Stonestreet (4.19)



Open 11:00am-4:30pm

Appt required? Yes on Tues-Thurs; no on all other days

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2010

Directions

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Tasting:
There were a few things that caused me to set up a tasting at Stonestreet Vineyards: their reputation for premium chardonnay and cabernet, their proximity to Hawkes (we had originally planned to visit Hawkes -- a Barlin favorite -- the same day), and their offer to let you design a custom tasting for yourself. I called in advance, made an appointment, and talked through the tasting I wanted to do (1-2 single-vineyard chards, followed by 5 of their red wines).

We arrived at the vineyard, and followed a long winding road to get to the tasting room. A few minutes before we got there, a bus full of people had arrived, and so the tasting room was packed. We sneaked in a side door and saw a second room set with three sets of 7 glasses. Could this be for us?

Well, sure enough it was. I was mildly annoyed that my "custom tasting" wasn't custom at all, but that annoyance quickly dissipated. Set in front of us were four single-vineyard Chardonnays, their proprietary Bordeaux-style blend Legacy, and 2 single-vineyard Cabs. We started, of course with the Chardonnay.

We tried the Red Point, Broken Road, Upper Barn, and Gravel Bench Chardonnays. All were produced in the classic buttery, California style, and all tasted relatively similar with subtle differences. For both Steph and I, the Red Point stood out. It was perhaps the least complex, but it was soft and creamy and by comparison seemed to call out the mild roughness of the others. The Upper Barn was a close second, with the Broken Road and Gravel Bench bringing up the rear. As noted, though, all were drinkable and purchase-worthy (although pricey).

We moved on from there to reds. The Legacy was TANNIC, and I wished that they had placed it at the end of the tasting. The wine was good, structured, but at $75 a bit overpriced in my opinion. And it temporarily destroyed my palette. I found myself thinking it would be interesting to try it in 7-10 years -- the structure was there, the fruit was delicious, but it was chewier than a wookie. This was something consistent with all of the reds we tried: lengthy cellaring is recommended for Stonestreet! After chewing through a few bites of the Legacy, I tried the 2005 Black Cougar Ridge single vineyard Cabernet and the 2005 Christopher's Vineyard Cabernet. Both impressed, but again, 5 years old and both were still a bit tight. The Black Cougar Ridge is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, while the Christopher is 91% cab mixed with 9% Syrah. Interesting. For immediate drinkability, the Christopher won for me; but I again found myself wondering how these might taste in 5-7 years.

Enter Caleb, our host for the tasting. I happened to notice that they were offering vertical packs of the Black Cougar Ridge covering 1999-2002. I asked Caleb if any of these were open, and they weren't, but he offered to open whatever I wanted to try. Well, I wanted to try them all! But given it was the end of the day, I told him any of them would be fine. He came back with 2 bottles: a 1999 Black Cougar Ridge and a 2002 Black Cougar Ridge. 1999 has always held a special place in my heart -- I think it was a great year for Napa Cab, and so I was prepared to love this wine (even if it was from the other side of the mountain). But it turned out that the 2002 stole the show. Still retaining its structure, the tannins had softened allowing the fruit to come to the forefront and followed with a long, smooth finish. This was a wine worth the price tag.

We polished off our tastings, and closed out with a purchase. The earlier switch on the custom tasting was forgotten, and we were ready to leave happy and impressed when Caleb says, "Oh, did we settle up for the tasting?" I must have given him the look of death, because he quickly recanted, writing it off to his "failure to mention the cost of the tasting over the phone". Tasting saved, Caleb...BARELY. Overall, the Stonestreet tasting was high quality, with only a few rough edges to smooth out. All of the wines were overpriced, but with age, I can see how some of them could stand up to the price tag.

Recommended wine: I thought the single vineyard Chardonnays were all good, with my preference being the Red Point, but not twice as good as a Frank Family or Ramey Chardonnay. The Black Cougar Ridge Cabernet was the better wine of the two single vineyard Cabs, but the Christopher may have been slightly tastier right now. For the patient among us, the Black Cougar Ridge is my recommendation, and of the 3 years I tried, I thought 2002 was the best.


Ratings (out of 5):


WINE
4.50
TASTING ROOM
4.75

ATMOSPHERE
4.25
VALUE
3.25

OVERALL
4.19

Williams Selyem (4.44)



Open By appointment

Appt required? Yes

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2010

Directions


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Tasting:
The garage winemaking business certainly seems to have turned a pretty profit.

Back in the early 1980s, Burt Williams and Ed Selyem began making wine out of their garage. 30 years later, Williams Selyem stands as one of the premier producers of Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay in Sonoma County. It's been a dozen years since Burt and Ed have been involved with Williams Selyem (the business was sold to the Dyson family in 1998), but the winery retains their names, allocation list business model (they were one of the first to distribute their wines this way), and their stable of excellent grapes and well-produced wines.

Williams Selyem is an allocation list-only winery. What does this mean? It's like a wine club, but with restrictions. WS produces around 14,000 cases per year, and they sell 95% of it to their allocation list of 10,000 fortunate souls. There's a list just to get on their list. Some might call it exclusive; others (my wife) might call it snooty. Either way, they make some damn fine wine.

So why build a multi-million dollar tasting room if you have a waiting list of people just to get on the list that gives you the privilege of buying their wine? I'm not sure and unfortunately didn't ask the question. Regardless, as a list member we had the opportunity to tour and taste at their new facility. Opened in July 2010, after three years of construction, the facility is set back off of Westside Road. The sleek, modern, barrel-like design screams opulence, wine, and "come in and taste from me". So we did.

Our tasting at Williams Selyem consisted of their 2008 Chenin Blanc, something they just started producing as a lighter complement to their buttery chardonnays. We followed that with a taste of 1995 Allen Vineyard Pinot Noir, which was outstanding. The single vineyard Pinots always stand out at WS, and the age on this served notice that a solid 5-7 years of bottle aging on single vineyards is in order. Following the Allen, we had a taste of the 2007 Westside Road Neighbors, a blend of grapes from some of the premier vineyards at Williams Selyem. We closed with a taste of the 2008 Russian Rivver Valley Block 10, a coarse (but tasty) contrast to the prior Pinots.

While we enjoyed our final glass, our hostess took us on a quick tour of the facility. The new WS building will be used for barreling and bottling, while all crushing and fermentation will continue at their original facility just north on Westside Road. We were able to see the barrels housing gallons of delicious wine, the blending tanks, and the bottling line in our brief behind-the-scenes tour. We closed out with an invitation to stroll the grounds and take pictures as we wished.

Overall, it's a bit harder to rate tasting at Williams Selyem. The facility is beautiful and massive, but our tasting was private, and I felt like we were sneaking into a billionaire's home while he was away on vacation. The chance to try the 1995 Allen Vineyard Pinot was definitely worth the trip, as was the opportunity to check out the new facility. There are rumors that they may open the tasting room up to non-list members, but until that happens, it's a large, pricey facility that will largely sit mostly empty of life, waiting for a list member in the area to happen by.

Recommended wine: If you can get your hands on them, the single vineyard Pinot Noirs from Williams Selyem are all outstanding.

Click for more pictures!


Ratings (out of 5):

WINE
4.50
TASTING ROOM
5.00

ATMOSPHERE
4.50
VALUE
3.75

OVERALL
4.44