So this was my debut with this particular wine and…Wow! First a bit of background which will only confirm what an amazing gentleman owner/winemaker Will Segui is. On Roy Piper’s strong recommendation, I had ordered a case of the W&M’s proprietary red as well as 6 each of his Merlot/CF blend and his new Napa offering this year. For those of you not familiar, Will is also the GM of Rivers-Marie for which I have been on the list for approx 8-10 years. Anyway, about two weeks after receiving the 18’s I received a 6-pak of the 17 Shiflett in what was obviously some sort of mistake. I’ve been fortunate enough to get to know him a bit this year so I called him, explained the mistake, and offered to pay for the wine. To my astonishment he declined payment and insisted that I keep the wine, He simply said “we made the error, no reason you should have to pay”
So on to my notes. I splash decanted for about 3 hours…and refrigerated for 45 minutes. Initial impressions were a deep, dark magenta bordering on purple. Nose-very expressive of vanillin along with cinnamon and clove, rich cassis, blueberry, and dark cherry. It just draws you in. The palate follows through. Coating with dense cassis, black currant, well integrated tannins and a finish that lasted at least 45 seconds. I kept a couple og glasses and returned to it 2 days later. It still had its energy and was a touch less primary. I will probably wait 3-5 years to revisit.
What really excited me was when I shared my delight with Roy, he said that, though very good, the 18 was significantly better and one of the better young Napa reds he had ever tasted…hence me purchasing a case!
Great note about a great wine and some great people.
Those guys and those wines in my wine world are on my list of things I am thankful for.
I got a double shipment of Rivers Marie Pinot this year. Got same response from Will even though I drive right by his office once a week. Same thing happened a few years back with Sandlands. Glug glug…
Opened tonight with filet, my first William & Mary.
Impressive! Opened at 3:30pm. Impenetrably dark and opaque. Very tannic at first. Dark fruit- cherry, black currant nose. Very full bodied. Tannins eased at 3 hours opening up the palate. Had dinner late which worked well for the wine, very nice at 5hrs. Ultra-long finish, surprisingly so.
This doesn’t seem like a pop & pour wine at all, needs lots of air, imo.
Drank my first one of these last night. Decanted for 2.5 hours and drank over another 2.5 hours. Really liked it, but it was unexpectedly floral with a lot of freshness. Saved a glass for today
Very different than what I expected would be a style more similar to TRB