For sure Mike. Burt used tell me stories of he and Leno in the vineyard and the task of climbing it and Leno driving his tractor precariously up the steep, 60-65 degree slanted hill. As you may know, it got it’s name as Leno said "you’d have to be a jackass to farm a hill that steep,” You just know those vines had to be stressed. BTW, it’s now illegal to plant any vineyard stepper than 30 degrees.
My zins never stay in the fridge long enough, can’t keep my hands off them.
Very surprised by this note as well. Most chardonnays I’ve had drink best 3-4 years aged. Usually the older ones lose what I like about them, and I no longer buy many of them because I consider the “house” style fairly large. I will say the most fruit forward, opulent chardonnay I’ve had from WS was a Drake.
Really drinking nice!
Plenty of life left!
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Just had the 2010 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Westside Road Neighbors.
Just stellar, it checked all the boxes. Wish I had one more.
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2005 Sonoma County Pinot. So, so good, and probably drinking at its prime now (surprisingly, I half expected this to be tired).
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I think the non-vineyard designates can be a true bargain. Still some great vineyards’ grapes, but blended to please.
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2012 Morning dew, I will miss them since they are not making them anymore.
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I totally agree. In Burt’s years, he used some of the best fruit for his blends such as Summa went into the Sonoma Coast and Rochioli went into Russian River Valley and it goes on. I just had a 91` RRV last night and it was comprised of 26% Olivet Lane, 26% East Block {Rochioli} and 52% Musetti {I believe the only time he used this fruit}. BTW, the wine was stupendous.
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Here’s my TNs on the wine above:
1991 WILLIAMS SELYEM RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY PINOT NOIR- after nosing each of the 5 wines, it was clear to me this was my bring; although not able to be seen once bagged, the fill was low neck; the color was a darkish red with some slight bricking; aromas of mature, tertiary red fruit were first evidenced along with some trademark spice and cinnamon that is to be found in so many of Burt’s wines, especially those from Allen; the taste profile included mild accents of smoky red raspberry and red cherry/ berry; here’s a 30 year old new world Pinot that defies the claim that they should be drunk in a 5-7 year window after release; this vintage is not going to get any better and it’s just starting to go over the hill, but not before gracing us with lots of charm; I contacted the head VP of winemaking at Williams Selyem who has Burt’s notes to get the blend and learned it is 26% Olivet Lane, 26% Rochioli East Block and 52% Musetti, the latter being rarely sourced, in fact, I am not aware of any other wine of his using this fruit.
Cheers,
Blake
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1995 WILLIAMS SELYEM HIRSCH VINEYARD SONOMA COAST PINOT NOIR- the fill was an encouraging high neck, as Burt always tended to top all bottles to the cork; so was the color which was a dark red; the unexpected aroma of wet cardboard almost brought tears to my eyes and a thought of not having a backup, but it’s been so rare to have any flawed Burt made WS wines, I’ve never done that; I’m swirling and swirling and hoping for it to blow off and it did to a decent extent, OK, this bottle was corked, but the taste profile had enough to actually allow us to move past the nose and enjoy some cinnamon and spice laced red raspberry and red cherry which actually sustained over the course of an hour; I had to change my routine of swirling, nosing, tasting and hanging out with the wine at the back of the palate for the after taste in favor of swelling, not nosing and continuing on; at the end of the evening, we had an 1/6 of the bottle remaining which might epitomize making lemonade out of cardboard.
Cheers,
Blake
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1995 WILLIAMS SELYEM RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY PINOT NOIR- encouraged by the high neck fill and the dark red vibrant color, I ventured in and found aromas of spicy red raspberry which also made up a good portion of the taste profile along with some black raspberry and black cherry; it was medium bodied and had a soft mouthfeel which was even more apparent during the welcomed long finish; this bottle was as good as any I’ve had of this vintage in the last 10 years; it’s amazing balance and steadiness throughout the evening may have been its hallmark. I believe Burt told me he included some Rochioli and Allen in this wine and if so, it’s understandable how wondrous it is showing at age 26.
Cheers,
Blake
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Love Blake’s tasting notes from the Burt era!
The modern era, with Jeff at the helm, is going well too. My wife and I did a tasting at the winery a couple of weeks back. Really enjoyed a couple of the '19 Pinots - Luellas Garden and Drake Estate.
