Gavin Chanin and subconsciously rationalizing the American pinot you're drinking

WINE TALK
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Very interesting OP. For a number of reasons I have done a couple of very high end cull parties recently, popping bottles until we found something that really hit home. A bunch of things I always thought I liked fell completely flat.

When I looked at the carnage, it was clear that I spent too much $$ buying across producer ranges. Certain folks are very skilled with certain grapes (to my palate), and their other wines do not move me. Every Syrah made by Pax that I opened stood up and made a positive impression. Unfortunately his Wind Gap Pinots did not. I had enjoyed a few of those wines in the past, but they did nothing for me. Note to self - only buy Syrah from Pax. I had a similar experience with Ramey. I love what David Ramey does with Chardonnay, and think his Cabernet wines are also excellent. His Pinot does absolutely nothing for me. Buh-bye. More selectively, I like what Jamie Kutch does with Pinot Noir, but have discovered that I so vastly prefer Falstaff to his other vineyards, that it makes no sense to buy anything else (other than his Chard which is delicious). Meanwhile, other producers are making Pinot Noir that hits the right place for me. Rhys of course is on that list (though I do not much care for Family Farm or Bearwallow). John Lockwood at Enfield is making Pinot Noir from the Antle Vineyard that impresses me. I was recently introduced to Goodfellow on Berserker Day, and one bottle so far has been excellent.

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Interesting to place Melville in the same category as Sea Smoke. Granted I have recently renewed interest in their wines, but their current paradigm is heavy on stem inclusion, entirely neutral oak, and ABVs in the 13% to 14% range. The lower ABVs may be a function of vintage variation, but the neutral oak seems to have been in place for quite some time. I can definitely see the stem inclusion as a love or hate deal, though, as it is a fairly dominant house style characteristic that, like new oak, can be not so subtle. I don’t find the wines deeply extracted, though.

Sea Smoke has been and still is fairly heavy on the new oak and, to my knowledge, they have always leaned towards ripeness and extraction over finesse.