2008 Williams Selyem Zinfandel Bacigalupi Vineyard
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Tasting notes
The 2008 Zinfandel Bacigalupi Vineyard displays notes of leafy herbs intermixed with pepper, black raspberry and briary mountain berry fruit. Among the more supple of the Zinfandels, the wine is not as complex as the other wines aromatically, but does have better balance between the acids and fruit. With thirteen separate Pinot Noirs, Williams-Selyem has something for just about everybody. Eight of these Pinot Noirs hail from relatively well-known sites in the Russian River and three come from the Sonoma Coast, while the two outliers are the Weir Vineyard from Yorkville Highlands and the Ferrington Vineyard from the Anderson Valley. Three well-regarded vineyards of the Sonoma Coast comprise part of this impressive Pinot Noir portfolio from Williams-Selyem. With eight Russian River bottlings, the two with the largest availability are the Eastside Road Neighbors and Westside Road Neighbors, which are blends from different fruit sources. The most underrated wines in the entire portfolio are the Zinfandels that come from winemaker Bob Cabrol. Tel. (707) 433-6425; Fax (707) 433-6546
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Glass-staining ruby. Pure, high-pitched aromas of strawberry, raspberry, fresh herbs and violet, with complicating notes of leather and sassafras. Suave, seamless and very fresh, with a peppery quality and subtle soil tones complementing the sweet red and dark berry flavors. Finishes with fine-grained tannins and excellent spicy persistence. In a rather old-school zin style, about more than just power.
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.