Verna’s Vineyard is an extension of Melville Winery’s commitment to produce world-class Burgundian and Northern Rhone style wines from Santa Barbara County.  

Location is foremost in the decision making process in choosing a site that supports our strong commitment to quality. Cat Canyon, Verna’s home, fits the bill! It’s geographically well suited for cold-climate viticulture - our specialty!

Verna’s Vineyard sprawls itself on a marine blanket of rolling hills and sandy soils in Cat Canyon’s cool and coastal climate. Cat Canyon is nestled within a small pocket of mountain ridges just two miles north of Los Alamos in the Santa Barbara County Appellation. Verna’s vineyard benefits from westerly winds and the marine fog layer, which funnel through the hills from the Pacific Ocean. These cooling trends perfectly suited for Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah and Viognier serve to prolong the growing season.

Brent Melville meticulously manages and cultivates Verna’s 100 acres. Currently, we have 56 acres planted with Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah and Viognier. There are 16 different clones planted representing these varietals. All our clones are planted on low-vigor rootstocks. This allows the fruit longer hang time, thicker skin development and less fruit production, which results in, heightened fruit flavor.

The aggressive farming program practiced on Verna’s Vineyard is indicative of Melville’s viticulture philosophy that great wine begins in the vineyard. This estate vineyard is densely planted at a spacing of 8' x 5' in the flats and at a spacing of 10' x 3' in the hillsides. Verna’s is predominantly oriented on a North / South axis. Vines are all vertically shoot positioned with aggressive canopy management to insure proper ripening and varietal development. All blocks are fermented in small lots and are isolated through their entire period of elevage to provide us with an on-going exhibition of where we can fine tune the estate so as to maximize production quality.

Future prospects for Verna's Vineyard are bright, and those conscientious producers who recognize the potential for viticultural greatness in Cat Canyon. Among those who recognize this potential is Craig Jaffurs of Jaffurs Winery who currently sources fruit from Verna’s Vineyard. At Melville, we strongly feel that we have embarked on the discovery of a viticulture sight that will produce world-class wines.