Melville Vineyards & Winery

Not even a one star. Just left Melville… Have had a great experience in past. Was served Daniel… worse experience ever. Might bought if it weren’t for the extremely bad news extremely bad experience that left a bad taste in my mouth.

In the words of Unilocal’s star rating system «Meh, I’ve experienced better». Our group of 4 gals decided to make this our first stop on our girls day of wine. It happened to be the members party that day. We saddled up for 4 tastings and our experience was ok… the somm was mostly flirting with his coworker than paying us much attention. Additionally I didn’t care for the wine despite the $ 20 tasting pricetag. When the tasting was winding down the somm swooped in with the hard sell. I HATE, HATE, HATE when you get a somm that is indifferent until its time for his/​her commision opportunity. Despite this, my gal pal joined. This entitled her to access to the member party, which we half-​heartedly were interested in since we had big plans for our day. We decided to check it out and enjoyed a few tastings and apps in their barrel room and were headed out about 20 minutes later… well, not before being berated for being there in the first place. Apparently my pals membership only entitled her to 2 passes to the party… pretty embarrassing. Unfortunately this wasn’t an issue when she was signing up for her membership. Super Tacky in my opinion.
I personally would not return here, but if you’re here, enjoy the grounds. The only reason for my 2 star rating.

My boyfriend and I visited Melville as part of our Christmas weekend getaway to Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez. We work in the hospitality industry and are familiar with Melville’s wines but walked away feeling a part of the family thanks to Valerie’s hospitality. She greeted us in the tasting room, gave us an informative tour of the barrel room and production areas and shared many delicious wines in a side by side comparison. We both walked away raving about the wines but even more so the customer service. Valerie was warm and inviting, engaging and informative. In an area that has many winery options within a short drive in any direction, the customer service really made certain visits of our trip shine above and beyond, and this was one of them. The wines are delicious and showcase the cool climate of Santa Rita hills very well. Melville lets the vines speak for themselves. Although Chad Melville is a very talented winemaker, his focus is not on what a winemaker can «doctor up» but instead on showcasing what the land and the vines have produced that year. If you are interested in trying wines that showcase the region in a delicate and delicious way accompanied by warm hospitality and informative staff, be certain to stop by Melville.
Valerie, please come visit us at Playground in downtown Santa Ana if you ever find yourself in Orange County. Mark and I will be happy to share our hospitality with you and yours. Thank you again for a wonderful visit at Melville!

I have never been compelled to write a negative review about a winery, but this was out of the ordinary.
My family and I had a great time with the staff, they were very knowledgeable and very very friendly. We had such a great time we purchased a large amount of wine to take with us and also signed up for their wine club. While enjoying the property outside, we decided to grab a bottle we had just purchased from my vehicle and spend the afternoon on site. When all of a sudden we were aggressively approached by Chad Melville, the owners son. He accused us, in front of our children, of stealing (3) of his wine glasses. We were devastated to say the least. All we wanted to do was continue to enjoy the product his father has spent so many years perfecting.
As a business owner myself, I consider every customer a blessing! I know better than aggressively confronting a patron over anything. That’s the difference, tirelessly building something from nothing, to getting it served to you on a silver platter.
Nonetheless, we canceled our membership, returned the wine and left very disappointed.
The great thing is Babcock Winery and Dierberg Starlane Winery are just a grape throw away.
Telling the staff our story, they gave us complimentary wine glasses to take home

Went wine tasting here Saturday and it was great. Fantastic atmosphere, knowledgable pourer, great snacks. The wine was delicious and reasonably priced. So glad we started here and enjoyed the beautiful grounds with our lunch. I will definitely return.

Beautiful winery and warm, welcoming staff. I did a tasting and BF selected a glass. This is definitely a Pinot region, and I’m not partial. However, the difference between what I tasted here and in Los Olivos was distinctly different. If you like smooth pinots without the «pepper», this side of Solvang is preferred.
I’m spoiled. My wine palate was formed in Napa /​Sonoma. I tasted several good wines here, and throughout my weekend. I wasn’t blown away by anything.
I will return to Melville because it is a good winery. They are a bit in transition due to a couple of varietal farms being sold, so some current offerings are the last of that line. I’m interested to taste what offerings they have in the future. That is the best part of wine tasting, right?

