Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
I love the delicate complexity of this Pinot, which is a blend of five vineyards along this famous wine trail. If you want to understand RRV Pinot, and particularly from the stretch they call the Middle Reach, study this wine. Dry, crisp and silky, it shows beautifully ripened cherry, raspberry, cola, pomegranate and spicy-herbal flavors, perfectly integrated with smoky oak, and the brilliant acid-tannin balance of a great vintage.
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Wine & Spirits
Westside Road is a sweet spot for pinot noir in the Russian River Valley. It's where Williams Selyem has planted estate vineyards, and the "neighbors" are Allen, Bacigalupi, Bucher, Flax and Rochioli Riverblock vineyards, which also contribute to this blend. The area instills the wine with a cool, foresty tone, as well as a plump richness that's filled with luscious black raspberry flavor and gamey complexity. Satisfying now, this should age well over the next five years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
It was difficult to penetrate and evaluate. I love the sexy, sensual character of the 2005 Pinot Noir Westside Road Neighbors. There are just under 1,000 cases of this glorious Pinot, which comes across like a premier cru from the Cote de Beaune. Dark plum/ruby-tinged with sweet kirsch, pomegranate, raspberry, and dusty, loamy soil scents, this medium to full-bodied, elegant, pure wine is totally captivating. It is everything a top-notch Pinot Noir should be.
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Wine Spectator
Floral, lavender and rose petal scents are richer on the palate, with plum and black cherry flavors. Tight and compact, this provides a glimpse of what lies ahead on the finish, where the fruit joins the mineral and fresh earth scents.
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.