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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91.1 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 32 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by bottlestopper on 1/28/2022: surprisingly OK. I was expecting "awful" when I poured, because of its darker color, but nose is good. Smooth, no strong flavors, but a very slight aftertaste that I don't particularly care for. My last one, and it is past its best. I don't expect to have more than a glass or two, then the sink can have the rest. (208 views) | | | Tasted by Rollerball on 9/6/2018 & rated 91 points: Lovely in its eyes of age. Confectionery burnt lemon marshmallow. Drink up! (779 views) | | | Tasted by meatbomb013 on 7/15/2018 & rated 90 points: Past its prime for sure. Still with some tropical fruit/pineapple but clearly on the downside. Drink them if you got them. (802 views) | | | Tasted by Tudz Drkl on 7/12/2017 & rated 92 points: This was a fabulous drink. The nose was peaches, a touch of tropical fruit and notes of campfire along with some Indian spices like cumin and cardamom. In the mouth there were layers of bright green apple and lemon running along the bottom with richer orchard fruits and slightly savory notes atop providing body and viscosity to balance the tart apple citrus. The long finish was delicious and memorable. (1016 views) | | | Tasted by Stumpy on 6/2/2015 & rated 88 points: Again, a Cali chard that is getting some butterscotchl color and losing its vibrancy... (1720 views) | | | Tasted by slywka7 on 3/1/2015 & rated 94 points: Had this with shrimp scampi. Banana, lemon meringue, vanilla cookie and tropical fruit on the nose. More banana, papaya, pineapple, vanilla and touch of spice. Awesome showing for this wine and drinking perfectly. Finish lasts about 30 seconds. I really think there Chards are just as good, if not better than their Pinot Noir. Interesting to see how things go with Cabral gone. (1716 views) | | | Tasted by Outplaying on 8/3/2014: Rich tropical fruits with cream and butterscotch on the finish. Everyone seemed to like it, but not the style of Chardonnay that I enjoy now. (1833 views) | | | Tasted by vino_per_tutti on 6/14/2014 & rated 92 points: This is more like it! Pineapple, lemon curd, butterscotch and funk on the nose; butterscotch, sherry, banana and oak on the palate. Rich and full bodied, but good acidity. Nicely balanced. Drinking well now. (1727 views) | | | Tasted by kkleg on 2/2/2014 & rated 93 points: - Yellow color - One of my favorite W-S Chardonnays. Lots of butter, oak, and nutmeg on the nose, with a bit of wet stone. Banana, pear, and nutmeg on the palate. This is a pretty big wine, but the fruit comes through the oak nicely. The finish is pretty long. Served at 50 degrees Fahrenheit, which was perfect for this wine. The flavors came through very nicely. This has 14.6% alcohol, but it doesn't taste overly alcoholic.
