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99 WA.
"One of the finest Syrahs to come out of California, the 2012 Syrah Donna’s is inky black to the rim and offers up heavenly notes of smoked bacon, liquid rock, iron and assorted currant and blackberry fruit. Fabulously concentrated, with full-bodied richness, no hard edges and building tannin, this incredible Syrah comes off from sandy soils, was 60% destemmed and aged 18 months in neutral oak. Hats off to Greg Brewer and the Melville team for this awesome wine! Hold onto your hats, as these latest releases from Chad Melville and winemaker Greg Brewer are off-the-charts good! While both of the Chardonnays are beautiful, and play in the clean, crisp and medium-bodied spectrum, it’s the 2012 Pinot Noirs and Syrahs that are incredible across the board. The Pinot Noirs all see varying degrees of whole cluster and are aged completely in neutral French oak barrels. The Syrahs see slightly less whole cluster inclusion, but are also aged all in neutral French oak. In case you missed the prices/scores listed above, these are some of the greatest values in the world of wine today." Wine Advocate #214, Aug 2014 |