This savory wine leads with red fruits and dried herbs. Hints of baking spices are apparent today and will continue to integrate into the aromatics with age. The palate is dominated by red fruits and the concentration on the mid-palate is compelling. Typified by minerals and savory notes, the Weir will develop additional layers with time in the cellar. The finish is beautifully long with effusive smoky minerals. A recent retrospective tasting from the Weir Vineyard highlighted the grace with which these wines age.
2017 Weir Vineyard Pinot Noir
Reviews
93 / Vinous
The 2017 Pinot Noir Weir Vineyard is beautifully lifted and precise, as wines from this appellation tend to be. Crushed flowers, crushed berries and mint add nuance as this high-toned, perfumed Pinot opens up in the glass. The Weir will appeal most to readers who appreciate delicacy in Pinot Noir. A.G.
91 / California Grapevine
Medium-light ruby; attractive, fragrant, earthy, herbal, elegant, red fruit flavors with hints of cola and cinnamon, and a mineral note on the finish; medium tannin; lingering aftertaste. Enjoyable now as it developed with airing in the glass, though worthy of several years of aging. Very highly recommended. 91
96 / Wine & Spirits
There isn’t a lot of pinot noir in the hills south of the Anderson Valley. And pinot wasn’t the most likely variety for Bill and Suki Weir to plant when they bought a parcel of rocky grazing land there, near the headwaters of the Navarro River, in 1987. A lawyer by trade, Bill studied viticulture, then, after a trip to Burgundy, he sourced plant material from Mount Eden, which traces its cut- tings back to Domaine de la Romanée-Conti; he used it, along with the Wädenswil clone, to plant his first 7.5 acres, in 1992. By 1998, he had convinced Burt Williams to buy some of his fruit and Williams Selyem has been making Weir Vineyard Pinot Noir ever since. It is among the most distinctive and, often, the most beautiful of Williams Selyem’s range. This 2017 has the grandeur of an American grand cru: It speaks of mountain forests and coastal desert cold. There’s brightness to its scent of roses, and sumptuous richness to its texture, knitting the wine’s dark fruit and energy together in a flavor that lasts for minutes.
Reviewed by Joshua Greene.
- Alcohol
- 13.8%
- pH
- 3.55
- TA
- 0.59g/100mL
- Barrel Aging
- 16 months
- Barrel Selection
- 57% new, 43% 1 yr.
When to Drink
2020-2027
Learn more about cellaring and opening Williams Selyem wines.