Williams Selyem Rochioli Riverblock Vineyard Pinot Noir 2016
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Wine Enthusiast
From a site the heart of the appellation, and a block-designate at that, this is an exuberant and intensely flavored wine, with tones of black cherry, smoke and forest floor. It builds power as it sits in the glass, finishing on a lush, seductive texture.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Pinot Noir Rochioli Riverblock Vineyard is pale to medium ruby-purple and opens with touches of tar and scorched earth over scents of grilled meats, graphite, red and black cherries, wild blackberries and dried herbs with a savory/minerally undercurrent. Light to medium-bodied, it begins savory, fleshing out to bright fruits classily accented with sweet baking spices. It has a frame of grainy tannins and lip-smacking acidity, finishing very long and energetic. Give this another couple of years in bottle. 776 cases produced. Rating: 93+
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Pinot Noir Rochioli Riverblock Vineyard, from a Grand Cru site in the Russian River, offers a more savory style in its mulled red and black fruits, hazelnut, candied orange, and smoky earth aromas and flavors. It's medium to full-bodied, has integrated acidity, plenty of depth and notable structure. Give it a year.
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Williams Selyem Winery began as a simple dream of two friends, Ed Selyem and Burt Williams, who pursued weekend winemaking as a hobby in 1979 in a garage in Forestville, California, and made their first commercial vintage in 1981. In less than two decades, Burt and Ed created a cult-status winery of international acclaim. Together they set a new standard for Pinot Noir winemaking in the United States, aligning Sonoma County's Russian River Valley in the firmament of the best winegrowing regions of the world. Today John and Kathe Dyson, who purchased the winery from Burt and Ed in 1998, carry on the passion for Pinot Noir winemaking without compromise. As for the wines... they just keep getting better and better.
While the Russian River Valley is a large appellation with multiple climate zones and soil types, it is best known for cool-climate varieties, with Pinot Noir as the most celebrated. The grapes benefit from a reliable late afternoon flow of Pacific Ocean fog through the Petaluma Gap and along the Russian River Valley that ensures slow and steady ripening and the preservation of grape acidity. Today many of California’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir vineyards are in the Russian River Valley, along with its sub-appellation, Green Valley.
Historically Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs had bright red fruit and delicate earthy, mineral notes. But changes in viticultural and winemaking practices have led to stylistic changes in some of the region’s wines. Adjustments to canopy management, among other techniques, have resulted in riper fruit and bolder wines as well. These show flavors of black cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and darker, loamy earth tones, accenting traditional Pinot Noir notes of strawberry, raspberry and light cherry.