I was gifted a 2018 Eastside Road Neighbors that I’m looking forward to trying.
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Tasted a '12 Coastlands Pinot the other night, very fine indeed. The recent vintage Zins have been stellar.
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Sure did! Came upon them with the 91 vintage, and although only allocated limited amounts of my favorite Rochioli V., I did stock up on the secondary market with any of the Burt Williams wines, particularly the Allen and Rochioli, through his last vintage of 1997. Now down to my last several bottles.
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2007 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Hirsch Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (9/4/2021)
Bright garnet color.
Appealing nose of cherries, baking spices, rose petal and turned earth.
Persistant and balanced palate of red fruits (red cherry), spice, a touch of creme de cerise.
Drinking very well now, quite resolved but will hold. If any criticism perhaps a touch of heat on the end palate. (92 pts.)
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2007 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Vista Verde Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, San Benito County (9/4/2021)
Bright mahogany color.
Quite an exotic nose of sandalwood, rose, vanilla and some koka nut.
Quite full and rich on the palate. Sweet red and black cherry fruit. Full and round with a touch of herbaceousness on the finish. At out perhaps slightly past peak, but drinking well. (90 pts.)
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I shared the 2015 Russian River Friday night at my friend’s going away party - I liked it more than the bottle I opened two years ago at a harvest lunch. Oak seemed more integrated, fruit was pretty classic RRV red cherry cola. Also we were sitting outside - I feel like the wine benefited from the fresh air and a breeze and the fact that the bottle was cool to the touch.
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2018 Vista Verde Pinot. With a little air, it is outstanding. Very aromatic with a really pretty floral bouquet. Dark fruited with savory notes. Very well balanced.
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2009 Precious Mountain.
Very Good not great.
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In the last six months, I opened a 2009 and a 2008 Williams Selyem Allen Vineyard Pinot.
Both were fantastic.
I preferred the 2009 (based upon my tasting notes), but both were excellent. They each showed a darker side of Pinot Noir.
Helped me to justify $pringing for the most recent release of the W-S Allen Vineyard pinot.
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This past weekend enjoyed a Williams Selyem Winery Pinot Noir Luella’s Garden Russian River Valley 2013 with the in-laws…still exceedingly youthful, pure pinot up top. My wife commented on the “cool” feeling nose and mouthfeel…nicely balanced.
When discussing the fruit profile, my sister in law noted subtle strawberry, which then entered my brain. So, lighter red fruit note.
I’d call it a midranger for length of finish.
All in all, good.
It was preceded by a delicious wine that was new to us: 2018 TBH Vineyard Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. It was lovely, similar to a nice Lynmar or Robert Young Reserve from back in the day. Also cool on the palate, not overtly buttery - well structured. definitely worth seeking out!
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The Allen vineyard sure has the pedigree of producing age-worthy wines.
In celebration of the Irish win at Soldier Field yesterday (why didn’t I go to the game?!!!) I cracked open a 2018 Eastside Rd. with my wife. This wine is so lush with dark fruited flavors and a nose that has you keep going back to the glass for more. In recent years I think Eastside Rd. > Westside Rd. although I do love both. Wish I had more.
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We open a Burt Williams made wine about once a month. Burt was a dear friend and I bought a lot of his wines from the mid 1980s on through his last WS vintage, 1997. I’ve probably drank more of his wines with him than not. I have 51 bottles remaining with 86 Sonoma County being the oldest and 88 Rochioli next. My favorite VD is Allen and my all time fav is the 1985 Summa in magnum which I last had with Burt`s daughter, Katie, in August.
Additionally, I continue to buy a case of their Pinots each release and am now starting to drink those from 2005-10.
Cheers,
Blake
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2004 Ferrington Pinot - what a treat, an outstanding bottle surely drinking at its apex right now.
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2013 WILLIAMS SELYEM FERRINGTON VINEYARD ANDERSON VALLEY PINOT NOIR- unexpected smoke and tobacco accented black raspberry dominate the aromatics and continue on to be joined by clove, toasted oak and blueberries on the palate; it’s medium to full bodied, has a bit of weight and decent texture; I’ve long enjoyed Ferrington fruit from this and other producers and except for years inundated with fires like in 2008, I’ve never gotten smoke and toasty notes, so I’m thinking this might be an anomaly and yet it was still very good and 4 of us finished the bottle with delight.
Cheers,
Blake
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Last night, 2012 Drake chardonnay.
Fist whiff was huge! This is a BIG BONED chardonnay…almost not house style, even.
It had big joints, big flesh, almost too much. Imagine taking a “tasting impression” of an Aubert chard and then you set all the “winephotoshop” settings to maximum, like we do with photos on our phones. Just everything larger, more vibrant, and more intense than usual.
It had stone fruit, white flowers, slight citrus, some tropical impressions (not pineapple, but the underlying sensation one’s palate can get from pineapple, if ya know what I mean. Maybe guava, not mango.)
This wasn’t a fruit monster, but was monstrously proportioned.
The first chard in a long time that was almost too big for my palate.
My wife and I were very surprised. This comes from a family of wines that I think of as sort of a Floyd Mayweather-like group, with speed and more precision and control, and suddenly here plops down Tyson Fury!
As to its age impression: The wine was also ‘fresh and vibrant,’ my wife guessed 2016 and I would have agreed, even 2017
We still have 2 or three left, this wine seems like it will be great (if it’s to your liking) for a long time.
If you wanna see what the ‘biggest’ WS chard I’ve ever encountered is like, this is the one.
Also, available at K&L Wine for 90 bucks.
Edited to add: we had about 6 ounces left, so recorked back in and into the fridge overnight and my wife said it was just as good on night two.
Don’t overlook W-S Zins!
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2018 Williams Selyem Zinfandel Saitone Estate Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley (10/9/2021)
14.9% abv. Medium-dark ruby, great aromatics. Raspberry, red cherry, blue fruit and mint. Expansive, deep, rich and very long. Intense flavors, but remains very balanced and light on the palate. Saitone is at the very top echelon of RRV, and California Zinfandel. Will only improve over the next 4-8 years. Outstanding. (96 pts.)
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Especially don’t overlook those Zins made by Burt.
Definitely don’t overlook the Zins!
Had this last night.
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I was kind of thinking of Zins like this:
1988 WILLIAMS SELYEM LENO MARTINELLI VINEYARD RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY ZINFANDEL- 15.3% abv; an amazing gem with surprisingly still youthful vibrancy, it was full and rich with slightly peppery, spicy cranberry, blueberry and red cherry notes and showing no signs of aging in any way for a 33 y.o. wine; the flavor profile just kept on developing in the glass and adding in more character and pleasure throughout including its long finish.
Cheers,
Blake
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A fabulous wine Blake, thanks for the note. Sourced from Martinelli’s fabled “Jackass Hill” Vineyard.
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