Williams Selyem Heintz Chardonnay 2012
-
Wine
Enthusiast
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
2012 is a classic Heintz Chardonnay through and through. Fresh pineapple, star fruit and guava mingle with Fuji and yellow apple notes. A wave of stone fruits give way to lively citrus notes and meld into aromas of baking spices. The Heintz Ranch is located high above the Russian River Valley near the town of Occidental and is planted in the prized Goldridge Sandy Loam soil. Grapes grown in this type of soil often have a distinctive soil-inflected chalkiness. The rich and creamy mouthfeel is accentuated by a soft minerality and mouthwatering finish.
Professional Ratings
- Wine Enthusiast
Other Vintages
2018-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker -
Wilfred
Wong -
Connoisseurs'
Guide
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine &
Spirits -
Connoisseurs'
Guide
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine &
Spirits
-
Robert
Parker
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Connoisseurs'
Guide
-
Robert
Parker
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast
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.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
A standout region for its decidedly Californian take on Burgundian varieties, the Russian River Valley is named for the eponymous river that flows through it. While there are warm pockets of the AVA, it is mostly a cool-climate growing region thanks to breezes and fog from the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir reign supreme in Russian River, with the best examples demonstrating a unique combination of richness and restraint. The cool weather makes Russian River an ideal AVA for sparkling wine production, utilizing the aforementioned varieties. Zinfandel also performs exceptionally well here. Within the Russian River Valley lie the smaller appellations of Chalk Hill and Green Valley. The former, farther from the ocean, is relatively warm, with a focus on red and white Bordeaux varieties. The latter is the coolest, foggiest parcel of the Russian River Valley and is responsible for outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.