2007 Williams Selyem - 100 pointer from Wine Enthusiast?

WINE TALK
1

Just got an email a little while ago from WS w/ some new scores:

07 Litton Springs - 100 pts
07 Precious Mountain - 98 pts
07 Hirsch - 97 pts
07 Rochioli - 97 pts
07 Allen - 97 pts

Not sure if I should be bummed or not on passing on my Litton Springs allocation at $100+ bottle [truce.gif] . Flat out couldn’t justify the price of that bottle with such little history behind it.

All in all, 8 2007 Selyem pinots scored 95+ pts. Hawk Hill Chardonnay also scored a 95.

Do these ‘points’ justify the climbing price points of these pinots in your opinion?

2

passed on the crazy high priced ones too. not a moments regret.

3

Nope. Not when producers like Walter Hansel, Carlisle and many others haven’t raised their prices in years.

Too much good wine out there. 100 points or not, $100+ for Cali Pinot is too much. You can find something just as good for half the price. Maybe less.

4

Wine Enthusiast? Who? [scratch.gif]

5

Also got this bit of fluff from W-S. I’ve never read the Wine Enthusiast, so don’t have an opinion on that in particular. I’ve been buying and cellaring W-S wines for several years now, and so don’t usually bother with the critics.

W-S has kept their prices pretty flat the last few years - I think 2007 SVDs were completely flat to 2006? But boy, times are tight, and there are lots of good wines out there at far better price points. I was offered good size allocations of all the W-S wines, and had to make hard decisions on the SVDs last year. So I did read Josh Raynolds reviews, not for the points (maybe 3-4 points lower on average? - not sure), but for the descriptors.

Litton and Precious Mountain were easy passes for me. I bought only a couple each of others you name above, and probably all for the last time.

6

Sounds like a broken record. I really like W-S pinot, and went for one of each under the $75 barrier, but didn’t bite on the most expensive ones. Also broken record, really don’t care what WE has to say. These are good wines, but my money says that the Litton isn’t any better than the Allen, etc. It was just better that day to that reviewer.