2nd Update with new TNs/ In search of wines from Burt Williams` proteges/ SVDs

Since Burt Williams passed last December and my stash of his wines is starting to dwindle, I`ve been checking out wines made by some of the people who worked under him during the time he crafted legendary wines from 1983-1997 under the Williams Selyem label.

Over the years, Burt has mentioned some to me and I’ve met a few of them. The one I know well and am closest to is his daughter Margi, Brogan Cellars. Burt`s son Fred, Seven Lions, passed before I had a chance to get to know him.

Im familiar with and love the wines from Fred and Margi and have some although they are becoming more difficult to replace as Fred passed in 03 and Margi has cut way back and has made very few wines of late.

So, I`m on the hunt and I started making a list and buying some wines to see if there are some winners in the group. This included:

WesMar {pronounced “Wes-Mare”} Winery in Russian River Valley which is owned by Denise Mary Selyem, the daughter of Ed Selyem and both her and her husband Kirk Wesley Hubbard worked at Williams Selyem for several years before Burt sold in 1998. I recently tasted 2:

2007 WesMar SONOMA COAST PINOT NOIR- 14.2% abv; this is primarily a blend of Hellenthal and Balletto vineyards; it had an intense, fruity nose featuring black cherries, black raspberries, a hint of spice and sandalwood; it had rich and spicy black cherry delivered in a silky smooth texture; for being 13 years old, it’s got many more years to go before reaching its apogee; very good now and has the stuffings to be even better.

2012 WesMar SONOMA COAST PINOT NOIR- 14.0% abv; light reddish purple hue; it had nice oak spiced cherry aromas and floral bouquet; the mouthfeel was super soft with a pleasing mix of cherry and cranberry flavors accented with spice and cola; this was very good and with significant structure and exuding high energy, it promises to give continued treasures in the years to come.

Cobb Wines founded by Ross and Stephen Cobb and their parents David and Diane who own Coastlands Vineyard which Burt made some stellar Pinots from both as a VD and in blends labeled Sonoma County and Sonoma Coast. Ross spent some time with Burt and later on became a viticulturist and enologist for Williams Selyem a couple of years after Burt sold in 1998. I met Ross briefly when Burt and I were having a late breakfast in Anderson Valley near Burt`s Morning Dew Ranch property. Out of earshot, he commented that he was very fond of Ross and that he was making great wines. I made a mental note. Last week, I opened:

2007 COBB RICE-SPIVAK VINEYARD SONOMA COAST PINOT NOIR- made from Dijon and Swan clones from this 6 acre vineyard; the color was light red cherry as was the first hit from the nose and what was most prevalent in the early taste profile; with time, more accents of cinnamon and spice appeared as well as a hit of raspberry and strawberry, but the red cherry notes held the course; as it changed with time, so did the mouthfeel with a smooth texture resulting; I like it, but will hold off on acquiring more until I explore other Cobb releases I just bought; this was $65.

Woodenhead Vintners co-creatd by Nikolai Stetz and Zina Bower. Nick is the winemaker and according to his bio, “after an early in life exposure to making wine, he eventually started making home wines in earnest since 1986 and worked for 17 years of crush for the famous “two guys in a garage cult winery” that put Russian River Valley Pinot on the map. Working for Burt Williams as an assistant winemaker confirmed his life’s passion for wine.”
I met Nick and Zina on a few occasions when I visited Anderson Valley while staying with Burt and on one occasion, they came over after we had tasted their wines at the Pinot Noir Festival. I just bought 5 and this is the first one to be opened:

2012 WOODENHEAD VINTNERS HUMBOLDT COUNTY PINOT NOIR- all of the fruit for this wine is sourced from the Fruitland Ridge Vineyard planted by Dennis and Becky Kreutel; with a pure burgundy color, this, as with so many wines, changed significantly over time and landed in a good place after a very good start; initially, the nose had dried blueberry and dried black raspberry which also was found in the taste profile along with a touch of spice; within 20 minutes, it now has more blueberry, red and black raspberry and spice; and then in the next phase comes more distinct red raspberry fading into black cherry with just a touch of sweetness; during this whole metamorphosis, the mouthfeel remained soft and smooth; the fruit became more pronounced and there is a nice steady streak of ripe fruit throughout, yet this is not a fruit bomb as the wine is nicely balanced; I like it and at $46 at the winery, I’m in.

So far, I`m impressed with the quality of the wines from these 3 producers and after I taste a few more releases from different vineyards and vintages for which I’ll post additional notes, I’ll draw some conclusions about future purchases. Right now, I’d say the Woodenhead is the most elegant, the Cobb is the most balanced and complex and the WesMar is somewhere in between. This is fun.

