Williams Selyem

Willams Selyem Winery was founded almost by accident. In the 1970s, a grower gave a few tons of free grapes to Burt Williams. He and his friend, Ed Selyem, decided to make their own wine – a Pinot Noir.

The partners only wanted to make wine for themselves but, as fate would have it, they were very good at it. Soon, their wine developed a cult-like following among those they shared it with. Ultimately, their experiment elevated Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley to among the best wine-growing regions in the world.

Once Burt and Ed decided to start a serious winery, they vowed to make handcrafted wines that would set the standard for excellence. Burt, a veteran newspaper pressman, made the first labels using an old letterpress and hand-mixed inks. Today, the philosophy at Williams Selyem is to respect the grapes. Their wine has been served at the White House and their 2007 Estate Pinot Noir was the first to score a perfect 100 in a major wine publication. All the major wine reviewers continue to give Williams Selyem wines very high ratings.

At first, all of the fruit was purchased with handshakes from existing quality vineyards. Those handshake agreements are still in place and the number of growers now numbers 17. By 1987, demand exceeded supply and customers experienced a wait of two or three years for what was now award-winning wine. It became necessary to purchase vineyards.

At harvest, interns are hired from around the world and old-world methods are used. Grapes are stomped by feet wearing clean fishing waders. Tanks are punched down every six hours. The number of cases produced is dependent on the harvest and varies each season. Winemaker Jeff Mangahas does not use pumping, filtering, or any process that will compromise the quality of the wine.