In general, the main costs of bringing a wine to market are grapes 50%, crush process 10%, aging staring 15%, bottling casing 15%, overhead 10-15%. However, some of these costs may change in specific situations. For instance, the cost of grapes goes down if the winemaker has his own land and the costs of aging can vary significantly depending on how long the wine is kept in oak or what type of oak barrels are used by the winemaker.
In the case of Santa Rita Hills the main factor that affects wine costs is the climate. In Santa Rita Hills the Pacific Ocean regulates temperature and creates a cool micro-climate, the area has a rocky nature and is exposed to wind and fog, and so the vines are more stressed due to extreme conditions. These factors cause that vines from this region produce smaller amount of grapes comparing with the average Californian vine. This at the end means that the cost of grapes is higher, but I would say that the quality is higher too.
According to Mr. Melville, what makes them different from other wineries is that they are authentic farmers so there is little handling or manipulation once the fruit reaches the winery. They produce completely natural wines in an organic way, looking for purity and authenticity. As Mr. Melville said, they are winegrowers who take care of the vineyard and its soil and not simply winemakers who looks at wine like if it were an industrial product that is just partially affected by the environment. Moreover, they produce wine from healthy vines which are exposed to very extreme conditions, what makes them unique because almost every winemaker is used to do the opposite in order to get more profit.
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