Cheers,
Blake

This looks like a fun and educational exercise! I think particularly in California there’s a great opportunity to trace the lineage of a winemaker and see their influence over the decades, across different terroirs, etc.

Only producer I’m familiar with is Cobb. Haven’t had anything with significant age, but that 07 sounds great.

I only have two notes but had quite a bit as they’ve shown up at Falltacular. Everything has been very good and I remember teh chardonnay being outstanding.

• 2012 Cobb Pinot Noir Jack Hill Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (10/27/2016)
  Just the Bro’ (Maro Grill, Laguna Beach): Too funny, Kenny was in town and didn’t have access to his cellar so on the way to dinner he grabbed this at whole foods with no idea. I guess he knows how to pick them. This showed very well as a more restrained style which surprised me as its Sonoma. Bright cherry flavor, lean, and some stem or oak notes. Nice.
• 2009 Cobb Pinot Noir Rice-Spivak - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (3/4/2016)
  Blind. Guessed Rhys Bearwallow PN - that’s a compliment.

Deep maroon color. Crazy nose, aroma pouring out of the stem. Molasses and berries. Unripe strawberry and rhubarb. Woody note. This drank amazing on the PnP but sweetened up as it warmed. Not goopy, added some weight. Nice wine.

Posted from CellarTracker

Thanks Brig. Interesting notes on the 09`which is 2 years out from the one I had and certainly way different.

I poured that for Brig in a blind tasting. It is a very good wine,

I also served a 2008 WesMar Balletto to Brig and the guys blind maybe a year or two ago. It was a dead ringer for Williams Selyem pinot of that era - lighter red color, sweet red cherry, cinnamon and baking spices. Good, not excellent.

Thanks for the note on the Woodenhead. I’ve been a fan of these wines for a while and feel like they have a distinctive and consistent flavor profile that i enjoy. And they really age nicely. Very little chatter about them here and surprisingly few notes in CT.

Here’s that note. Chris, didn’t you really like the Chard too? I thought we had tasted together at Franktacullar and it was one of the wines of the event.

Here is 2020 FT and there’s lots of Cobb comments

• 2007 WesMar Pinot Noir Oehlman Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (4/10/2016)
  Blind. Guessed Pinot but struggled with aged California or burgundy. The nose really screams burg but the fruit says California. I decided older Santa Cruz or Anderson Valley because of the balance of tart red fruit.

What? Russian River? Well done, this is an excellent. Not overblown highly concentrated. Elegant.

Posted from CellarTracker

Great to know Chris. I had an option to buy that wine from a later vintage and passed. I’m into excellent which gets a vote from Brig. Thanks guys.

Yes, I thought the Cobb Mariani 2016 was my favorite wine among so many excellent wines at the 2019 Franktacular.

Cobb Chardonnay 2016 Mariani Vineyard. I think this was my favorite wine from 2019 Falltacular. Like a great Meursault. Hint of flint and smoke, then pure lemon, earth, white pepper, long acidic finish. Great and should get even better. Seriously one of the best chardonnays I’ve ever had.

FMIII liked too

I attended the 19` Falltacular and missed the blind tasting evidently. I’ll be on the lookout for the Chardonnay now as well- thanks guys.

Blake,

Another approach would be look at people who have access to some of the same vineyards, Gary Farrell and Tom Rochioli for starters.
The Pellegrinis owns Olivet Lane and make wine and sell grapes.

I’ve always thought that if you crossed the aromatics of WesMar with the body of Woodenhead, you’d have Burt.

Ross Cobb’s wine do remind me of Rhys.

Hi Mel,

I considered doing that as I fondly recall tasting all of the 2012 Pinots made from Ferrington fruit at the Anderson Valley Pinot Fest and regardless of who made it, those wines stood head and shoulders above all others on the day. Rochioli and Hirsch {made by Ross Cobb} have released some dandies and not too distant from Burts style. There's been some super wines using Summa fruit made by Thomas Rivers Brown {Rivers-Marie} and Ted Lemon {Littorai} and Margis. Hum! The more I write this, the more I’m inclined to go that route as well. Good idea Mel.

Love your cross breed of WesMar and Woodenhead too. Im enjoying Pinots from both and just went back to the last dregs of the 07 Humboldt County 2 nights ago and it was really good and outshined the remnants of 07` Cobb Rice-Spivak big time with its hallmark of having beautiful balance.

Looks like I`ll have some add ons to this experiment. Seems like more fun and I’m already having a ball.

