2007 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Weir Vineyard
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Tasting notes
The other “outlier” is the 2007 Pinot Noir Weir Vineyard from the Yorkville Highlands. It offers an attractive bouquet of cola/sassafras, wild berries, rhubarb, earth, and spice. The wine hits the palate with reassuring richness before the acids kick in. Readers should remember that this winery has a rather formulaic approach to adding acid to their Pinots, which has worked well over a long history. However, in this case, it seems to shut the wine down, cloaking it in a suit of armor, making palate penetration difficult. Nevertheless, there is a lot of potential here, and the Weir Pinot Noir should open up considerably in 2-3 years, blossoming into an excellent wine. It should last for 10+ years. The single vineyard Pinot Noirs are made from a wide range of California vineyards, primarily in the north, with Russian River and Sonoma Coast dominating, but there is also an Anderson Valley site (Ferrington), San Benito site (Vista Verde), and Yorkville Highlands (Weir). The Chardonnays are nearly as powerful as the Zinfandels in terms of alcohol strength, ranging from 14.5% to 14.8%. Tel. (707) 433-6425; Fax (707) 433-6546
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Bright red. High-pitched red and dark berry aromas are complicated by gingerbread, minerals and dried rose. Stains the palate with sharply focused raspberry and blackcurrant flavors, picking up tangy mineral and exotic floral pastille character with air. Strikingly pure wine, with excellent finishing clarity, cut and juicy persistence.
About the producer
Williams Selyem is an iconic Russian River Valley winery best known for its Pinot Noir. Producing restrained yet classically Californian expressions of the heartbreak grape (as well as a host of other wines), the property has gone from pioneer to one of the region’s standard-bearers.