Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
A delicate expression of power and beauty, this conveys kirsch cherry, wet stone and high-toned minerality. Round and easy to love, it offers a subtle streak of tannin and tight, integrated oak, finishing in dark chocolate and orange.
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Wine & Spirits
This is the third single-vineyard wine that Williams Selyem has made from the vines Bill and Becky Foss planted along Eastside Road in 2007. In 2013, the vineyard’s clay-loam soil grew a wine bursting with rich, dark cherry flavor that’s silky and clean, not at all heavy. The oak sticks out at first, but give this a few years in the cellar and you’ll have a delicious, classical Russian River pinot noir.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Pinot Noir Foss Vineyard has a very deep ruby color (one of the more saturated of the 2013 Pinot Noirs, which all possess very good color). This wine offers loads of plum, black cherry and earth, medium to full body, beautiful ripeness, and good, crisp acids. Interestingly enough, this is one of the lowest in alcohol, yet it is certainly concentrated. Drink it over the next 10+ years. Rating: 90+
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.