I was impressed with the first bottle of Woodenhead Pinot and since I bought 5, I was anxious to try another couple. I also have another Cobb to try and so here’s some TNs and impressions:

2013 WOODENHEAD RITCHIE VINEYARD CINDER CONE UNFINED & UNFILTERED RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY PINOT NOIR- 13% abv; this was sourced from 9 specific rows of vines grafted to the Pommard clone, planted 35 years ago known as the Cinder Cone Block; the color was burgundy; the initial nose had dried red cherry/ berry and the taste included mild notes of spice, cinnamon, talc and red cherry with a hint of blueberry; later on, there’s more talc and dried red cherry and blueberry and the texture becomes smoother; the 3rd time through, the red cherry/ blueberry flavors now have a sweetness along with more pronounced talc, spice and a really nice cola accent; it ends up in a good, balanced place and is very enjoyable. This is the 2nd bottle of 5 from varying vintages and vineyards I’m trying out and I’m impressed.

The name, “Woodenhead,” was given to Nikolai Stetz by an old girlfriend who thought that he was very stubborn. Winemaking is by gravity flow, they do hand punch downs and use a gentle basket press as well as doing extended aging in French oak barrels. Stez uses the fermenting containers crafted from stainless steel milk tanks like those originally employed at Williams Selyem. These bins have the perfect configuration for fermenting Pinot Noir. Stez employs the Williams Selyem inoculated yeast and malolactic cultures, uses no enzymes, occasional acid adjustments, and very low sulfur levels. The Pinot Noirs are typically aged for 18 months and an additional 6 months in bottle before release.

2014 WOODENHEAD RITCHIE VINEYARD CINDER CONE UNFINED & UNFILTERED RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY PINOT NOIR- 13% abv; it has a burgundy color with a red rim {not bricking}; the profound aromatics included fresh and ripe red cherry, cranberry, blueberry and red and black raspberry which all are found in the taste profile plus a streak of wildness and an accent of talc; it’s full bodied with medius weight and although very giving now, it needs some time to balance out; I’m loving the fruitiness and thankful it is not overwhelming.

2008 COBB WINES EMMALINE ANN VINEYARD SONOMA COAST PINOT NOIR- 13.1% abv; the fruit for this comes from 3-acre vineyard near Occidental planted to Dijon clones in Goldridge sandy loam; following the light red cherry color came an initial nose and taste of tertiary, dried and tart red cherry/ berry with some rhubarb in the background; in time, a nice spicy component comes in to embellish the now more likable ripe red cherry flavors; it had a medium body and a very smooth mouthfeel throughout; it’s very good, but is it worth the $60 price tag? With a 1/3 bottle remaining, we `ll re-evaluate this in day or so.
The re-try just confirmed this is very elegant and easy on the palate and has nice balance.

Updated conclusions: All of these folks learned well and are making good wines. Of these 3 producers {including WesMar}, I’m liking the Woodenhead Pinots the most for what pleases my palate currently. They’re really fruity and yet close to ideal balance. They have depth and layered complexity and yet remain charming and elegant.
There is still more Cobb and Woodenhead to explore and some Rivers-Marie Summa is on the way; so, there is more to assess and enjoy.
Cheers,
Blake.

Next round:

2012 WesMar BALLETTO VINEYARD RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY PINOT NOIR- I have to think we got an “off” bottle here as the 2 previous wines from this producer were very good and this one had some very different nuances that are difficult to capture in words; after decanting, it was poured in to a Sophienwald Red Burgundy glass; the nose was redolent of smoke and I double checked the label to be sure I had not opened an 08 where fires inundated this area a couple of months prior to harvest; then came a real grapey type note that reminded me of unsweetened Welchs grape juice; the taste profile was much the same and I recall having these similar characteristics in a few other Pinots from different producers; I’m at a loss as to what contributes to this profile, but it can’t be what was intended and certainly not what I desire.

I’ve long been a fan of Thomas Rivers Brown who has visited Santa Barbara and dined with our dinner group on a few occasions; even though he has made some stupendous wines under numerous labels, the ones I’m most familiar with are Cabernets from Schrader, Outpost and Maybach and yet when he visited, we selected his favorite wines theme, Burgundy.

When good friend Mel Knox suggested I consider doing vineyards that Burt designated specific Pinots from, my first thought was Summa Vineyard as my all time favorite wine Burt made was the 1995 Summa which I first had in magnum when Burt took it to a party in Healdsburg with the Mosby brothers. Earlier this year, Burt`s daughter, Katie, took another magnum to the San Francisco South Bay celebration held in honor of Burt who passed last December and it was equally as stellar.

