2022 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast

The wine will arrive by early July 2024, all going to plan

11 months maturation in 60% new, 40% one year old barrels.

Brooding flavours of plum, dried herbs and savoury undertones complete the darker aromatic profile. Full-bodied at the entry, the palate becomes saturated with flavours of plum and brambly fruits. The mid-palate weight is compelling, and the firmness of the tannins seem to melt to the extract of the wine. The palate is then refreshed with enough acidity that carries the wine to the finish with a lingering hint of a sous bois character.

Like most good stories, the history of Williams Selyem owes much to serendipity. If a grower with an abundance of fruit hadn’t given Burt Williams a few tonnes of free grapes in the 1970s, Burt might never have discovered his love and flair for winemaking. And if Burt and his partner Ed Selyem had been able to afford the French Burgundies they both favoured, they might never have tried making their own pinot noir.

The two friends didn’t set out to produce wines for anyone but themselves. And they surely never imagined that their humble experiment in home winemaking would spawn a cult-status winery of international acclaim. Together, Burt and Ed set a new standard for American-made pinot noir, and elevated Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley to among the best wine growing regions in the world.

Now considered Russian River Valley royalty, Williams Selyem are responsible for some of the most sought-after handcrafted expressions of pinot noir across both the New World and Old.