Williams Selyem Vista Verde Pinot Noir
WHY WE LOVE IT
- The Vista Verde Vineyard is located a couple miles southeast of Hollister, California, near the small town of Tres Pinos in San Benito County.
- This heavy limestone vineyard is separated into blocks that include clones such as Calera, Canada, and Swan.
- The key attributes of this vineyard are climate and soil: a long, cool growing season and rock, gravel and pebbles, laced with calcium carbonate lenses and a lot of lime, promoting good drainage.
- This vineyard continues to deliver exceptional quality Pinot Noir worthy of the Williams Selyem vineyard designation.
Varietal Composition: 100% Pinot Noir
Elaboration: Barrel aged 16 months, 67% new, 33% 1 yr-old barrels.
Tasting Notes: Layered and complex, the lively aromatics of the Vista Verde Vineyard Pinot Noir showcase berry fruits, woody spices, and dried rose petals, while a citrus peel note further energizes the nose. Tangy and refreshing on the palate, the wine has berry fruit flavors with a sensation of black tea. Beneath the tea-like tannins, a streak of minerality, which is well-known for these limestone-rich soils, is nicely layered into the mid-palate and extends all the way through the lengthy finish.
PRESS
2020 – 94 Wine Enthusiast
2019 – 94 Wine Enthusiast
PRODUCER BACKGROUND
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.