2009 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Rochioli Riverblock Vineyard
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Tasting notes
The 2009 Pinot Noir Rochioli Riverblock Vineyard is a big, burly wine loaded with dark fruit. This is one of the richer wines in this lineup, and needs at least another year in bottle for some of the baby fat to melt off. Spices, licorice and dried flowers wrap around the dense, muscular finish.
Critic scores
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2009 Pinot Noir Rochioli Riverblock Vineyard is a big, burly wine loaded with dark fruit. This is one of the richer wines in this lineup, and needs at least another year in bottle for some of the baby fat to melt off. Spices, licorice and dried flowers wrap around the dense, muscular finish. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2019. I tasted a dizzying array of Pinot Noirs from Williams Selyem and winemaker Bob Cabral. Yields were down in 2009 because of bunch-stem necrosis, a condition that can occur because of weather/humidity extremes or mineral imbalances. Otherwise, it was a pretty regular vintage with an even set and a harvest that took place beginning in early September. Tel. (707) 433-6425
Vivid ruby. Christmas spices, red berries and incense on the nose, with an exotic note of orange peel adding complexity. Sappy strawberry and raspberry preserve flavors are brightened by tangy minerality and complicated by a vanilla bean quality, with fine-grained tannins adding grip. Gains weight with air but remains lively and precise. The clean, nervy finish boasts outstanding clarity and spicy persistence.
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.