Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesThe 2019 Pinot Noir Rochioli Riverblock Vineyard is a stunning Pinot Noir from vines planted in 1989. Layered and pure, it takes its time to unfold to scents of cranberries, blueberries, orange peel, licorice, graphite and forest floor. The palate explodes with intense, sweet berry fruits, accents of Angostura bitters and earth adding to its complexity. Powdery and seamless, it finishes with tremendous length and promises to be very long lived in the cellar.
This medium-bodied red is dark and brooding in plush berry fruit. Highlights of dried herb, anise and blood orange contribute savory complexity and underscore the lifted acidity and firm yet wellmannered structure.
An inviting nose of ripe raspberries, red and black cherries, cumin, dried herbs and tobacco leaf. Medium-bodied with fine, silky tannins and bright, energetic acidity. Succulent fruit and layered spice. Steady intensity with balance and length. Fennel and sweet herbs come through. The palate is cool and exciting, leaving your palate humming for a while. Drink or hold.
The 2019 Pinot Noir Rochioli Riverblock Vineyard is highly perfumed with rose petal floral aromas, woodland spice, and damp earth. The palate gushes with ripe cherry and plum fruit on the mid-palate, as well as cedar and baking spice, with more rich structure.
Presents a plump mix of cherry tart, plum pastry and red currant flavors, which are well-knit and backed by fine-grained tannins. Minerally in the midpalate, offering a toasty finish that lingers with savory accents and white pepper hints. Drink now
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.