Rhys Tasting with TNs

This is part 4 of what has been an annual (sort of) event where we get a bunch of Rhys bottles together and pull corks. We had 20 people over yesterday, mainly Wine Berserkers who perhaps can add some thoughts to this post. I had conceived this idea to be just the 2013s, along with the Hillsides, but I decided in flight as I planned the event to let it organically grow and so we ended up getting to see more of the Rhys craft.

For me, and as I get older, there are limits on this kind of format. First off, it’s big, but that is intentional as I want to see the Rhys body of work tasted and discussed. Yet, these formats continue to be harder, as I just can’t maintain my palate for this many wines, especially as the host when I feel a sincere commitment to mix with people and not geek out with lots of notes. I love to get geeky but what I end up relying on is the next day revisits, which are noted below: these are the leftover wines that remained behind once the party had ended. Ultimately, I do best with my senses being more tuned in with less bottles, so the notes below were written tonight, without food or any other stuff going on around me. Just me, a stem and the wines.

What you will find below are my notes I wrote tonight, so these wines all saw the decant from yesterday, plus the overnight slow ox of air. The ‘code’ you see on the far right of my additional listing is the bottle #. This is provided for those who attended yesterday, to have the key as to what wines were in which bags. All of the wines were poured blind, with voting done by each person. Essentially, if you liked the wine, you stickered your vote with a colored dot on the back of a numbered tag that was taped in front of each bagged bottle. I added up the votes on each tag at the end of the night and that is what you see listed below.

The 2008 Alpine PN came in first, which attests for me the aging potential of the 2008s. I continue to like both Alpine and Shoe, and also I will need to do another round of the Hillsides to answer the question for myself whether these stand up for the price or not. I did taste again the 2014 Shoe Hillside tonight and it is good, but it has a lot of power and guts that needs to settle. And of note, you will also see from the results that the 2013 Hillside Shoe performed in the top 5.

We took some photos that ended up on Facebook but can’t figure out how to share it. Maybe one of you who attended can help do that.

Thanks to all for coming, for Maison for catering, and for a fun afternoon.

RHYS @ MY PLACE–PART 4 - My House (11/10/2019)

All wines tasted blind. Scored with colored tags.