We came in here on a quiet afternoon, with only two other people at the tasting table.
There were two different tastings, and we tried one of each to try the wines side by side.
They were good. Solid old world style pinots. Some of the more expensive offerings still needed a few more years at least, but weren’t enough to our liking to make that investment.
The gentleman serving us was really nice, but wearing aftershave, which is a pet peeve.
The grounds are beautiful.

Ok so I was a bit skeptical coming in but pleasantly surprised I had read reviews where the owner replied to negative reviews and the commenters noted his response and was a little thrown off and didn’t know how to feel but tried it for myself. Well I am glad I did ! They were super nice to the kids and I and very informative about the wine. The tasting was great and the prices even better to what I have normally seen in this area. Their signature Pinot Noir was delicious with a hint of cherry in the after taste. The environment pleasant and beautiful. I would say try it and you will like it :)

Loved the wine! Loved the beautiful place and the charming views! The staff on the other hand… well, the guy pouring our wine could not be more disinterested if he tried. He didn’t bother going over tasting notes or anything either. I love wine and would have appreciated it.
Not exactly the best tasting experience. However, the wine was really good, albeit overpriced.

If you go to restaurants in Santa Barbara, you’ll definitely see their wines on the menu. This was recommended to us by one of the wine shop staff in downtown for Chardonnays and Pinots. They are 100% estate wines and is a family-​owned and operated winery.
After wine tasting in the Wine Ghetto, I was happy to finally come to a winery with a vineyard and tasting room. It had an Italian villa feel and I loved that they had outdoor areas for picnics.
They had wine tasting of 5 wines for $ 10. Of the 5, I enjoyed:
–2013 Estate Chardonnay: crisp
–2013 Estate Pinot Noir — Block M: full bodied, bold Pinot
I purchased a bottle of the Block M. Unfortunately, they only waive the tasting if you buy 3 bottles. A little shady I thought. Overall, I enjoyed the welcoming staff and their spacious grounds more than their wines.

My all time favorite. Best Pinot I have ever had and literally it was what got me into red wines. Nutty, long lasting front note appears in every one of their tastings. Melville’s got magic!

This was a difficult one to rate. Before I actually read some of the reviews on here, I was ready to give this establishment a 5 star rating, simply based on our visit there. The staff were amazing and went out of their way to make our experience incredible. We had never been on a tour before and this was actually our first stop. From the moment we pulled in, we were totally impressed with the grounds. This place is clean, charming atmosphere and the staff are extremely welcoming.
The main reason that I lowered my ranking on this one was simply due to the responses from the owner, Chad, to the few lower ratings on here. It doesn’t appear that he has ever commented on any of the good reviews, only the negative ones and quite frankly, any business is going to get some negative reviews, its just simply not possible to please everyone all the time.
I would suggest that Chad rethink his responses, or simply don’t respond at all. As much as we enjoyed this place, had I have seen these reviews, and specifically, the responses by the owner, we would have not stopped here, which would have been sad, since it really is a charming place with welcoming staff.

I wish I could give less stars but I cannot. Wines are terrible. Aged Pino noir only for 9 to 10 months. Too young of a wine. No boldness. Syrah was even worse. Only thing was good was the wine Tasting is 10 dollars, the bathroom, and the view. Also they discriminate against people who have dogs and smoking by posting a sign before entering the winery. So be warned they don’t allowed and said it’s there place and their rules.

I first got to know Melville pinot noir 10 years ago which I bought from my local wine emporium. I was impressed with the full body, fruit forward, low acid, velvety-​plush tannins and smooth texture wine that sold for about $ 20.
What a shock to taste the recent wines that have none of the values I name above. What I tasted, in June 2014, was steely, high acid, sharp, unsatisfying wine. The Block M and Terraces pinot prices are $ 56. I preferred the vintage 2001 low cost pinot over the recent high priced ones.
The spacious and well appointed tasting room is pleasant. There is a beautiful outdoor wine tasting area with picnic tables. My server was gracious, informative, congenial, and gregarious. I enjoyed his company a lot more than the wine.

I love Pinot Noir, and this winery has many options if you like rich, deep, full bodied Pinot’s. The staff is so amazing, the employees are locals who love the area, and also love the wines, not snobby show, but very genuine. I especially enjoyed the Verna’s 2013 Pinot and the Estate 115 High density Pinot, delicious. Their Syrah’s are also made well, cool climate style. The grounds are lovely, clean areas to picnic around, and views of the vineyards. Come, sip, and savor.