Philippe Melka has one of the great "wine minds" in the world, and he is often mentioned in the same sentence with like-minded all-stars like Michel Rolland, Thomas Rivers-Brown, Helen Turley, and Andre Tchelistcheff.
What I love about Melka is the fact that he isn't just a winemaker, he's also an enologist, and he understands the intricacies of what's going on in the vineyard. He is very talented, he's crafted a number of 100-point Cabs, and his 2019 CJ Cabernet Sauvignon shows his mastery of this most noble of varieties.
Philippe is a living legend, and to drink a wine crafted by this master is to experience greatness. Just 36 bottles up for grabs.
2019 Philippe Melka 'CJ' Cabernet Sauvignon
Drinking like a dream, and a wine that I'd personally rate 97 points!
If you want a classy, layered, and world-class Cabernet Sauvignon in your glass this holiday season, this wine absolutely delivers. The "CJ" stands for Chloe and Jeremy, Philippe and Cherie Melka's children, and what an ode it is. This stuff hits the palate with refined and gorgeously layered flavors of cassis, black currant, raspberry, graphite, vanilla, clove, and cedar.
As good as it tastes, what really wowed me was the wine's perfect texture. The tannins are super fine, making it totally drinkable already, but there's plenty of concentration and power that will allow this to age gracefully for at least a decade. Like I said, this guy knows Cabernet Sauvignon, both in the vineyard and in the cellar, and this is a total knockout of a wine.
That should come as no surprise, especially if you take a look at Melka's resume. Born in Bordeaux, he studied Agronomy and Enology at the University of Bordeaux, and immediately after earning his Master's Degree in both, he interned at Haut-Brion. It was during this time that he met Jean-Claude Berrouet, the technical director of Chateau Petrus, and that connection catalyzed Melka's move to the Napa Valley, where he took a role at Petrus's US outpost, Dominus.
Melka really started to get noticed during his tenure there, and in 1995, he and his wife started Melka Consulting. Under his watch, he nurtured a number of 98-100 point wines at estates like Hundred Acre, Dana Estates, Dalla Valle, and Bryant Family. He and Cherie continue to guide many wineries towards greatness, but they also manage their own 11-acre vineyard in Saint Helena.
It is from their own vineyards that this wine hails, and all I can say is that everything here is done with intention, with precision, and with guided intuition. I can't recommend this highly enough, as it also comes from a nearly perfect Napa Valley vintage.
Enjoy with lavish meals like tenderloin, standing rib roasts, or Wellington, and thank me the following morning : )
