Williams Selyem Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2018
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Strawberry and cherry notes mix with subtle notes of allspice and clove. The palate offers softer tannins with hints of black tea and seamless acidity. Sourced from our outstanding vineyards in the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast AVAs, the Sonoma County always represents an outstanding value. Something to enjoy on the early side as you wait for the vineyard designates to mature.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
A beautiful expression of the coolclimate appellation, this wine shows enduring flavors of blackberry and cherry, with deft touches of dried herb and forest. It holds its oak and weight with ease, offering balance within a complex structure and hint of grip.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast comes from a mix of vineyards and was 75% destemmed and spent year in 40% new French oak. It has a beautiful bouquet of ripe red (and some black) raspberries as well as complex bay leaf, bouquet garni, allspice, and hints of violets. This carries to a medium-bodied 2018 in the supple, elegant style of the vintage, with nicely integrated acidity, no hard edges, and a great finish. It's just a complex, complete, and satisfying Pinot Noir from this estate that will evolve for a solid 8-10 years.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Williams Selyem Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is long and persistent. TASTING NOTES: This wine comes right at you with all of its might. Its enticing and penetrating aromas and flavors of active red fruit stay deep into the wine's finish. Pair it with bacon-accented roast turkey. (Tasted: March 3, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Generous, well-defined fruit is the watchword of this immediately likeable effort, and the wine displays the suppleness and palatal polish that are the hallmark of its maker. It may not be the most complex of the Williams Selyem entourage, but it ranks high for its fruity depth and sheer drinkability, and, if hardly in danger of drying or fading any time soon, it is thoroughly enjoyable right now and is our pick of the bunch for pouring while waiting on the more age worthy of its 2018 cellar mates to fully come into their own.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale to medium ruby-purple, the 2018 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast has gentle scents of rhubarb and strawberry with notes of charcuterie and amaro. It's light-bodied with restrained but bright, spicy fruits, silky and fresh with an uplifted finish.
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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.
The Sonoma Coast AVA is large in area but, not counting overlapping regions like Russian River Valley, only has a few thousand acres of grapevines—and it’s no wonder. Much of the region is rugged and not easily accessible. Its proximity to the Pacific Ocean’s fog and cool breezes limits the varieties that can be cultivated, but it proves to be an ideal environment for high quality Pinot Noir.
Since fog is a frequent fact of life here, as are heavy marine layers that sometimes bring rain, the best vineyards are wisely planted above the fog line, on picturesque ridges that capture enough sun to provide even ripening. That, with the overnight drop in temperature that reliably preserves acidity, results in fine expressions of Pinot Noir that often receive tremendous critic and consumer praise alike, and are often in high demand.