I have been reading the lively, almost reverent, ongoing commentary on the Rhys and RM releases with all the neurotic allocation emotions and can empathize as I am on both lists and have been through it this year…but I have seen absolutely no post on the current WS release. I have happily bought this for over a decade and still find it one of the most enjoyable pinots out there, balancing the elegance and power deftly in my book. Sure some are better than others, but that goes without saying with every producer…
Has WS simply disappeared from the vocabulary of the contributors to this board???
I remember posting in their last release thread. They have been losing me due to price. I simply cannot afford $60 min to $100 a btl for their wines. Last release I got 2 bottles. Used to get a case a release. The problem for me is that others offer great wines at half of WS prices. In this down economy I need to get more quantity. Simply a dollars and sense decision. Love their wines. They were the first premium wine list I ever signed up for.
Agree that some are pricey. This appellation release has Central Coast and Sonoma County @ $36 and RRV @ $46 all very competitive I think. And honestly @ $50 for the Chards I think that a screaming deal relative to the competition, like them better than the Aubert I get, but only allocated 2 each after buying for 13 years…
Not an advocate for so many high priced wines but if I recall I just ordered a $69 Rhys and some of the Oregon pinots (Domaine Serene, Evening Land etc) are showing up the top Cali Pinots in the pricing game. I also buy DuMol and have for some time but in my mind those are nearing the point of departure. Even the Rochioli estate was what? $62 this year…I guess that is an SVD in the broader sense, but still that one is right up there. So your point is well taken.
That is one thing that I love about this board and that one before it–gives me all the heads up on the new up and comers that I have enjoyed so much over the last few years-without this site I would never have discovered Rhys, Rivers Marie, Schrader, Maybach, Karl Lawrence, Drinkward Peschon, and the list goes on and on…now that I think about it this list is the reason I now eat only mac and cheese, drive a 1990 Yugo, and live in a refrigerator box down by the Fox River!!! Damn all of you and your good taste!
The spring release is their appellation pinots that were $34 (Central Coast, Sonoma County), $46 (RRV, Sonoma Coast) and $67 (Westside Road Neighbors) as well as some $50 SVD chards and zins. This is the less expensive of the two releases. The appellation pinots are pretty strong at their price points in my opinion, especially the Central Coast.
I’ll buy a case and leave them alone for a few years.
Williams Selyem: RRV/Sonoma Coast for $46/btl and no case discount.
Rhys/Alesia: Sonoma Coast for $35/btl OR $28/btl and free shipping for a case purchase.
Rivers Marie: Sonoma Coast for $25/btl.
I appreciate and consume WS wines. I’m on the list and usually buy a case+ each year (used to be a case+ each offer). But something seems off with the equations above if I may.
To continue, Williams Selyem was sooooooo early 1990’s and early 2000’s.
All of us Rhys & Rivers Marie drinkers are all hot to trot on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Quora. William Selyem is like being stuck inside AOL’s walled garden circa 1997, its nice and comfy but costs are increasing to hold margin…
I’m in on Rivers-Marie for the first time and same with Alesia so I am getting what I can but it isn’t much. I have tasted the R-M but this will be my first of anything from the Rhys family.
Since my palate tends toward the Sonoma Coast terroir, I am thrilled to get high quality pinots from that region at $35 and below. Zepeltas and Failla are the only others that I have found so far under $35 so I am open to anyone’s suggestions for wines that fit that profile. I’ve got lots of great options in the mid $40 range but I’m trying to find a few more that aren’t so tightly allocated and can become closer to a daily drinker price.
I’m a long time Williams-Selyem fan, them having been among the first domestic pinots I really loved and those '90-'96 wines hold a very dear place in my heart (not that I bought the early '90s on release; first vintage I tried was '94 I think but I backfilled).
Three things have turned me off a bit, to the point that I’m not a buyer anymore. (1) As mentioned above, pricing. I’m more of a Burg guy, so I really have to love a domestic pinot to pay $60+ for it as I can buy lots of good Burgs for less. (2) Don’t know if they’re still doing this, but there was, at least for a while, “THE LIST”. No way I could buy my favorites (Allen, Flax, and Ferrington) without buying tons of other stuff, and even then I’d have to work my way up. (3) Although good, I don’t like the new wines as much as the older Burt wines. I know they claimed to do everything the same, but in multiple tastings, I always prefer the Burt wines. So given the combination of expense, unavailability, and a slight drop in enthusiasm on my part means that I haven’t bought any since '01 (which I liked a lot).
For me, I love Williams Selyem…but price points compared to Rhys (Alesia Sonoma Coast) and Rivers Marie have turned me off to a point. However, I have to throw in my 2 cents and say that for those looking for the Williams Selyem style they should check out Wesmar. Kirk and Denise (Ed’s daughter) make some great pinots year in year out and are always a must buy for me. I find Wesmar to be a touch more floral for my palate but they are an insane QPR especially when considering their Sonoma and Russian River bottlings.
Say what you will about the pricing but I consider wines like WS Peay, Flax, Bucher, etc which all come in around $50 a bottle to be pretty well priced vis a vis other single vyd. pinots.
Yup, I would agree. The 2005 Flax was one of the best wines I had last year. The last couple years, I haven’t bought anything from their spring offering, but have picked up some Flax, Bucher and Rocchioli Riverblock in the fall.
Precious Mt 90 and Litton one buck-but I gotta say that the one and only Precious Mt that I have opened was the only Pinot that I was just stunned by-I must have been drinking that night so I don’t recall the vintage, but that wine set me back on my heels, made me think about what I was tasting and what the order of the layers of taste were. It was a shocking, epiphany type of wine and one that I wrote about in the old web site…don’t know about the high scoring Littons as they are resting in the cellar, but if they are anything like the PM I will be gushing on the site…
That doesn’t happen often-Bionic Frog was one other, JJ Prum, these are wines that just shock your senses and change the way you think about things—what is the QPR on that??