WTN: 2002 Williams Selyem Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

2002 Williams Selyem Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

I opened up two of these for a small dinner party this week. Light ruby in the glass with wonderful aromatics of cherry, strawberry, spice, loganberry, herbs and something none of us could name but perhaps a combination of mild perfume combined with blueberries. A really interesting wine to sniff and try to figure out. A velvety wine on the palate and my only complaint was the lack of acid. We had grilled lamb kebobs and thought a W/S pinot would have contributed enough acidity to match the food. Not so. Nice wine nonetheless and I am looking forward to trying the single vineyard W/S's from 2002.

[Jenise]

I picked up a couple WS RR PN's at auction a few weeks ago out of curiosity. When I saw them available, I kind of went "Oh yeah, William Selyam"--I'd kind of forgotten they exist, so rarely do I see them mentioned these days. So I'm glad you did--are you on their mailing list? I once was, but dropped off at the change of ownership. Are the wines still as good as they used to be?

I picked up a couple WS RR PN's at auction a few weeks ago out of curiosity. When I saw them available, I kind of went "Oh yeah, William Selyam"--I'd kind of forgotten they exist, so rarely do I see them mentioned these days. So I'm glad you did--are you on their mailing list? I once was, but dropped off at the change of ownership. Are the wines still as good as they used to be?

Hi Jenise,

I am no longer on their mailing list but that is more the result of changes in personal financial capital allocation versus the change in winery ownership. I've never done a side-by-side comparison of their wines pre and post the change in ownership, but the new owners are still making impressive single vineyard Pinots. But I will add that I do not think their wines today offer the same value they offered in the early to mid 1990's. If you still keep in touch with Traci, she might be a good person to ask as well.

Which vintage(s) did you purchase a few weeks ago at auction?