I like them but many on this board feel they are too expensive and / or too different from Burt Williams style. There are certainly a lot of solid CA Pinot offerings out there as many threads on this board will attest to.
The Russian River is my least favourite to date as I don’t find its complexity matches up with its price. I like the Unoaked Chard but that also feels a bit expensive for what it is.
W-S was one of the first good Pinot producers in Sonoma County. However since the emergence of many Pinot producers the options are so much more diverges that a good Pinot producer like W-S is no longer as desirable as it used to be. As a Sonoma county resident I have so many choices and opportunities to taste and to date none of the W-S wines wowed me.
I agree with Michel, a very good producer but not quite in the top rank for my personal preferences. To me, the wines are less distinctive and more similar to each other, whether it is farming or winemaking I do not know.
I think that some of their single vineyard wines are still pretty distinctive and potentially worth seeking out (Hirsch, Peay, Rochiolli, maybe Olivet Lane). The prices on the appelation blends have crept up so much, though, that I no longer consider them to be remotely a good buy.
Thanks for the responses guys. I did take some of the single vineyard wines last fall and hope they will be enjoyable.
With all the recent releases from other producers though, my wallet and I are getting fatigued.
Got to prioritize
Agreed with Michel(as usual). We are just blessed to live in a place where you are dealt 20 or Blackjack on so many wines and though WS is good I will be spending my money elsewhere.
I also know they will probably be available on the auction market below cost.
I’m going to go the other way on this one. Seeing this offer coming through on Monday makes me think harder about a couple others that are still in the pipeline (Kosta Browne, Copain). In general I really enjoy the WS style, across the board. Pinots, chards, zins. Love them all. I’ve had the '05 Rochioli River Block twice in the last month and thought it was stunning. I’ll be in on the WS offering. Probably the Copain too. On the fence re: KB.
On this one I agree with Jim-Without a doubt the most compelling CA pinot I have ever had was a WS Precious Mountain with a few years on it (no don’t recall the vintage off hand). Yes WS has crept up in price but I am constantly stunned to see producers with much less pedigree (or none) pricing in the same range if not higher (the $100+ post recently). As mentioned there are a lot of good wines and given the opportunity I am sure I could find numerous bottles on any given day that are very good, but for me the consistency, style, and variety of the WS wines will remain part of my cellar.
Now, Michel I would be happy to be convinced otherwise by an insider led tour of your favorite secrets!!
They’re still a buy for me (in limited quantities and with some cherry picking of the vineyards). I feel like $5-10 less across the board would suddenly make them seem like pretty good value, and i’m leaning away from the appellation wines these days.
That said the vineyards used for the appellations are pretty top notch - the central coast is all Vista Verde, the RRV is almost all Litton and Drake, the Sonoma Coast: Peay and Drake. I find these appellation wines age better than most (maybe along with Littorai).
The sweet spot for me is some of the single vineyard bottlings from great sources: Rochioli, Peay and Hirsch. These are +/- 10% or so within the range of their grower counterparts.
I’m a pretty big Weir fan too… but that is definitely one to pick up on the secondary market. Just doesn’t seem to hold its value.
I like the wines and admire the producer, but between the high prices, the modest prices of mature bottles at auction, and the annoying 1 bottle allocations of the SVDs, it fell off the cut line a couple of years ago.
I feel like too much of the price now reflects the history and name value, whereas others are making pinots I like as much or more at 50-80% of the price of their premium wines.
Having said that, I have nothing but respect for the winery, and I enjoy most of the bottles I open, particularly giving them more age.
The list prices make my local market look like a fifth-tier markup. What I was tasted on from the '07 vintage a year or two back was all great stuff, but no single vineyards and prices at 50% above this made it an easy pass. I was really surprised how much I liked the zinfandel. If the prices above included shipping, I’d likely be an occasional buyer of these. I treasure my old bottles - few remain from the Williams era.
Im in the camp with Jim, Dick and Clayton. I like the WS wines of the last 12-13 years with the new owner and winemaker across the board. Having started with Burt in the 80s, Ive always considered his wines to be epic and the epitome of what CA pinot is or should be all about.
I continued to purchase the wines after 97 and must admit, I like them a lot. Ive heard many say they are similar or taste the same, but that has not been my experience. I buy a large allotment each offering and am just now drinking up some of the early 2000 bottlings much to my delight. Im more than satisfied with the quality and do admit pricing is high and Im willing to pay for it given the treasure in the bottle.