1988 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Allen Vineyard
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Tasting notes
(13.2% alcohol): Dullish medium red with an amber rim; this wine was very deeply colored early on. Denser on the nose but less perfumed than the '87, offering scents of dark cherry, raspberry, coffee, mocha and musky, spicy oak. Then quite firm, even a bit hard-edged in the middle palate, and finishing with firmer tannins. Can't match the '87 for silky finesse, subtle sweetness or perfumed lift but still full of life. As I recall, this wine took longer to open than the '88 Rochioli Vineyard bottling.
Critic scores
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
About the producer
Williams Selyem is an iconic Russian River Valley winery best known for its Pinot Noir. Producing restrained yet classically Californian expressions of the heartbreak grape (as well as a host of other wines), the property has gone from pioneer to one of the region’s standard-bearers.