Bob Cabral of Williams Selyem Named Winemaker of the Year

HEALDSBURG, Calif., Nov. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Williams Selyem winery is proud to announce that Bob Cabral, Director of Winemaking for Williams Selyem, has been named Winemaker of the Year for 2011 by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. In presentation of their prestigious Wine Star Awards, Wine Enthusiast will honor Bob and other international wine industry luminaries at a black-tie gala in New York City on January 30, 2012.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111101/SF97697)

Other nominees for Winemaker of the Year include Philippe Cambie of southern France, Alvaro Espinoza of Chile, Gerhard Kracher of Weinlaubenhof Kracher in Austria, and Zelma Long of California/South Africa.

In receiving the award Bob joins fellow honorees Genevieve Janssens of Robert Mondavi Winery (2010), Scott McLeod of Rubicon Estate & Francis Ford Coppola (2009), Margo Van Staaveren of Chateau St. Jean (2008), Carlo Ferrini of Italy (2007), and Olivier Humbrecht of Domain Zind-Humbrecht, France (2006).

Bob has been involved in growing and making wine professionally since 1980 and has had an interest in wine and farming since his childhood. A fourth generation farmer and grape grower from the great San Joaquin Valley, he developed a passion for Pinot Noir early, joining the Williams Selyem mailing list in 1985 while still in grad school at Fresno State University. After John Dyson bought the winery in 1998, Burt Williams recommended that Bob take over as winemaker, which he did on July 29, 1998. The 2011 harvest is Bob's 32nd vintage at a commercial winery.

Bob is an experienced winemaker whose meticulousness and patience yield wines that are authentic expressions of each vineyard site. In 2007, one such site found perfect expression and received a 100-point rating from Wine Enthusiast. Our 2007 Litton Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir (now called Williams Selyem Estate Vineyard) was the first domestic Pinot Noir to earn a perfect score from a major wine publication. Bob designed and planted the vineyard to an exact specification of clones, rootstocks, spacing and trellising. This has resulted in wines of the highest quality and worthy of the Williams Selyem Estate name.

Each year, the editors of Wine Enthusiast Magazine honor outstanding achievement in the wine world, in that given year and over time. Categories include Wine Person of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award, American, European, and New World Winery of the Year, Winemaker of the Year, Wine Region of the Year, and more. The winners will be announced in the December 15th issue of Wine Enthusiast.

For more information contact:
Mark Malpiede, Williams Selyem
707-433-6466
[email protected]

SOURCE Williams Selyem Winery