Williams Selyem Comments?

WDOT,

You might want to try this thread for some replies to a question pretty much the same as yours:

http://web8.winespectator.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=002807

hirsch has been consistently good since w&s started making it; drinks best young and is good with a few years.

my experience with w&s chard is that they need a few years to resolve the oak and then they are excellent; the price seems pretty good.

the others i don’t know about.

The 97 Hirsch was chunky until last year, but should be prettygood right now. $60.00 is near the release price, and I urge you to take it.

The F/F is an oaky, butter-scotchy chard, but really nice. The RRV is below release price.
Excellent deal.

The dessert wines I havn't tasted yet, but my friend really liked them both, and he usually does not like sweet wines.

Sorry-----I forgot to answer the question of whether things had changed. Well, yes. For a while there, Mr. Dyson was pushing his own NY chards ( mediocre ) as well as his Tuscan adventure ( lousy ), and it really strained his credibilty as far as continuing the legacy set there. The 99 vintage seemed to work well all around, and the 2000 may be even better. From the ones I have had, there is a stylistic change. For example, the chardonnays are oakier and more butter-scotchy than before, losing a bit of the smoothness and elegance that used to be there, but they are quite good. Pinots are chunkier than before, and they seem to not develop quite so readily, but perhaps time is all they need. The new Central Coast bottling is not that good.