2020 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir

Has anyone tasted the William Selyem pinot noirs at the winery? The 2020 Single Vineyard pre-release offer is coming on Monday. I know we have discussed the 2020 Rochioli’s on another thread. The WS winemaker claimed that they started harvesting for the wines that they will release prior to the Aug 17 fire and the smoke settling, did ongoing testing, declined to pick the later ripening Sonoma Coast vineyards that would be smoke tainted, etc. Still, I am unsure.
Anyone taste though the lineup?

No one taste the 2020 WS?

I’ve tasted a number of them and what I tried seems to not be affected by smoke. I haven’t tried the entire lineup however.

I do know that Jeff does pick earlier there so it’s certainly possible everything he brought it was clean. I had a a similar experience with the wines I make for the Buchers and the Carlisle Wines I’ve tasted have been clean (and really good as well)

Adam Lee
Clarice Wine Company

2 Likes

Thank you for the info.
He did say in that video that they started picking before the fires started, and finished before the smoke settled, and the later ripening vineyards they didn’t pick…except for Precious Mountain as an experiment, which showed severe smoke taint.
So that makes sense in terms of your impressions.
I was just hesitant because of what I heard about Rochioli.
Thanks again!

I’m visiting the winery this weekend. Not sure if they are pouring 2020s or not — just got an email that the 2020 release is Aug 8

They should be. The pre-release offer for longer term customers started a couple of days ago, and two weeks later the general release starts….on Aug 8 I presume.

Prices are creeping up…Rochioli is $100, up from $90 last year and $85 the year before. Calegari, Foss, and Bucher also increased $10 to $75. I’m still a buyer, but definitely cutting back on quantities.

Will be interesting to see how the Sonoma County and Central Coast bottlings are priced in the Spring. Those have been great QPRs at $39.

Would love to hear your thoughts after your visit.

Seems to be consistent across the board - keep us posted when you hear please.

Cheers

I’m somewhat new to WS but looking to begin accumulating and cellaring the SVDs. I bought 6 each of the Sonoma County and RRV in the last release due to board recommendations that they were great QPRs - I’ve had one of each and they did not disappoint!

I’m typically a fan of brighter, more aromatic, less alcoholic CA Pinot. I love Cru Beaujolais if that gives people a sense of my taste.

Which of the WS SVDs would folks recommend?

1 Like

We visited Williams Selyem on Saturday and tasted 4 of the 2020s (+ their Missouri Hopper Cabernet, which I believe was a 2019 and was delightful). No signs of smoke taint across the wines we sampled, but of course that is just a subset of the overall offering. Certainly, one could buy any of these without reservation if the style suits your palate.

2020 Vista Verde Chenin Blanc: 14.1% abv, 100% concrete eggs. White flowers, ripe fruit flavors, nice acid, some minerality. Tasty.
2020 Cohn Vineyard Pinot Noir: 13.8% abv, 42% new oak, 52% 1-year old oak (15 months). Ripe pinot, definitely new world, raspberry/blackberry cola. Not bad if you’re into the style!
2020 Savoy Pinot Noir: 13.5% abv, 60% new oak, 40% 1-year old oak (15 months). More feminine in style relative to the Cohn. Muted today, so it’s hard to judge, but everyone at the table thought this would blossom into something beautiful with bottle age. Red-fruited (maybe redcurrant). Just a hint of cola.
2020 Saitone Carignan: 14.7% abv, 100% 1-year old oak (15 months). Inky, translucent purple. Dark fruited. Not my cup of tea.

2 Likes

I have not popped any of the 2020 pinots I have from the Spring release as I will probably given them at least another year. I have built a tremendous amount of trust in Williams Selyem over the last few years so I suspect the 2020s will be fantastic.

Brent – I think all of the WS SVDs are slightly different and of high quality, so I would recommend that you experiment for yourself, particularly because for the most part, WS is going to include a good amount of whole cluster, keep the alcohol below 14% with a general target of 13.5 give or take the vintage (so they will be balanced and not huge). That being said, the pinots from Westside Road (Rochioli, Allen, Westside Neighbors blend) are all typically more red fruited with high acidity (maybe with the exception of Bucher). Those are typically released in the Spring. The Eastside Road vineyards in the upcoming Fall Release (Foss, Calegari, Lewis MacGregor, Eastside Road Neighbors blend) are likely to have richer berry characteristics (some dark fruited) with varying degrees of acidity (though I would say that even those WS wines with the least acidity (e.g. Foss) are still in the high 3.5 ph range and will typically show medium acidity).

My biggest recommendation would be that if you can keep your hands off them for a while, these wines will reward you with a little more cellar age.

1 Like

Nicely done. I hadn’t thought about the wines in terms of Eastside Road vs Westside Road.

Tom

1 Like

I had the pleasure of tasting through most of the lineup from the barrels with a couple of winemakers and Jeff…they are all clean as a whistle and outstanding! Jeff continues to hone his craft in a superb manner…and the new cabs are delicious as well.

I have been buying W-S Pinot for quite a few years and specifically Bucher and Foss for the last 5 or so vintages. Quite a surprise to logon and find a zero allocation for these two vineyards. That and the price increases over the last few years has got me moving on… Bye-Bye

Thanks for this! Based on this and some other users’ thoughts, I planned to purchase Allen, Ferrington, and Rochioli Riverblock this release. Unfortunately, I was only allocated Ferrington, no Allen, no Rochioli. I checked my WS account prior to receiving the email that the release window was live – bit of a bummer.

I ended up going with my full allocation of Ferrington (5 bottles) and 1 bottle of WS Estate Vineyard, which was my full allocation. Hopefully next go around will have more options.

Add “North” (Anderson Valley) to the “East/West” categorizations…

I just purchased 6 bottles this time. I was allocated about a 18 but they consisted of less desirables.

With the price increases, I am close to my breaking point. I would rather spend 100 bucks on a village burgundy.

I bought the minimum of 6 to qualify for the winery pickup event. No Rochioli allocated this time :frowning: