Winemaker Notes
The aromas of wild blackberries, black truffle, earth and minerals dominate the nose completely in this vintage. Concentrated flavors of blackberry cobbler, cinnamon, and cherry cola are complemented by the silky grape and oak tannins in the finish. This wine shows much more fruit-driven complexity than I have seen in past vintages.
The Weir Vineyard is located near Yorkville in Mendocino County. Fifteen acres are planted on a south-facing slope of a steep old sheep ranch. The altitude is just under 1,000 feet, and the climate is classic warm days and cool nights. Weir Vineyard is planted with clones Romanee-Conti, Wadenswil 2-A, and Rochioli. The vines are cane pruned with vertical shoot positioning, and plant density of 1,000 vines per acre.
Critical Acclaim
All Vintages
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.
A unique appellation placed in between the warm, Sonoma County Alexander Valley and the cooler Mendocino County's Anderson Valley, the Yorkville Highlands’ gravel soils are ideal for Bordeaux varieties and other full-bodied reds.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”