Meyye Wines: Current Releases from Sonoma and the Sierra Foothills
Rob Campbell, owner and winemaker at Meyye Wines, has big news. He just purchased a parcel of land west of Sebastapol for his first estate vineyard. Rob is the longtime winemaker at Amador County’s Story Winery and is perhaps the only American winemaker of native American descent. He’s the descendant of both Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo Indians that lived mostly in Marin and Sonoma Counties. In 2019 he started his own winery, Meyye Wines with beautiful, unique labels that honor these tribes and their heritage. [Meyye is “bird” in Coast Miwok.] The labels use Coast Miwok names for birds common to the region where they lived. Rob’s grandfather spoke both Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo. As Rob told Sonoma’s Press-Democrat, “I’m using Coast Miwok names for my wines so that people will actually be forced to speak a language that was considered extinct.”
Rob Campbell
Meyye is a small producer (under one thousand cases) with two wines sourced from Amador County and two from Sonoma County. The Amador County wines are Palachchak (woodpecker), a rich Zinfandel, and Sokootok (quail), a flavorful Rhone style blend. The Sonoma County wines are Kuluppis (hummingbird), a layered Chardonnay, and Omay (brown pelican), a Pinot Noir. Our reviews of the current releases follow. His wines are rich, ripe, and lush.
Prior to establishing Meyye, Rob Campbell made the wines at the Story Winery in Amador County, where he grew old vine Zinfandel as well as old vine Mission. The photo shows him pruning Mission vines planted in 1894.
Rob Campbell Pruning 1894 Mission Vine [credit Carlos Avila Gonzalez]
The Wines
Meyye 2022 Kuluppis Chardonnay Los Carneros ($55) 91 Light-medium gold color. This is a rich, full bodied Chardonnay done in the traditional California style .The bouquet reveal tropical mango and pineapple with a dried lemon note. On the palate, it’s ripe, full flavored, and softly textured with a long finish. Sourced from the Sangiacomo Family Vineyards’ Kiser Ranch vineyard, located in western Sonoma Carneros. From a vineyard first established in 1974, these grapes are sourced from a newer block, planted in 2007, of the Robert Young clone. Fermented 50% in stainless and 50% in oak, 100% malolactic fermentation all in oak barrels, and aged for 9 months with frequent stirring. 13.7% alc.
Meyye 2019 Sokootok Red Wine Sierra Foothills ($60) 93 Medium red color. Opens with aromas of red and black berries and a note of savory spice. Soft on the attack and lush and plus on a mouth filling palate with fine grained tannins and a rich finish. A blend of 50% Grenache, 28% Syrah, 10% Petite Sirah, 9% Counoise, and 3% Zinfandel. Separately fermented, aged in oak, blended, and returned to neutral oak for a total of 18 months aging. 14.5% alc.
Meyye 2016 Palachchak Zinfandel Shenandoah Valley AVA ($50) 92 Most of the Zinfandel grapes for this wine come from the dry farmed, head pruned, self-rooted Picnic Hill Vineyard, which was planted in 1896, almost 130 years ago (!) on sandy loam soil. Ripe red berries with light notes of underbrush and leather show on the nose. A broad, ripe, densely flavored wine that’s fresher than the earlier vintage that we tasted. Shows a touch of heat but in general handles its high alcohol well. A blend of 90% Zinfandel and 10% Syrah fermented and aged separately, then blended and returned to neutral oak for additional aging, 24 months in total in American and French oak. 15.5% alc.
