot Noirs in particular are standouts. Brewer vinified the Pinots with one-third whole clusters. The 2010 Chardonnays had only recently been bottled and needed quite a bit of air to blow off some of their reductive qualities. Tel. (805) 735-7030; www.melvillewinery.com