  • NV Pierre Gerbais Champagne l’Audace Brut Nature - France, Champagne
    Opened four Rhys party. Disgorged May 2018, 100% PN, with 2 g/l dosage. Leesy nose, with tangy lemon, red apple, saline and a terrific texture of citrusy intensity. Man, this showed really good, very pleased with this wine.
  • 2013 Rhys Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
    From magnum. Bottle was opened yesterday, with my notes saying aromatics of toast, some marshmallow and elevated, brisk acidity. Retasting 24 hrs later, I can still taste what I perceive as oak notes, with the toasty, vanilla bean that infuses the wine. Putting that aside, there remains the brisk lemon, pear, yellow apple and an intense lime-peel note. There is a spicy quality to the finish, perhaps in part because of the wood and also the ABV, which is not all that high at 13.5%, but when all of the components coalesce in the wine, it does give it an intense, creamy, more flashy side of Rhys Chard. For me, it’s a bit too much but this did get 5 votes yesterday during the tasting and it does grab the senses.
  • 2017 Rhys Chenin Blanc Mt. Pajaro Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
    Bottle was opened yesterday for our Rhys event. My notes from yesterday say stone fruits, ginger, apple, high acid, with a bright core. Retasting 24 hrs later, what I like about this wine is the core of fruit and the purity it reflects. There is an interesting ginger, green apple, peach flesh combination of flavors, finishing with nectarine and mineral. Medium-weight, listed at 12.5% ABV, this drinks great and can take a place in my cellar as a complement to Chardonnay.
  • 2013 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
    Bottle was opened yesterday for our Rhys event. Retasting 24 hrs later, and also alongside the 2013 Horseshoe Chard from yesterday, I do prefer the Alpine. The balance on the Alpine is better, the intensity of the fruit is not competing with the oak. Instead, the bright green apple is joined by flint, some fennel and the acidity of lemon, with a long finish. Intensity, structure, medium weight–it’s all nicely built here. I do think there is aging potential here but I also like the way the wine is showing now.
  • 2010 Rhys Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
    Bottle was opened yesterday during our Rhys event. Retasting 24 hrs later, and in contrast to the 2013 Horseshoe that we also poured, this doesn’t show the oak-like signature I found in that wine. The aromatics here show some beginning signs of age, too. My immediate first impression was caramel. The palate on this is glossier than the 2013, showing a baked apple note, mainly pippin, with the same pear quality of the 2013, too. As the wine warms, a little coconut starts to come through, along with more of the green apple note and the same lime skin quality of the 2013. The finish shows the same spiciness of the 2013, which I wonder about: is that the Horseshoe terroir coming through? Is it the influence of the acidity? Wood? Maybe all of them? The acidity does come through on the wine and I assume you can age this longer but I do think it’s in a good spot to drink and enjoy now.
  • 2016 Aeris Wines Etna Bianco Superiore - Italy, Sicily, Etna DOC
    Bottle was opened yesterday for our Rhys event. Retasting 24 hrs later, the structure and acidity here is noticeable. The tannin and the acids are present, coming through as a mix of mineral and citrus. There is some stone fruit buried here, like a tangy nectarine, along with some saline. A wine that makes me think, and one I’d be curious to try again in a year to see how it is knitting together.
  • 2013 Rhys Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley
    Bottle was opened yesterday for our Rhys event. Retasting 24 hrs later for this note, the bottle sat open overnight with just the cork as closure. Tasting at room temp of 70f. Today this drinks as smooth, polished, spicy and generous. It does remind me too of the bottle I opened and posted on back in July, which showed a mix of spices, like pepper and cinnamon. This bottle is consistent with that, too. The spicy note is present in the aromatic, as well as within the fruit showing in the palate. Red apple, dark strawberry, herb, rosemary, cinnamon and spicy finish with some citrusy acids. What I enjoy here is the mix of polished fruit and spicy influences. FWIW, the listed ABV is 13.0% so I’m coming at this from the perspective that the cool spicy notes is the Bear plot, not anything related to alcohol. If the spicy and citrusy notes weren’t here, I’d say this is a drink now wine but I do think this wine can age, or be enjoyed now, too.
  • 2013 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
    Bottle was opened yesterday for our Rhys event. Retasting 24 hrs later for this note, the bottle sat open overnight with just the cork as closure. Tasting at room temp of 70f. Aromatics here show a mix of cherry and herb. There is a distinct juicy cherry quality to the palate of this wine. It drinks pure with a lot of polish. There is red apple and the lightest hint of hard cherry candy/compote coming through the finish, with a citrusy acidity and a spicy note, kind of what I would sense from the intensity of cinnamon. And with my cinnamon remark, one might think a relationship to oak or wood–this is not my purpose in using the reference. Whether it’s some stem inclusion (the wine is not stemmy, and I do know that the current releases of Horseshoe are all now destemmed), or it’s just the plot, this is drinking terrific. There is enough structure hanging around here that I do think the wine will age, but bear in mind again that we opened this 24 hrs ago and it could have softened nicely in that span of time.
  • 2013 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
    Bottle was opened yesterday for our Rhys event. Retasting 24 hrs later for this note, the bottle sat open overnight with just the cork as closure. Tasting at room temp of 70f. In my revisits tonight of some of yesterday’s wines, I poured this immediately after the 2013 Horseshoe so I will use that for some context/reference. My immediate impression is I find the Alpine to be richer, more dense than the Horseshoe. Aromatically, this doesn’t have the cherry notes and instead seems more brooding, even a touch bloody, with iron and maple, even some pepper. I swear, I am not drinking syrah but the aromatics here remind me some of that varietal. And whereas the Horseshoe is more red fruited, the Alpine seems more darker fruited, a mix of blue with some inflection of red, along with some kiwi. There are broad shoulders here, a wine with more density than the Horseshoe, more power, too. It’s fascinating to me how two plots that are so reasonably close together, and made in a similar approach, are reflecting different expressions of depth and flavor. This also reminds me a bit more of the best of what Rivers-Marie does, when you can marry acid and deep fruit. Hell, as I think about it, this could pass for some aspects of say RM Occidental, as it just has that textural and flavor expression. As for aging potential, I actually think the 2013 Horseshoe might age a bit longer but for more immediate pleasure and power, the 2013 Alpine seems to do that right now for me.
  • 2014 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Hillside - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
    Geez, only one previous TN? I know these are expensive, and likely that, along with the culture of Rhys in terms of people not opening these wines early, is the explanation. Bottle was opened yesterday for our Rhys event. Retasting 24 hrs later for this note, the bottle sat open overnight with just the cork as closure. Tasting at room temp of 70f. I have been buying the Hillsides since they began in 2013, and this is the first time I have tried one. We had both 2013s yesterday, and the 2014s, but with crappy notes on my part in what was a larger event here at the house, this was one of the leftover wines that I saved. This has the cherry aromatic profile of the 2013 Horseshoe that I wrote up earlier. It also has an irony and floral quality, too. The palate? Intense and structured, so if Rhys was after trying to cull out and identify the best pieces of Horseshoe, this shows that feel to me. For more context, I tasted through a handful of Rhys PNs tonight for my notes and this wine was the most coiled of all of them. Yes, it’s a 2014 and what I mostly wrote up was 2013, so perhaps you make an argument that one year could make a difference, but I do believe that is not applicable here. This is a dark wine, it shows in the glass and it shows in the structure, too. Like the 2013 Alpine regular PN that I tasted prior to this wine, it’s clear to me that same power is here, too. Density, with dark apple, cherry, iron, rocky, powerful. Reminds me of a barrel sample, but without any oak showing here. Some resting time for this wine is going to help allow it to unfold some more and we’ll all see what’s underneath.
  • 2009 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier Rubis - France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
    Opened yesterday, saving a few ounces under stopper for today. 60% Chard, 40% PN. Disgorged January 2014. Showing a salmon/peach color in the glass. The core of this is like biting into a chilled, ripe strawberry. Wrapping around the red fruit is a leesy note, with orange flesh, yellow apple, mint and a zesty, bright finish. Enjoyed this!

