No one knows the Russian River Valley quite like the gang at Williams Selyem. This ultra-important Healdsburg winery- way back when- was the very first to create constituencies for Pinot Noirs made from now-iconic vineyards like Rochioli, Olivet Lane, Ferrington, Hirsch, Bacigalupi and Allen, even as they developed their own well-regarded estate vineyards all over the Sonoma Coast. So popular are the wines we used to call ‘Will Sell’ that they once had to create a waiting list just to get on their waiting list! PRIMA has been a customer of Williams Selyem since we both got in the business, now over 45 years ago, despite the fact that the winery has never had a traditional wholesale program. We buy the wines for the same price as the winery mailing list, making them not only some of the best wines available in the market, but also some of the most expensive. That being said, once in a while, thanks to our long relationship, and when the winery has enough wine in the cellar, we get offered a bit of something special at what would be considered a more typical wholesale price. 2022, the first harvest with a more normal-sized crop size since 2017, has yielded such a wine- a special selection of the winery’s benchmark Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. This cuvee, aimed at top restaurants and wine bars (like ours) is the winery’s blended Pinot Noir from all of the sites they either purchase from or grown themselves- some of the very best Pinot Noir vineyards on both the eastern and western sides of the Valley. This is the apotheosis of the art of Pinot Noir blending- a collection of disparate parts woven into a gorgeous, fully integrated whole. Like all Williams Selyem wines, the 2022 RRV Selection Pinot is built on copious, expressive and very sexy red and blue fruit with floral and cinnamon spice aromatics that give way to a plush but very fresh palate. The finish shows the forest floor, freshly shoveled loam character so prized in the world’s best Pinots creating an overall impression of completeness and integrity. All Williams Selyem wines are shipped complete with instructions warning you not to drink them too young and this just-released 2022 is absolutely no exception. While I will definitely open a bottle tonight (decanted for air) to investigate, this will be a wine I will be happy to see in the cellar in about three or five years and it will improve for many, many more. We have a very limited amount to offer at this PRIMA Insiders price so we ask that you do not forward this message around and keep your orders to a case of 12 or under while we still have it.