Greg & Juju
Melville
Clone 459 Estate Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir 2006
This was part of a series that Greg Brewer bottled at Melville back in the early 2000s. At that time Melville had 14 different clones under vine, I believe. The Estate was a variable blend of some fraction of these, but being a student of pinot Greg thought it would be cool to bottle a bunch of the clones as single-clone offering to people who might geek out about trying to identify different clonal components in the various main offerings, trying some blending at home, etc. (basically, me as the target audience). I was stunned at how well this wine is still drinking after 14+ years. Beautiful, deep ruby-red color, the wine still had an impressive amount of fruit, great balance, and that tell-tale spiciness that is characteristic of wines from their Santa Rita Hills vineyards. Really terrific! — 4 years ago
Hilliard Bruce
Sky Pinot Noir 2015
Easily one of the better incarnations of this wine, the 2015 Sky is drinking really well. I think (but am not 100% certain) that by this vintage Greg Brewer had moved from Melville to John Hilliard’s operation just down the road on Route 246. Has many of the same characteristics you’d expect from a St Rita Hills pinot - beautiful bright strawberry-laced fruit, a bit of earth and spice, all wrapped together in a wine with a seamless mouthfeel. Very sad that life circumstances compelled John and his wife to shut HB down, but this wine is a terrific reflection of what they achieved in a very short space of time. Cheers! — 5 years ago
Ericsson
Sum celeb wine yet value Cab at the same time, cheers. — 3 months ago