Posted from CellarTracker

WINE Bottle # Votes
08 Alpine PN 13 11
13 Alpine Chard 3 10
08 Bearwallow PN 8 9
07 Alpine Hillside PN 14 9
13 Shoe Hillside 7 8
13 Bear PN 24 8
13 Shoe PN 9 7
13 Shoe PN 19 7
13 Alpine Chard 5 6
07 Shoe PN 15 6
08 Shoe PN 21 6
13 Skyline PN 23 6
16 Aeris 1 5
13 Shoe Chard (MAG) 4 5
13 Alpine Hillside 16 5
13 Home PN 17 5
10 Horseshoe Chard 6 4
13 Family Farm PN 10 4
13 Alpine PN 18 4
03 Alesia Syrah SC 25 4
17 Chenin Blanc Mt Pajaro 2 3
14 Alpine Hillside 11 3
06 Alpine Hillside PN 12 2
13 Swan Terrace PN 20 2
04 Family Farm 26 2
14 Shoe Hillside 22 1

That was a lot of wine… I didn’t get to all of them. Had great debate with Andrew, Cris, and Chris as we scratched out notes while huddled around the table together. All excellent palates.

08 Alpine PN was a standout. Spectacular.

All the white wines were incredible. Chenin was dynamite, just in the same bucket as the monsters of Chardonnay.

13 shoe chard was great. A little oaky but the acid to support it.

Hillside… Interesting results.

With that much Pinot my tasting notes starting looking like Richard Jennining’s. Very berry, red berry, dark cherry, berry, very very merry quite contrary.

Thanks to Frank and Jill for opening their house for another Rhys tasting. Unfortunately, I opened a fully oxidized 13 Alpine Chardonnay, but the 2nd bottle I opened was singing. Another great event! Here are my notes.

Whites
#4 showing a lot of oak. Round…not a huge fan but good. 13 Shoe? (13 shoe)
#3 Wow nose. Great texture on the palate with good acid. Super balance and drinking very good. 13 Alpine? (13 alpine)
#2 Maybe too cold Nose Green apple…a bit thin. Maybe 17 Alpine?(17 chenin)
#1 Too cold, nose citrus, palate lots of acid, honey, and citrus. Clearly Carricante (16 carricante)
#5 pretty obvious it’s the same as #3. 13 Alpine (13 alpine)
#6 Darker in color, Nose showing a bit of oxidation. Pretty one dimensional, but still very good. Older Alpine? (10 horseshoe)

