If You Charge It, They Will Buy

The most expensive Pinot Noir ever made in California, selling for $100 a bottle, sold out within hours of its announcement last month.

Tiny Williams & Selyem Winery in Sonoma County offered only 10 cases of the wine; the remainder of the single-barrel lot of 24 cases was divided between winemakers Ed Selyem and Burt Williams.

“We’re gonna drink it,” says Williams, solemnly.

The tiny amount of wine, made from just 500 pounds of fruit off the four-acre Summa Vineyard that overlooks the Sonoma coast, was all the vineyard produced that was usable. (The other grapes were rotten and were discarded.)

It is the first time in three vintages that Williams & Selyem has been able to make any wine from this property, even though they’ve paid farming costs each year.

“I figure we’ve spent about $5,000 to make one barrel of wine,” says Selyem.