PRE-ORDER | ETA.DEC 2025
Winemaker Notes
The 2023 Williams Selyem Drake Estate Chardonnay is described as having yellow apple and Meyer lemon notes on the nose, with hints of shiso and tarragon. The vineyard's proximity to a river influences the wine's aromas, adding a touch of the nearby woods. It's layered and full-bodied on the palate, with structure and minerality attributed to old-Wente and Calera Chardonnay clones. The finish is elegant, with hints of crushed rocks and minerals.
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 tonnes 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 favoured, 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.
Now considered Russian River Valley royalty, Williams Selyem are responsible for some of the most sought-after handcrafted expressions of pinot noir across both the New World and Old.