Went well with risotto with fresh parsley and green beans. A nice wine, but the price is a bit high. Drinking well now, but will round out a bit with some more bottle age. I enjoy a bit of a mineral edge on my Chards, so this is perfect now. If that's not your thing, hold for a bit. (1701 views) | | | Tasted by JS199 on 9/15/2013 & rated 91 points: Good Chardonnay but not great. Still a bit tight, and the finish as well. A bit harsh. Plenty of power and in a couple of years it will probably fan out and mellow. Hold. (1468 views) | | | Tasted by rxlaw95 on 5/4/2013: Great wine. Order more! (1721 views) | | | Tasted by vanpe003 on 3/1/2013 flawed bottle: On the nose.....not much...almost nothing. On the palate, some fruit but it has an oddity to it. This behaves as corked, no aromas and diminished fruit on the palate, but without the tell-tale musty basement smell. Not rated. Update: the deficiencies in this bottle were redeemed after opening up a second one. Making it obvious that while no tell-tale signs existed, other than the lack of fruit on both nose and palate, that this bottle was an anomaly......and flawed. Back in the "old days", I would have bought a single bottle, thought to myself "this sucks", and would never revisit the producer. Glad I had the second bottle to open and compare. Not glad that this bottle sucked. (1325 views) | | | Tasted by vanpe003 on 3/1/2013 & rated 93 points: Ok...this is what I was expecting (see notes on flawed bottle). On the nose, an interesting balance of fruit and a caramel styled oak. On the palate, more of the same. The palate exhibits a nice balance, if a little sharp on the finish. I suspect that this bottle would've been better if left in the cellar for a couple of years. That said, very enjoyable now. 93 points based on raw materials and potential. (1427 views) | | | Tasted by rxlaw95 on 1/13/2013 & rated 91 points: Really enjoyed the deceptive nose on this. I literally got French Brie in the nose and thought it was a strange wine. The notes in the taste were really interesting and not the usual green apple and pear taste I get in a lot of them. These were more white chocolate, caramel blended with apples. Really interesting wine. (1119 views) | | | Tasted by BMCKIE99 on 1/11/2013 & rated 92 points: Hints of Banana. Caramel but subtle. Wonderful vintage. (923 views) | | | Tasted by vino_per_tutti on 12/25/2012 & rated 88 points: Somewhat disappointing. Green apple, lemon curd, almonds on the nose; creme brulle and oak on the palate. Nice weight and balance. Better than the typical Russian River Chard, but hardly worth the price. (835 views) | | | Tasted by nortonnose on 9/6/2012 & rated 89 points: Consistent with below entries. Very good, pleasant, "typical mid-high end" oaky Cali chard, but otherwise unremarkable. Many of us (myself very much included) get so spoiled that we forget that a score in the high 80s is still a very good wine :) just not much QPR here... (1508 views) | | | Tasted by KeithSurg on 8/26/2012 & rated 91 points: Bright, clear yellow. Citrus flavors dominate the nose and palate, mostly lemon. Some grassy and spice notes as well. Rich mouthfeel with a short, oaky finish. (1061 views) | | | Tasted by Cantina Hill's on 8/17/2012 & rated 92 points: Excellent California Chardonnay, oak, citrus, buttery rich, balanced, I do not have to bow down to France. This is not Burgundy but it is enjoyable at a high level. (1037 views) | | | Tasted by joraesque on 2/21/2012 & rated 92 points: Nose: fresh Fuji apple skin, apple pie (baked apples and powdered sugar), butterscotch.
Palate: medium weight, medium acidity, lemon rind, dry sherry.
Finish: creme brulee, 10+ seconds long.
Needs to breathe for 30+ minutes.
Not exactly my style (I suspect it's because of the 25% new and 25% 1-year-old oak that give it a toasty, sherry character), but really growing on me, and one to reorder for sure.
An outstanding, Burgundy-inspired Chardonnay, without the minerality but with New World might. (1636 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Josh Raynolds
Vinous, May/June 2011, IWC Issue #156
(Williams-Selyem Winery Chardonnay Hawk Hill Vineyard Russian River Valley) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous. (manage subscription channels) |
| Williams Selyem Producer website2009 Williams Selyem Chardonnay Hawk Hill VineyardFrom the winery: A much more subtle wine than in the past clearly expresses
this site in 2009. A very cool year that helped show off the
mineral and classic citrus flavors typically associated with
very cool growing sites. The aromas of mineral, Meyer
lemon and lush toasty oak give way to flavors of Asian
pears, honey and nectarines across the palate. Rich and
broad across the palate, this wine still finishes with that
nice brilliant acidity. 14.6% alc.
Chardonnay The Chardonnay GrapeHawk Hill Vineyard on weinlagen-info
Located on a Southern facing Ridge top, high above the town of Freestone, it was planted to Pinot noir and Chardonnay in 1985. There are 6 acres of Pinot Noir vines equally distributed between Pommard 4 and Dijon 115 Clones.USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Sonoma CountyMendocino CountyRussian River Valley Russian River Valley Winegrowers Association | Wikipedia |
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