Winemaker Notes
The color is a beautiful yellow with a green glint. Notes of lime and quince are immediately apparent at first nosing, but then hints of flowers and smoky minerals emerge. Green apple rounds out this wonderfully aromatic wine, and the palate is no less interesting with zesty lime and Granny Smith apple flavors. A rather full-bodied palate, even without the oak, owing to the excellent vineyard sourcing and lees stirring. Minerals and an impression of iodine on the palate add depth and interest, while the finish is snappy and clean.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
Juicy, fresh and bright, this wine is driven by citrus-laden acidity that boosts an underlying richness. Robust apple and pear flavors wrap around touches of earth and wet stone that persist on the finish.
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Williams Selyem Unoaked Chardonnay is an outstanding example of this "no use of barrel" styled Chardonnay. TASTING NOTES: This wine is fresh, lively, and biting. Enjoy its aromas and flavors of piquant citrus, tart apple, and attractive minerality with lemon-accented, pan-fried English sole. (Tasted: March 3, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Unoaked Chardonnay has pure aromas of quince and pears with white blossoms and crushed stone. The light-bodied palate is energetic, fresh and minerally without lacking fruit, and it finishes long and floral. Great expression for an unoaked Chardonnay!
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.