Bryan, Ill add in an answer and hope that Glenn puts his in as well. Id go back to the early 2000s for any of the wines regardless of vineyards. Some of the finest include those from the smaller guys like Flax, Weir, Vista Verde and Bucher as well as Sonoma County and RRV.
Agree with your assessment Blake. I’ve now had some 2006s, 2008s and 2010s that are all still excellent. Just bought some 2006 Westside Rd. just yesterday! The problem with me backfilling, is these bottles are ready to go and I can’t keep my hands off them.
I understand the dilemma about keeping my hands off certain bottles which is why I store some as far away from easy access as possible.
I am certainly of the mindset that we don’t occupy a finite position on the AFWE / Hedonistic wine spectrum, but rather our sweet-spot moves along that spectrum, depending on food, mood, ambiance, season. Yes it may also change over time, but people have a far wider range of tastes than the trench warfare arguments might suggest.
Or in other words, you can enjoy Williams Selyem and Faiveley, though possibly not in the same wine flight together!
I came across this thread while searching for some thoughts on the current W-S release, and just wanted to state how much I appreciate it. Thanks to Jay for your insights and openness in the original and follow-up posts, as well as to all who have responded.
After nearly 20 years of being into the bigger, fruitier, riper California wines, I experienced a fairly dramatic shift towards lighter styles, and, naturally, Pinot. But I continued buying some of our favorite bigger styles (Maybach, Outpost, etc.) because my wife’s shift has trailed behind mine. A couple of years later, we are deep into both styles, and we now open both styles depending on the day and our mood. There is good balance in the cellar, if not the bank account!
Bravo Alex. An open mind can reveal many pleasures!
Your point number 3 is true for 95% of the population. For me in particular, WS has been my father’s favorite producer and our shared passion for wine at what is a later stage in both our lives will likely continue to influence me to buy WS. Like others have said, there’s so much great wine out there that something has to be the deciding factor. I will say with the WB’ers there is joy found in discussing wine, and being able to have a conversation in person or on these forums is a perfectly fine influencing factor as well. I’ll also add that I like buying local. Whenever I see a brand from Sonoma, Santa Barbara county, etc. I generally will buy that first.