Part 2 - Day 1: Williams-Selyem, Sonoma Pizza Co, Charles Schulz Museum, and Paradise Ridge
On to the Sonoma tastings. First up: Williams-Selyem
I have tasted here before and it was the only return trip for me on this visit. WS does a great job with the selection of wines in terms of accentuating the differences in their numerous vineyard options spread throughout Sonoma. The first thing I noticed upon arrival at the property is that the Luella’s Garden block was completely bulldozed. Gone. The vines were some of the oldest in the Estate vineyard and as such, were not producing as much as newer vines might. I think this speaks to the target economics of land and tonnage in California. There are smaller wineries that may not have do this (Littorai is one), but when you reach any sort of scale and have a wine list as large as WS (I believe they were the first California mailing list), I suppose there are tough decisions and considerations to make.
Here is a picture of my wife and me. You will notice that I am wearing a heated vest (I had actually just turned it off). The marine layer is really something in Sonoma. Totally overcast and cold when we got there at 10 a.m. and you could see the sun line moving east to west – it was sunny, warm and getting warmer when we left around 11:40 a.m. One of my favorite parts of this type of tasting at WS, is noting the difference the marine layer has on the Westerly vineyards vs. the Easterly vineyards that warm up sooner in the day and produce slightly darker and richer fruits.
So on to the wines we tried:
2023 Williams Selyem Estate Vineyard Chardonnay
I do not love Chardonnay. When it is great, it is incredible, especially with a sunset, but that’s a rare wine for me and I am otherwise pretty “meh” about it. This is a Chardonnay that Sonoma Chardonnay lovers will love and I liked. I focus my allocation purchases on their pinots for this reason, but it is an excellently made wine with judicious use of oak. Floral with orange zest on the nose and palate, the description above is pretty spot on for me.
2023 Williams Selyem Westside Road Neighbors Pinot Noir
This cuvee is a perennial favorite when I serve in larger groups of friends. Always seamless with excellent balance of California fruit and acidity. Except for the entry level WS options, their pinots need at least 5-7 years minimum to really hit their stride and this was drinking young. This wine combines a who’s-who of some of the great Westside vineyards and includes grapes from Allen, Bucher, Bacigalupi, Flax, Rochioli Riverblock and Williams Selyem Estate Vineyard. It is not immune to vintage variation like top notch NV Champagne, but by combining grapes from these incredible vineyards, year after year, it does provide a high floor. This tends to lean towards the red-middle in terms of the red/dark dividing line and blueberry and plum with spice box is a good descriptor for this vintage.
2023 Williams Selyem Foss Vineyard Pinot Noir
This is probably one of my favorite of the SVD WS bottlings (Rochioli Riverblock is my favorite). What sets this vineyard apart year after year, is the herbaceous notes that create a harmonious compliment to the darker Eastside Road fruits. It combines savory elements with rich Sonoma fruit and I love it.
2023 Williams Selyem Savoy Vineyard Pinot Noir
I have this bottling, but I had not tried it. This is definitely on the darker side of the fruit line with notable orange rind/pith. Combined with the bergamot tea leaf elements, this has a very classic Russian River Pinot profile. We had the 2023 Littorai Savoy Vineyard Pinot the next day (notes to follow) and it was a great study in the differences in winemaking with fruit from the same vintage and vineyard.
2023 Williams Selyem Mass Selection Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir
This was the most closed of the wines with fantastic tannic structure and tremendous aging potential. I have only had the 2021 version which was brilliant after a 2+ hour decant. This will be an annual buy for me.
2006 Williams Selyem Westside Road Neighbors Pinot Noir
As a special treat, WS poured a library wine that we could taste side by side with the 2023 Westside Road. This is a spectacular wine. The difference in the bouquet and palate vs. the 2023 provided a crash-course education for our group on how aging affects the various elements of the wine. An incredibly expressive nose with dried fruit and forest floor/tertiary development. Along with the Ardanza and the Littorai Richardson Ranch, this was one of the top 3 wines I tried on this trip. If @Blake_Brown ‘s notes are not proof enough, it is clear to me that WS wines age incredibly well and will provide more pleasure if you can figure out how not to drink them young.
Sonoma Pizza Co.
Another great recommendation by this board . . . I love pizza. I eat a lot of pizza. There is a lot of bad or mediocre pizza out there, but this place is not one of those places. They were able to seat a group of 17 for lunch and it was PHENOMENAL. The pizza was of course fantastic (loved the Cosmic Combo). The service was excellent and they had a nice list of wines by the glass.
L. Stone Fox Hill Vineyard Sangiovese (Ruth Lewandowski)
This was really a great pairing with the red sauce pizzas (we tried several different ones). I first experienced a chilled domestic Sangiovese a few years back when I tried a Stolpman “Love You Bunches”. The colder temperature makes this imminently “gluggable” on a hot day, but honestly, as this wine warmed up, I enjoyed it even more. Lots of cherry, mineral and with some warmth, the leather notes that I just love in Sangiovese started shining through.
Charles Schulz Museum
After lunch, we split up before the last tasting. My wife, daughter, and mother wanted to visit the Charles Schulz museum. How could I possibly miss this multi-generational experience? I am not doing justice to the museum with just these pics, but it was a fantastic experience which I highly recommend for Peanuts fans (or fans of cartoons and the historical evolution of a long-running series). Fascinating and well done.
Paradise Ridge Winery
So I am now going to blame getting up at 3:30 a.m. two mornings in a row (thank you American) for the fact that I did not take any pictures during our last tasting and therefore, with no notes, this is an extremely abbreviated recounting. I must admit, I was not familiar with Paradise Ridge before this trip, but we were staying very close, and they were incredibly accommodating in terms of arranging a tasting for a large group.
Below is a picture of my mother and me near the tasting room entrance. Hard to beat a picture with Ma, but I do wish I had taken a few of the tasting.
The views looking down over Santa Rosa are worth the trip to Paradise Ridge alone. It’s a much more relaxed tasting experience than the others we went on and the host (Ken?) was fantastic. Loved his trivia and general engagement with the group. We had a large selection of noble grapes and I must say that these tend to be on the crowd-pleasing side with a lot of fruit, but it was a tremendously enjoyable experience for our large group. Although the wines are more fruit forward than others, they are not cloying.
2019 Paradise Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Rockpile
My memory fails me without pictures, but I do not need one for this wine. At $65 a bottle, it is a fantastic value for California Cab with this quality. A very refined and balanced wine with red fruits, medium acidity, a delicious mineral streak, medium plus finish, and alcohol around 13.5%. This was a great find. Our group bought multiple bottles and enjoyed them over the weekend over multiple nights.
Overall, this was a great place to visit for a large group and the Rockpile will be a future purchase.