TN: 2010 Rhys Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard

• 2010 Rhys Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (1/18/2017)
  Did not show as well I hoped. To be clear, the wine is delicious (very popular among our dinner guests) but seems more advanced for its age than I expected. While the underpinnings of lemony acidity are definitely prominent, there is also a degree of butterscotch flavors that I did not expect and was a stark contrast next to the 2011 Ceritas poured alongside, which remained lean and taut. This difference was owing partly to the cooler character of the 2011 vintage (and perhaps to some difference in the producers’ styles), to be sure, but the age difference between the two bottlings felt like ten years.

I had similar issues (i.e., being more advanced than expected) with both the 2010 Horseshoe Chardonnay and the 2010 Alpine Chardonnay.

Damn, I have held most of my Rhys chards to age, and I have two of the 2010s. I now see the recent CT notes are pretty uniform in this wine getting near the downslope. I hope I didn’t miss the window, especially considering how expensive these were.

I have drinking my 09 and 10 Chard’s now.

I’ve always detected some butterscotch flavors in these and therefore decided against buying new ones, simply because I like wines to age, especially if they are expensive.

One of the few chards I buy, and like others, I like these with some age. I see I have 2 bottles - will open in the short term. Appreciate this thread - I wouldn’t notice the notes on CT because I wouldn’t be thinking about drinking these yet.

I had similar issues with the Horseshoe. It was noticeable darker than the 10 Alpine and seemed advanced and a bit oxidized. As I have 5 left, I will be starting to go through these to see if the trend continues.

I don’t have it in front of me, but I believe on the Rhys website their vintage chart shows 2010 Horseshoe Chardonnay as ready to drink vs. drink/hold.

Markus, I’d agree that I have had some Rhys chards that in youth felt quite ripe and/or showed a fair amount of oak - but the same could be said about a lot of Grand Cru white Burgs. The question for me was how the Rhys chards would age - would the fruitiness lessen and other elements like mineral come to the fore more, as happens with some white Burgs? Or would they get more butterscotch-y as a number or Cali chards have for me? And I wouldn’t give up on the Rhys chards yet - this wine was but a single data point for me that matches the latter scenario rather than the former. Others (Both Alpine and Horseshoe) have shown well for me. Do people feel Alpine bottlings have aged better in general?

Agreed Alan. Important to point out that this is just one data point. For a single data point in the other direction, my very first Rhys wine was a 2007 Alpine Chard consumed in December 2014, and that thing was absolutely singing.

Alan, this thread made me open a 2009 Alpine last night, and I was not impressed. Oak and yellow fruited nose, and a bit on the decline. For $80, I think I’ll pass and stick to Lamy or Chablis for my chardonnay fixes. I don’t even feel like drinking the leftovers…

Not what I wanted to hear, Markus. Maybe I will check in on one of my older Alpines as well.

I had the 10 Alpine and thought it was beautiful. My concern, for now, is with the 10 Horseshoe as that has been the only one of their Chards that seemed off.

Had a 12’ Alpine recently that seemed it could go another 10 years without issue. Also left me wondering if partially blocked malo is their style for chards?

For me, recent '10 Alpine and '10 Horseshoe have been tired/advancing. The vintage chart on the Rhys website has a “drink” note on the '10 Alpine from 2015 stating it doesn’t have the stamina or freshness of most vintages, and I found this to be the case when I tried in early 2016. I also tried the '10 Horseshoe to see how it was doing. I also found the Horseshoe to be a tad over the hill as well (though probably not as bad as the Alpine).

I typically love the Rhys Chards, especially Alpine, and am hoping 2010 was an anomaly. An '09 Alpine I had in 2016 was quite good.

A '10 Alpine I had back in November was advanced – still drinkable, but on the back nine. Sounds like the assessment on the Rhys website is spot on.

In light of this thread, I decided to pop a bottle to check in. It was less fruity than other Rhys chardonnays I have had, but this is also the oldest one I have had. I didn’t think it was over-the-hill, but it was less lively than the others. The tropical fruit note was also a little unusual. Maturity? Vintage characteristic?

• 2010 Rhys Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (1/21/2017)
  While the intensely lemony flavors Rhys chardonnays often exhibit were muted, I did not pick up oxidative or butterscotch flavors that would suggest something was wrong. Oak influences predominated, both in the toasty, spicy flavors and in the soft texture. As I mentioned, the lemon and tropical fruit flavors were muted. The texture was soft, but delicate and not at all heavy. In most ways, it was a typical, well-made California chardonnay. (90 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

Interestingly enough my 2 bottles of this wine were clearly affected by botrytis. It had that ‘sauternes’ profile. I dont know if anyone else has had a similar experience with this bottling. I found it interesting and unique.

Thanks for the insight. Rhys is a winery I was turned onto here on WB. I made some initial investment and although turned off by the Pinots, I have really enjoyed the Chards. With the structure they show young I expected them to have some longevity. Having read this, I’ll sample them with some regularity to ensure I don’t end up with “old” CA Chards.

Andy Kei!!or

I’m not sure I would worry yet, as this is the first white I’ve had from them that appeared a bit older than the vintage. I’ve had some other 10s and 9s from Alpin recently that have been just beautiful.