The WS team is also doing some very interesting things with the estate Saitone Vineyard - including a mixed black field blend (Antonio’s) and a varietal Carignan.
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We did the same tasting right before Thanksgiving. We also enjoyed the two 2019 Pinots and bought both (Luella’s has gotten pretty pricey!). I agree that WS is doing some interesting things. I was blown away by the Carignan - really, really tasty and my wife went ga-ga over the field blend. I wish I had more spare change because the library offers were awfully tempting… Cheers!
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Here’s a link to a tasting I did at the winery in August with some of Burt’s wines too: A memorable tasting of Burt Williams wines and more at Williams Selyem - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers
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Last night, our tasting group had a vertical of Ferrington Vnyd Pinot, 2002 and 2005-11. Except for a bad bottle of 2006 (not corked, but definitely off), all the others showed well. For me, the most surprising was 2005. It was arguably the most structured of all of them, needing 5+ years of cellaring. I figured it was 2010 or 11. My favorites were 2007 and 2010, however I’d be happy to drink any of those on their own.
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Nice tasting. The range you had did not include the 2 best WS Ferringtons I've had, the 97 and the 12. In fact, Burt and I were at the Anderson Valley Wine Festival in 2014 and everything made from Ferrington fruit showed the best of all other Pinots, especially the WS 12.
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I do drink and enjoy other wines from WS beyond those that Burt made and here is one of the stars:
When I was invited to visit the winery in late August to partake in a private tasting featuring some of Burt’s wines from the 1980s and 90s, I jumped on it. See a link provided above in post #55.
Thanks to Mark Malpiede, VP in charge of Marketing and Jeff Mangahas, VP in charge of Winemaking, I was treated to this fabulous tasting which also included some of the excellent WS wines from 2014.
During this event, it was mentioned that the 2002 vintage was really showing well now and I made note to open some after I returned home. Here’s one of the gems from one of my favorite vineyards and respectfully joining one of my all time favs, the 1995:
2002 WILLIAMS SELYEM PRECIOUS MOUNTAIN VINEYARD SONOMA COAST PINOT NOIR- the color was a grainy red raspberry which perfectly complimented the red raspberry that was prevalent in the aromatics and taste profile; it also had a steady streak of spice that provided just the right accent all the way through and at mid palate, a nice entrance of blueberry comes in and it’s nirvana all over again. Such a treat. This wine can go another 10+ years before reaching its apogee.
After writing up my notes, I thought to search my files for the initial notes provided by then winemaker, Bob Cabral, and here is what Bob had to say about the wine in the Fall Release newsletter in 2004 and sold for $59:
“A great year at this vineyard on the Sonoma Coast. Aromas of wild raspberry, rose petal, Asian spice and creme brûlée resonate on your palate. The full, lush mouthfeel is balanced with the wild berry flavors, cardamon, rose water and the slightly tart/ drying tannins in the finish. The flavors are concentrated and finish long and sweet. A very pretty wine. 14.2% abc.”
The newsletter also included raving reviews of this wine by Parker, Tanzer and the Wine Enthusiast.
Cheers,
Blake
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2014 Drake Chardonnay last night.
Immediately lush and elegant.
Opened on the exact day I suspect this wine is at its apex.
Just a mild hint of oak, round fruit, no overt ‘butter,’ tropical notes, long finish.
Ever so slightly understated compared to an Aubert, say, but every positive attribute was perfectly in balance. It was likely meeting one of those people who are just good at everything. You simply like the pleasure of their company in every way.
This was a good bottle. I preferred it to the 2016.
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A birthday dinner wine:
1997 WILLIAMS SELYEM ALLEN VINEYARD RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY PINOT NOIR- also as usual, we take a Burt Williams made wine to special occasion dinners and I pulled one of my all time favs for this one; it was superlative; I first noticed the fill approximated the cork which supported the point that Burt mention to me was his intent for all bottles and this also spoke to the quality of provenance for this bottle purchased in auction; it went through numerous changes throughout the entire evening, all good and interesting, but where it landed was the best place of all; it never did reach the spicy, cinnamon accented red fruit profile I`ve experienced in the past, but there was a huge streak of spice that complemented the red raspberry, red cherry and blueberry fruit; it was so graceful on the palate and all in all, pure pleasure; I shared it will the Somm who remarked it renewed his faith in new world Pinot Noir having longevity when made correctly; at age 24 and still rocking, I’d agree.
Cheers,
Blake
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