Pinots
#7 dark, tons of structure…1st guess is skyline or maybe one of the hillsides. Very good.
#8 super stemmy, a lot of structure. Super dark and very big. Could be a you hillside… pretty much undrinkable (08 bear)
#9 nose muted, dark fruit, a bit of Brett funk. Super nice on the plate. Bright fruit a good amount of structure. Maybe 13 shoe (13 shoe)
#10 nose stemmy, great spice, absolutely beautiful nose, sweet red fruit…13 swan? (13 Family farm)
#11 young very big structure and spice, dark fruit…hillside? (14 hillside)
#12 black fruit and big structure, drinking very young. Maybe skyline? (06 Alpine)
#13 stemmy, big structure, dark fruit…super young, needs time…No idea (08 Alpine)
#14 stemmy nose, bright red fruit palate, some structure it lacking mid palate. No idea (07 alpine hillside)
#15 dark fruit, good balanced structure with great red fruit. It’s drinking well, but is very similarity the last 3. (07 shoe)
Very interesting that 12-15 all tasted similar
#16 earth a touch of Brett. Thin mid palate. Maybe alpine? (13 Alpine Hillside)
#17 light color, beautiful red fruit, structure but no mid palate…it’s lacking in the mid palate. Tastes like an alpine (13 Alpine)
#18 nose…dark fruit, big, beautiful fruit on the palate. Drinking super good. Could be a swan (13 home)
#19 nose dark red fruit, really pretty. Drinking really well right now. Some structure but not much so not sure where this goes from here. (13 shoe)
#20 smells off. Tastes off…no notes (13 swan)
#21 nose dark red fruit and stemmy. Drinking well, but mid palate is very thin. No idea (13 shoe)
#22 big structure. A lot of spice, muted fruit…could be a shoe (13 horseshoe hillside)
#23 Brett …off… no notes. (13 skyline)
#24 beautiful nose, wow!! Really good. Beautiful fruit drinking great right now. Not sure where it’s going, but my WOTN (13 Bearwallow)
#25 stemmy dark blue fruit. Weird much different profile then the others. Maybe something old (?) (? Syrah)

Wow, heck of a tasting. Tariff on Chenin?

Ha! Brian asked me the same question. It’s the second time I have tasted and it’s terrific. I think there might be blocks of Riesling in that same vineyard…

I do not know $$.

Brig, no worries, my first thought was, why in the world would I buy Rhys Chenin when I can buy Huet…then I realized I have no idea the tariff for Rhys.

I drank thru all my Pinot’s and have been working on Chards, have 8 or 10 left. I never found the Pinot moved or really developed nuance I was looking for and I enjoyed them more when they were young. When I factored in price today vs. back in 2005 or so, I just lost the value quotient…and have 2 kids under 4, so had to punt.

It won’t be $25. LOL.

It’s a very good dry chenin.

Thank you Frankie for hosting this awesome tasting and for the great notes! I’m not sure how I post my pics here…but I’ll try!
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Few more pics of peeps in attendance
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Hi Frank,

Many thanks for the notes on a fabulous tasting.

Do I understand the scoring? Everybody basically voted up or down on every wine; if up, they put a dot on the bag; if down they didn’t?
How many total people attended?

I understand your conflict. Hard to concentrate over that many wines in a crowded (and therefore noisy) environment, but how great to get such a broad range of the wines.

Dan Kravitz

Hey Dan, much less formal. There were numbered place cards in front of each bottle. if you liked the bottle, you could flip the card over and put a sticker on it then flip it back over. you could put a sticker on every bottle if you wanted or none. I put a sticker on most of the whites, for example. There were people in attendance that didn’t put any stickers on because they just wanted to taste and enjoy.

It was interesting feedback when I would put a sticker on a card and it was already loaded up or maybe there were none and I thought the wine was terrific. That said, the really good bottles received lots of stickers.

At the end of the afternoon Frank collected the cards and counted the number of stickers on the backside.

Probably 20 people in attendance

Great tasting and notes! Thanks guys.

was there more than one 750ml bottle of each wine?

Brig,

Thanks for verifying the scoring system. I think it’s a superbly precise way to score wines in a group tasting. I am not being sarcastic. 20 people milling around, 25 wines out there, everybody votes up if they like it, or ignores it.

Dan Kravitz

Mostly one of each. Which I worried wouldn’t work before we started, but with everyone being experienced and conscientious about it and taking just 1.5 ounces or so, plus so many bottles that most people didn’t get to them all, it strangely worked out just fine.

I don’t think any single bottle was emptied until about 3.5 hours after we got underway, and well after most people were completely wine tasting Rhys.

We had a bunch of bonus bottles afterwards, mostly petit sirah. So there was time for social drinking too.

Gents, thanks for the notes.

1 Like

+1

So the big thing I am taking from this is do not open the recent Hillsides wines.

thanks Chris

Sounds like an awesome tasting. Looking forward to popping my last ‘08 Alpine and hoping I’ll qualify for the ‘17 Chenin and ‘16 Ætna Bianco based on Franks notes.