More spectacular Williams Selyem Pinots:86`/89`plus 10` Dom,NV Taittinger Folies de la Marquetterie + 3 other gems

The sequel to Katie Williams` SB visit. Part 2

4 days after a fabulous lunch at Bettina drinking some Burt Williams made Williams Selyem Pinots and other wines, we had another wonderful time at one of her friends house where we did dinner and opened many more gems. It started with champagne and we had 2 good ones:

NV TAITTNGER FOLIES de la MARQUETTERIE BRUT- 55% Pinot Noir, 45% Chardonnay; natural cork; 12.5% abv; just as with the first few bottles I’ve had of this over the past year, the first time through offered different notes in the aromatics than it gave in the taste; following its light yellow color came aromas of toasty brioche laden citrus, but that all changed once tasted and now it’s giving up tropical fruit notes of pineapple, guava and kiwi devoid of the toasty character; all in all, it was very light and easy on the palate providing elegance and charm; after a few minutes in the glass, everything seemed to come together and now we have the whole package more homogeneously expressed with more weight and substance; it was impressive and I can see where it can reach a much higher plateau with a few more years of age.

Somehow, I`ve missed this release from this house in the past and never saw it when visiting them, so here’s a little background info:

Château de la Marquetterie, set in the heart of the Champagne wine-growing region, was, prior to the French Revolution, the one-time residence of writer Jacques Cazotte, author of French classic Le Diable Amoureux, and a site for village fairs where philosophers and intellectuals of the Enlightenment would gather. General Castelnau also used the stately home as his headquarters during the Battle of Champagne in 1915, while much earlier, in the 17th century, Brother Oudart, a Benedictine Monk, discovered some of the secrets of champagne fermentation.

The House’s very first “Champagne de Domaine”, Les Folies de la Marquetterie is a blend of Chardonnays (45%) and Pinot Noirs (55%), made exclusively from grapes grown at the Folies vineyard that overlooks Château de la Marquetterie, the birthplace of the Taittinger family champagne. A “green” harvest is carried out on the selected plots of vines to ensure the fruit offers optimum sweetness and aromatic maturity. After harvesting, only the juice from the first pressing is reserved. Each plot is vinified in small volumes and certain batches in oak casks.The bottles are aged for 5 years to bring this wine to complete harmony.

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2010 DOM PERIGNON BRUT- I’ve been in the camp of liking this release as all bottles I’ve had have delivered enough to satisfy my palate preferences for balance, acidity, lightly spiced citrus fruit with a pleasant frothy mousse; this bottle initially was a deviation from those before it in that it was lighter in weight and and milder in flavor, then it sort of took off and gave much more generous and welcomed notes similar to past bottles; our palates were now prepared to move into some of the stellar forthcoming Pinots.

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1986 WILLIAMS SELYEM SONOMA COUNTY PINOT NOIR- my last few bottles of this wine were pretty much on the down side and just barely drinkable; so, I was a bit apprehensive about this one even though the fill was at mid neck and the color was a middle of the red spectrum with no bricking; the nose put a smile on my face as I got spicy red raspberry and strawberry and no evidence of aging beyond its apex; there was a touch of sweetness in this medium bodied beauty that held a steady course throughout the entire evening; we drank it down to the sediment level with ease and gratitude; my last bottle {hands in prayer mode}.

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1989 WILLIAMS SELYEM ROCHIOLI VINEYARD RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY SONOMA COUNTY PINOT NOIR in magnum- thanks to Katie, she pulled this from the stash of Burt’s cellar and we were treated to a grand experience; a bottle last year was showing signs of being on the down side, but this bottle made up for it with a still vibrant red color and amazing aromatics and taste notes that reminded me to add it to my top wines for 2022; when first opened, there was some strange compounds that were first nosed and it suggested decanting which she did; that helped a lot as the funk blew off and left us with nothing but top cream stuff; it was fruity good with a nice streak of spice running through, had enough weight and feel to be appreciated and was as amazingly good 2 hours later than it was when first poured; I knew she was going to open this wine and bought the 1988 to compare, but we had way more bottles than capacity and saved it for another time.

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1989 J. ROCHIOLI ESTATE {ROCHIOLI VINEYARD} RESERVE RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY SONOMA COUNTY PINOT NOIR- Katie had done a similar cool thing a few days earlier when she bought the 1994 WS Hirsch and paired it with an 1994 Littorai Hirsch and it was pretty clear, the WS version was a lot better although it must be noted that the WS wines were in mags and the matchups were in 750s; I kind of expected the WS to be better and sort of eased into sampling this one without a lot of expectation and then went back after the first sip with all senses open realizing that first sip was spectacular and this wine was up for the comparison challenge with the Burt’s 89` version; Katie even remarked such as it consistently gave beautiful red raspberry flavors with significant spice and sandalwood accents; it was so tasty, I just took small tastes over an hour and loved every one; how wonderful to get to new world Pinot Noirs at age 35+ that are drinking beautifully. Who said these wines were made to drink in 5-7 years?

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2009 MORNING DEW RANCH JANS CUVEE ANDERSON VALLEY PINOT NOIR- and just when I thought I’d had enough, Katie pulled this one out and I immediately prepared my glass for the next round as this is one of my all-time fav Burt made wines; it was the last of 2 vintages he made, 2008 being the first of the 2, from his vineyard, and it had a very different fruit profile than almost all Pinots he made under the WS label through 97 with a possible exception of the 97` Rochiloi; Burt always talked about Pinot Noir having 3 general fruit profiles: strawberry/ red raspberry; red cherry; and black cherry/ blackberry; his wines covered the first two in spades, but this one initially featured intense and concentrated black cherry and blackberry notes; our bottle was a bit different in that it was replete with red raspberry with a bit of red cherry and a hint of black cherry in the background, all of which was embellished with accents of spice and cinnamon from the aromatics through the finish; it had just enough texture to provide an additional sensory component and extend the finish with more grace and charm. Check out the photo with the woman in the glass.

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Hey Katie! Come visit more often. We always seem to do it up righteously and it brings up so many fond memories of great times past with Burt and his family, including his wife Jan, for whom the 09` MDR wine honored, daughter Margi and son, Fred, all of whom have passed and were acknowledged and toasted to during this occasion.

Cheers,
Blake