The 2009 Pinot Noir Verna’s is an attractive, entry-level Pinot graced with plums, dark cherries, flowers and spices. The warm, radiant personality makes the Verna’s an excellent choice for drinking over the next few years. The Verna’s is the only Melville Pinot made in Los Alamos. Consequently it shows slightly firmer tannins and less overall finesse than the rest of the wines, all of which come from the Melville property itself. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2017. 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

The 2008 Pinot Noir Verna’s (2,400 cases) is another outstanding wine, and even less expensive. As good as the Estate, but slightly more evolved, this is a seductive style of Pinot Noir, with a dark ruby/purple color and a sweet nose of boysenberry, raspberry, blueberry, and spring flowers. Lush, heady, and delicious already, the wine is round, expansive, and ideal for drinking over the next 5-6 years. The Melvilles are a serious viticultural family with an impeccable vineyard and top-notch wines, looked over with some consulting help from the dynamic duo of Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton. This is another impressive line-up from their cool-climate Santa Rita Hills vineyard. The barrel-aged whites, which don’t see a lot of new oak, certainly possess beautiful concentration, intensity, and potential. These wines go through full malolactic and range from a low of 14.4% alcohol for the Verna’s to 15.2% for the Donna’s. I wonder if there is a need for three separate cuvees as they are more similar than dissimilar. Greg Brewer oversees the making of Melville’s Pinots, but although he is an advocate of 100% stems, Melville uses about 33% stems in all their Pinot Noirs. They are aged completely in older neutral French barrels. This is a sensational group of Pinot Noirs that rival, and perhaps in one or two cases, eclipse what Melville accomplished in 2007. As challenging as the 2008 vintage could be, top producers who took immaculate care of their vineyards, while having the restraint to wait and wait for them to achieve perfect phenolic maturity, were able to make superb wines in this irregular vintage. P.S. As you can tell from the prices, these wines represent sensational bargains for wines at this quality level.Tel. (805) 235-7030

The 2007 Pinot Noir Estate Verna’s reveals sweet black cherry and blueberry fruit, forest floor, and inky notes, medium to full body, and a well-made, pure, crisp style. Melville’s six Pinot Noir cuvees are all noteworthy. With the exception of the Verna’s Vineyard wines, which come from Los Alamos, the other five are all made from different parcels of the same vineyards in the Santa Rita Hills, with various density of plantings as well as clonal choices.Tel. (805) 235-7030