Q&A with Winemaker Chad Melville

by hana-lee sedgWICk

Since their first vintage was released nearly 20 years ago, the family-owned and -operated Melville Winery has continued to focus on cool-climate pinot noir, chardonnay, and syrah from their 140-acre estate in the Sta . Rita Hills . On the cusp of their 20th anniversary, I sat down with winemaker and co-owner Chad Melville to learn more about the winery’s history and why the Melvilles believe that all great wines start in the vineyard .

Your father, Ron Melville, established Melville Winery in Santa Barbara County after first growing grapes in Northern California’s Knight’s Valley. What drew him to Santa Barbara?

What drove my dad to this place was pinot noir and his fascination with it My dad would spend time tasting in this area and saw the potential for growing great pinot noir here He ended up purchasing the property in 1996 with nothing on it The family started from scratch with this land and planted the grapes ourselves, using his prior knowledge and experience to grow the healthiest vines possible

And when did you decide to join the family business? Was it something you always knew you wanted to get into?

I graduated from USC in 1993 and thought I had to work some big, high-powered job, but after heading in the direction I thought I was

“supposed” to go in, I realized it just wasn’t fulfilling to me . At the time I was 25 . Then it was weird, it was like I just suddenly knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life: I wanted to join my father and brother in the grape-growing business . To get experience and knowledge, I worked at Santa Barbara Winery under Bruce McGuire to learn about wine and get out in the vineyard My dad loved the business of growing grapes, but not necessarily winemaking . I knew I had a desire to keep exploring the production side of the business

Greg Brewer was Melville’s winemaker for a long time. When did you take over the reins?

From the start, we knew it was important to find someone who believed in what we were doing and understood the importance of the vineyard in making quality wine Greg was our first winemaker, producing Melville’s first vintage in 1999, and continued with us until 2015 He and I always worked closely in the cellar, but I took over as head winemaker that same year

How would you describe your winemaking style?

Our winemaking style is super conscious of where the grapes come from . For us, the wine is made out in the vineyard, starting with quality grapes and viticulture, and it’s my job to not mess it up . We practice minimal manipulation in the cellar, using mostly native yeasts, whole cluster fermentation, no new oak, but overall I’d say it’s an intuitive process for me We want our wines to reveal the place they’re from and the idea is to not interfere with the grapes’ natural path

Melville is celebrating 20 years in business this year. Congratulations! What do you think is the key to your longevity?

I’m not sure how we’ve managed to stay relevant all these years, but we’re proud of what we’ve built and sustained . We haven’t followed any trends, we are committed to using 100 percent estate fruit, and always seek to produce wines that are super pretty while balancing elegance and strength I think it helps that we work exclusively with fruit from our own vineyards, vineyards we own and tend to ourselves We also offer a variety of tasting experiences, between our tasting room in Santa Barbara and our estate in the Sta Rita Hills People can keep it super casual with a walk-in tasting, but for the consumer who wants to go deeper, we offer our Winegrowing 101 Tour, which includes an indepth tour of our vineyard and cellar, followed by a tasting in our barrel room library .

How many different varietals do you produce?

We produce pinot noir, chardonnay, and syrah, but the majority of our production is dedicated to pinot noir In fact, half of our production goes to our Estate Pinot Noir

Do you have a favorite pairing with your wines?

I like to go a little off the wall with pairings . I love our Estate Pinot Noir with miso-marinated cod, but it also goes well with tuna poke . Our Estate Chardonnay with a Caesar salad, with its salty, briny, lemon flavors, really pairs well together