Outside of Burts daughter Margis Brogan Cellars Summa which I have and love, my first thought was of the Rivers-Marie Summa and so I opted for a few bottles, this being the first. It was so good, I got up after only a few minutes of tasting it and went on line to search for and order more.

2011 RIVERS-MARIE SUMMA VINEYARD SONOMA COAST PINOT NOIR- after observing its grainy red color and getting a whiff, I let out a Wow!; it had super inviting aromatics that filled my olfactory senses with generous amounts of spicy red fruit which on the palate translated into fresh and ripe red raspberry with accents of spice, clove and even a hint of spearmint; its smooth and viscous texture served to add to the sensory pleasures and extend the long, welcomed finish; it had beautiful balance and lovely elegance; this is absolutely the best of all the wines I’ve tasted while being in search of wines from Burts proteges and it’s the fruit source not the producer that is the common denominator here. Thanks Mel.

Next up: more Woodenhead and forthcoming R-M Summa.

Cheers,
Blake

Blake, thanks to an invitation from Viet Ly, I was on a small Zoom call with Ross Cobb last Saturday. With this thread in mind, I asked him about Burt Williams, their interactions through the two years Ross worked at Williams-Selyem and through W-S making the Coastlands Vineyard pinot (that vineyard being planted and owned by Ross’s parents). I got a great answer, which I can only partly do justice to here, and apologies in advance for probably getting some details wrong.

He talked about how Burt designed stage production and effects for Grateful Dead shows and was a huge fan of the Dead. He said the winemaking at W-S often had this 1960s vibe with a lot of Dead music playing.

He described Burt as a fairly introverted man, highly intelligent, very kind to Ross. Ross worked for Burt right leading up to the 1998 sale of the winery, which was awkward in some ways, but nonetheless a great experience for Ross.

Ross was making a trip to Burgundy to meet various Burgundy winemakers, and he asked Burt if he could get a couple of bottles of W-S Coastlands. Burt of course gave him a whole vertical of, I think, two different W-S bottlings from the mid 1990s. He took those, along with pinots from a few other standard-bearers from Sonoma, to Burgundy, and he said the producers were consistently impressed with the wines. And he said his assumption that they would prefer the leanest and most savory ones did not prove correct – he said the producers there admired the ripe fruit in some of the wines, so long as it stayed in balance.

Ross said his sense of balance in his wines was heavily influenced by Burt.

To that end, I had a 2008 Cobb Rice-Spivak “30 month extended barrel age” bottle last night, and it was terrific, with some distinct similarities to W-S’s style. There was a lovely overall aroma that reminded of antique furniture. Light and pretty red cherry which picked up slowly over the hours the wine was open. A bit of pine forest. A lovely dusting of cheerful holiday spices, and that particular cinnamon note that I consider a trademark of W-S pinots (and which was quite distinct in a WesMar pinot I tried last year as well). The citrusy acids on the finish were very mild at first, then almost (but not) too strong by the last glass.

Most of all, the wine had that feeling of a living thing, a complete organism. After a slow start, where I wondered if maybe the wine was past maturity, it ended up being a splendid experience.

Chris,

A few years back (2016?) Burt and Raj staged a tasting at the Wasserman–Hone home in Bouilland of WS wines going back to 1985. I think the Burghound published notes. Mine read like, Wow! and Holy Cow!! All the real Burgundians did a good job of faking their enjoyment. Too bad Raj’s plane was delayed but at least he arrived at the end of the tasting.

Chris, I would have loved to have been on that Zoom call with Ross- I missed seeing any notice if there was one; is there a link?; nonetheless, thanks for the review and your editorial comments. I appreciate it very much.

I love the part about Burt providing Ross with Coastlands wines as that is who I knew him to be and I know from that time I met him briefly in Anderson Valley, that Burt was very fond of him.

I find some similarities in your notes on the 08 Cobb R-S to the 07 I recently tasted and totally agree with the cinnamon character that is so prevalent in many of the early WS Pinots, especially those from Allen and Summa.

Perhaps we’ll dive in to a few of these when I can come down to OC and join you guys. That journey is one of my top things to do when the veil is lifted.

Mel, I posted a thread about that Burgundy trip with some feedback from Burt when he was there and after he returned, but have not found the link to include it herein. Allen Meadows did put out some raving notes. I had an invite to join Burt and Rebecca and had too many important conflicts to juggle around. Came damn close.

I assume you saw my Summa TNs above- thanks for the direction to go to SVDs.

Blake,
I have some Gary Farrell Rochioli and some Rochioli Rochioli…when this is all over we’ll get together with our friends at ABC and break a few bottles.