Less than 2,500 Bottles: Reserve Now

The best Pinot Noir in America--and a rival to the best in the world--will be shipped to a lucky few next month. Most wine buyers will never even know about it.

That’s because Ed Selyem and Burt Williams make so little of their Williams & Selyem Pinot Noir (in 1990 they made exactly 1,572 cases, and barely 200 cases of their top-of-the-line Rochioli Vineyard) that they sell out the day it’s released. Three quarters goes directly to those on a mailing list, and few people get more than a case of it.

Another reason for their lack of notoriety is that Ed and Burt (who may be seen as the fine-wine equivalent of Ed Bartles and Frank Jaymes) live simply and shun publicity. Ed wears T shirts; Burt prefers colorful sport shirts and suspenders.

There is nothing mundane, however, about their Pinot Noirs, a few bottles of which may be found on some store shelves and at a few select restaurants, such as Yujean Kang and Patina. These wines are amazingly fruity and complex when young, and they seem to age better than any in California.

“We never set out to make Burgundy,” says Ed. “We just wanted to make Russian River Pinot Noir and make it taste like the region and the grape. We always thought that if we had any success, it would be because our Zinfandel took off. But I guess there were more Burgundy buyers out there than we thought.”

The project began in the 1970s when home winemakers Ed and Burt began crushing Sonoma County grapes and making wine for themselves. This was before many folks realized the greatness of western Sonoma County grapes, especially Pinot Noir.

In 1981, the partners felt they could go commercial, but they still had no idea they’d achieve anything beyond local acclaim. “We both worked two jobs for more than 10 years,” says Ed, who was a wine buyer and clerk at Speer’s market near Forestville. Burt was head makeup man in the composing room of the San Francisco Chronicle.

The first truly commercial wine, a 1982 Pinot Noir that was sold under the name Hacienda del Rio, was a hit, and Burgundy lovers began to talk about the little upstart winery that then was housed in a garage in Fulton.

A complaint from Hacienda Winery, whose owners worried that the name would confuse people, prompted the partners to drop the original name and use their own.

Demand grew for the Pinot Noirs. “The year we saw it take off was 1987, when we released our ‘85,” says Ed. “That was when I knew we were doing something right.”

So right, in fact, that a few months ago Win Wilson and Jack Daniels, Napa Valley importers of the famed Burgundies from Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, called Burt and Ed and asked if they could come over to compare wines.

A chef was brought in to cook “a light lunch.” At 5 p.m., the luncheon broke up with no conclusion about which wines were better. “We had 22 bottles of wine and we learned a lot,” says Ed with a laugh.

The secret to Williams & Selyem Pinot Noirs is carefully selected, high-quality Russian River grapes and old-fashioned production methods--techniques initially used because of lack of funds, says Burt.

“We make wine in a very traditional manner because when we started we didn’t have any money for equipment,” he says, “and we found that the wine benefited from the old technology.”

For example, there isn’t a pump in the winery. All wine is drained from tanks, “and then we get inside the tank and we bucket out the rest.” The last buckets of sludge from the bottom of tanks may be pressed to make a bit more wine, but Ed points out that that’s where some pretty foul wine resides. So great care is used in choosing which press wine to blend with the free-run juice.

The gentle treatment of the wine helps to retain fruit, the most prominent characteristic of the Williams & Selyem wines, which are typically light in color.

Top wine in the line is designated Rochioli Vineyard. “Joe Rochioli is the best Pinot Noir grower in California,” says Burt. “He knows that if you get more than three tons (of grapes) off an acre, that’s not going to make a great wine.”

The 1990 Williams & Selyem Pinot Noir from Rochioli is amazingly rich and fruity with intense, racy black cherry fruit and a cinnamon/clove note that seems typical of all of the partners’ Pinot Noirs. This wine sells for $40 a bottle, reflecting the tiny production (208 cases) as much as the demand. Buyers are limited to four bottles per person.

The 1990 Pinot Noir from the Howard Allen Vineyard ($30; 863 cases) is deeply scented with spiced berries and has an amazingly rich fruit taste. The 1990 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir ($20; 501 cases) is the fruitiest at present, with notes of nutmeg and other spices.

All the wines are aged in the most expensive new French oak barrels (never used more than twice). Production is kept small because making more might compromise the quality.

All the 1990 wines have more acidity than in most prior vintages, which should allow them to age beautifully. (A bottle of the 1985 Rochioli Pinot Noir I had a few months ago was in impeccable shape, still fruity and youthful.)

For information about obtaining the wines, write Williams & Selyem, 6575 Westside Road, Healdsburg, Calif. 95448. The partners also make a splendid Zinfandel and a tiny amount of a sweet Muscat.