2020 Williams Selyem Late Harvest Gewurztraminer - 375 ml
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S$11298
Vintage: 2020
Region: Russian River AVA, Sonoma
Country: USA
Alc: 9.8%
Winemaker Notes
Gewurztraminer has a distinctive nose that is unmistakable. Rose petal and lychee nut aromas again dominate the aromatics. Hints of waxy yellow fruits emerge with a little more aeration along with wood spices. Fermented in new, French oak barrels, the wine is elegantly layered with hints of vanilla. Just the right ratio of sweetness to acid creates a rather lithe palate that is never heavy.
About Winery
Like most good stories, the history of Williams Selyem owes much to serendipity. If a grower with an abundance of fruit hadn’t given Burt Williams a few tons of free grapes in the 1970s, Burt might never have discovered his love and flair for winemaking. And if Burt and his partner Ed Selyem had been able to afford the French Burgundies they both favored, they might never have tried making their own Pinot Noir.
The two friends didn’t set out to produce wines for anyone but themselves. And they surely never imagined that their humble experiment in home winemaking would spawn a cult-status winery of international acclaim. Together, Burt and Ed set a new standard for American-made Pinot Noir, and elevated Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley to among the best wine growing regions in the world.
Winemakers Notes
Gewurztraminer has a distinctive nose that is unmistakable. Rose petal and lychee nut aromas again dominate the aromatics. Hints of waxy yellow fruits emerge with a little more aeration along with wood spices. Fermented in new, French oak barrels, the wine is elegantly layered with hints of vanilla. Just the right ratio of sweetness to acid creates a rather lithe palate that is never heavy.
The Vineyard
The Vista Verde Vineyard is located a couple miles southeast of Hollister, California, located in San Benito County. This site is rich in limestone.
Harvest 2020
The 2020 growing season started out very dry and bud break was delayed. Early spring rains recharged the soil profile, but periods of extreme cold caused many frost events throughout the Russian River Valley. Late spring yielded ample sunshine and moderate temperatures, and the plants responded very well with excellent canopy growth. The season ended up approximately 12% warmer than average and did not have any heat spikes until August. Harvest started in haste on August 12, ahead of an extreme heat wave. On the night of August 17, the weather changed and there was a rare dry lightning storm that sparked a fire on a hillside in remote west Sonoma County; later named the Walbridge Fire. In the Russian River Valley, it took a number of days for smoke to settle. Based on test results for smoke taint on the grapes, several coastal vineyards were not picked. For the vineyards which were picked, either before the fire or before the smoke settled, the result was concentrated wines with a darker, more brooding complexion. The polish of the tannin, coupled with excellent concentration, should allow for a wide drinking window.
Michelin Story
Erich Bradley and Craig Haserot, co-founders of Sojourn Cellars, are Pinot Noir addicts. The small brand produces about 11,000 cases a year of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and some Cabernet Sauvignon at the custom crush facility Vinify in Santa Rosa, located in a warehouse on Coffey Lane just 200 yards from where the Tubbs fire swept through in October, destroying thousands of homes and structures. Most of these are site-specific, vineyard-designated wines. The pair work with growers in Sonoma (and a few in Napa for the Cabernets), sourcing fruit from top vineyards including Reuling, Sangiacomo and Rodgers Creek. Erich makes the wines while Craig runs the business side of things, meeting clients and focusing on sales and marketing.
The two met in the early 2000s; Erich was working at Arrowood Winery, making wines from Rhône and Bordeaux varieties, and Craig had recently left his 16-year career in the software business. A great lover of Burgundy, Craig had been exploring the California expression of the grape via the mailing lists of producers like Williams Selyem and Kistler. Erich had winemaking experience but had yet to try his hand at Pinot Noir. “We decided to make Pinot Noir mostly because we love to drink it,” Craig explains. “Pinot Noir was our addiction.” Erich adds, “Sojourn was how I could scratch my Pinot Noir itch.”
“We didn’t know what we were doing,” Craig says of the early days of Sojourn..
Vivino 4.5
"Wonderful smells. Sweet, but soft. Could smell forever."
