Which Williams Selyem are you drinking?

[Blake_Brown]

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.

Cheers,
Blake

Blake,

I appreciate all of the pictures especially of your old vintage bottles. How long do you normally decant WS?

Bryan, I decant more on a vintage and bottle size basis. Currently, I’ll decant all 750s from the mid 90s, up to and including the 97s, for about 1/2 hour. I did not decant the 88 and we would not have decanted the 89` in magnum until we got a hit of some strange compounds and then. we decanted and poured it and did a lot of swirling. Another factor is the ullage. If it is high neck as most are, I trend to decant at least prior to pouring. I’m less likely to decant any that have a low shoulder fill, a rarity, and usually from a bottle I’ve bought in auction as opposed to those from my direct winery stash.
A key point is that most do throw a bit of sediment and its prudent to decant them if for only immediately pouring thereafter. Own that point, I do not use a filter. I just pour down to the lowest level.