3 fab wines after the small growers tete du cuvee event 96`Williams Selyem Ferrington, 97`Rochioli, 95`Guigal Hermitage

At the end of the small growers tete du cuvee champagne rooftop event {see separate thread}, 3 additional wines were opened. All showed exceptionally well and we had a cascading WOTN followed by another and then another and this was after we had just anointed the 07` J. Lassalle Special Club Brut as the champagne WOTN.

For me, it was an obvious choice to pull a couple of dear friend Burt William`s wines not only to celebrate his genius but to pay tribute to him as he is suffering from advanced stages of Parkinson’s; the wines couldn’t have shown better although they keep on improving miraculously.

1996 WILLIAMS SELYEM FERRINGTON VINEYARD ANDERSON VALLY PINOT NOIR- one of the really good bottles I’ve had of this gem; it has the Pinot Noir fruit profile I prefer with loads of strawberry red cherry and raspberry being fully expressed; a streak of spice pervades throughout and all is delivered in a medium + body and weight to the back end where all of the goodies hand on and satisfy until the next sip.

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1997 WILLIAMS SELYEM ROCHIOLI VINEYARD RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY PINOT NOIR- this was absolute fabulous and another one of the best I’ve had and I’ve had many a bottle of this wondrous wine; contrasted to the Ferrington, the fruit profile is of the darker nature with black cherry first and then plum, blueberry and even some blackberry edging in; all was accented with spice and a touch of cinnamon in this full bodied, complex and seamless wine; Burt would be proud.

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1985 E. GUIGAL HERMITAGE- much later on, a couple of friends hung around and we ventured down to the real cellar and had a look; one mentioned he saw a bottle that he had tasted in barrels during a trip to Rhone and that was all we needed to pull it and have a taste or three; I love the pepper and spice that I’ve so long associated with this wine and it was found in spades in this bottle along with blueberry, plum and blackberry fruit; the texture was almost creamy as in 1/2 and 1/2 and the finish was a welcomed lengthy experience that kept all of the treats on the palate until the next morning.

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We had a grand evening and a most grand finale.

Cheers,
Blake