Last night I splurged on this bottle of Williams-Selyem Pinot Noir. It may be the most I’ve ever spent on a 750ml bottle of wine in a restaurant, and it is arguably one of the best bottles I’ve ever drank, too.
Williams-Selyem’s Westside Road Neighbors Pinot Noir comes, exactly like it sounds, uses fruit from a bunch of growers on the Westside Road in the Russian River Valley. It’s a surprising Pinot, immediately grabbing you with popping aromas of spice and black pepper, with cloves clearly on the nose. Drinking it: It’s textbook Pinot, a black cherry core laced with smoky oak. None of the skunky earthiness of Burgundy — this is new world Pinot at its height.
The wine opens up in the glass, losing some of its spicy heat and mellowing out nicely. It’s not a wine to gulp down, but over about two hours I watched this wine go from peppery firebreather to smooth and silky operator, never complaining once.
A / $65 and up (retail) / williamsselyem.com
Similar Posts:
- Review: Hope Family Winery Westside Red Troublemaker
- Review: 2007 Grey Stack Pinot Noir “The Fisherman” Connell Family Vineyard Bennett Valley
- Review: 2007 Van Duzer Estate Pinot Noir
- Review: 2006 Willamette Valley Vineyards Pinot Noir
