William Selyem 2020 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley

The Wine

The Winery

A stalwart in CA Pinot ever since I've been interested in wine (cough, ahem, 'a while now'), the winery has an unlikely origin story. Two friends, Burt Williams and Ed Selyem, started making wine in 1979 just for fun, never dreaming their early success would lead them to define California Pinot Noir in the next few years!

By 1998 they had seen 20 harvests and built an impressive amount of value and were presented with an offer they couldn't refuse (which is the American model, as opposed to passing on to future generations as is the European model). They sold the winery to John Dyson of New York’s Millbrook Winery who has now just completed his ownership transition by selling a majority stake to respected Burgundy producer Domaine Faiveley. Today, Winemaker Jeff Mangahas, hired in 2011, continues to oversee a portfolio of two dozen different Pinot Noirs.