My friend, Rusty Gafffney, the self proclaimed Prince of Pinot Noir and author of his Pinot centric newsletter, PinotFile has come out of semi-retirement to write a few special articles and his most recent is a must read for all as it is heartwarming and full of what can happen when one is passionate about and industrious enough to fulfill a dream. Enjoy.
Blake: I’m on his mailing list, so I saw this. Lots of good pix and history. I contacted Rusty about maybe taking over his letter with a friend of mine. He said he’d been swamped with similar requests and decided he just could not give it up. So he’s doing “special issues” and reviewing pinots from off the beaten path.
Interesting to know James about your interest in continuing his newsletter. Rusty is so deeply impassioned, he just can’t step away, yet!
If you haven’t listened to it already…
I"ll check out the article, thanks for the tip.
The IDTT pod with Joe is fantastic, highly recommended.
I’ve been a big fan of their wines since first tasting them in the early '90’s. Not my usual style, and I don’t drink them that often, but when I do, I always enjoy. It’s always been the SB, which is hard to beat off a restaurant list, and the Pinot. I’ve never really dipped into the Chard. Are folks fans of that as well?
P. S. I really did enjoy the article. Thanks for linking to it, Blake!
Joshua, I’ve been a fan of their wines since first being exposed to them by Burt Williams in the 80s. I just checked my cellar and have an 89 Williams Selyem Rochioli Pinot plus a few others up to and including the last one Burt made in 97. Unlike most of his other VDs, the fruit profile was almost always in the black cherry/ blackberry range as opposed to the raspberry, strawberry and red cherry found so often in all others. He would even blend a little into other releases such as the Russian River Valley and Sonoma County wines. Quite the blending material.