TN: 2014 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard

  • 2014 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (6/6/2020)
    Not a great bottle of what is normally a great wine. For some reason this one was rather thin, showing little fruit and a lot of oak. None of my other bottles of 2014 Alpine showed like this, so I’ll just chalk it up to bad luck. Too bad it was my last. I hate ending on a bad note.

Posted from CellarTracker

Similar to David, this was not the best Rhys Chardonnay I’ve had. I did not get the oak he referenced, but it was light on ripeness with grapefruit and acid dominating the palate. Bummer.

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Interesting to see what appears to be some bottle variation, in addition to expected differences in our palates and impressions.
I did get some oak on this, but my bottle showed a rich, almost creamy side. Oak was noticeable but not over-powering. The oak likely added the rich, viscous, glycerin mouthfeel in my glass. Nice lemon oil/lemon peel component to this wine, although I was expecting a more vibrant wine. On day 2, this was still holding strong and enjoyable. I tasted what little was left in the bottle on day 3 - it was flat, dead, and found its way down the drain.

2014 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/31/2020)
Opened, poured a taste, and the enjoyed about 30 minutes later.
Light golden color.
Nose offers lemon peel and lemon oil.
Deep, rich lemon peel/lemon curd on the intro. Shows some white peach and green apple.
There is a glycerin element that gives a rich mouthfeel. Thought it could be the alcohol, but the label states 13.5%.
Some hint of oak is mixed in. The wine has a richness to it when other Rhys chardonnays I have enjoyed showed more of a racy, tense profile. This leans towards a richer, oak driven style.
Enjoyable, but not what I expected from an Alpine Vyd Rhys Chardonnay.

I had a half bottle of this on Saturday. It was great. Read this note and made me want to check it out. Very pretty, clean, mineral driven wine with bright citrus notes.

Well, you guys got me interested now so I decided to put my final remaining bottle onto my Drink Now list and then I’ll come back and add my note to the thread here. Thanks for the input, it really helps.

I pulled a half-bottle of the Horseshoe this past weekend and thought it was showing more oak than fruit at the moment. It wasn’t terrible, but seemed to be in a shutdown (from the fruit presentation perspective) phase. It did not seem in any danger of decline, so I’ll probably keep checking in on the remaining small format stash before going after the 750mLs.

Cheers,
fred

My contribution to this here discussion…

  • 2014 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (8/6/2020)
    A number of smart palates have written about this wine in the past few weeks. It got me curious and of the few Rhys Chards I have not tasted, this is one of them. 14 Alpine. I had a single bottle in the cellar, so what the hell, I pulled the cork tonight. This is the value of Wine Berserkers and Cellartracker, to leverage the community and share perspective. I gotta agree with the community here…the oak sticks out, the wine seems a bit dumb, plump and it lacks the energy and cut of true Alpine. Yes, it is Alpine Chard but it’s a level below what I expect from this site. Pineapple, toasted oak, some yellow apple, tangerine but overall it’s missing a gear. Some will like this as it does have an unctuous, more forward quality powered by some oak but this is not the attraction for how I see Rhys Chardonnay.

Posted from CellarTracker

I hate to pile on, as I normally really like Rhys chardonnays, but I gotta go with this week’s consensus.

  • 2014 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (8/6/2020)
    I’m with the people who were unimpressed. It lacked much flavor: weak pear, grapefruit and quince, coupled with a little oak spice. It almost tasted watered down, except the body and mouthfeel was normal, albeit a little short on acid cut. No energy. Like a parody of a AFWE wine, except even the wine elite like some flavor. It wasn’t bad per se, it just didn’t have much to it.

Posted from CellarTracker

My 375 was great. The reviewers that drank from a 750 didn’t have positive comments. I have other 375’s and I’ll drink another soon.

Brent, there is some variation going here. I would like my bottle to taste as you describe, which is why I love Alpine.

I have a few more of these half bottles left. Randomly I just bought a mixed case of 2014 half bottles from auction. I’ll drink another one over the next week.

Drank this last night - 2014 Rhys alpine chardonnay from standard 750 ml bottle

Crazy deep yellow- appears like it’s 20 years old- oxidized nutty notes dominate with some baked apples and vanilla in the background- more nuttiness bordering on bitter metallic tasting

Stored well since release from list

Really too bad

Not the first oxidized / prematurely aged chardonnay I’ve had from Rhys

And weird we’ve had some spectacular 2013 horse shoe chardonnays from 375 lately

That’s a shame, Sam. Sorry to hear, but thank you for reporting about it.

Rhys reacheD out to me and sent a replacement bottle- not necessary but bravo- thank you

Rhys is as good as it gets as far as standing by their wines and replacing flawed bottles with no hassle.

I find their Chardonnays very ageworthy. I’m wondering if the 2014 won’t be better in 5 or 10 years? Other top Santa Cruz Mountain Chardonnay producers have spectacular records, notably Mount Eden and Ridge. I almost cracked a 2012 Horseshoe from 375ml tonight but opted for something else. I’ll open this soon as post.

Dan Kravitz

2014 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains (5/26/2022)
– popped and poured –

Rich, buttery, Nose, and that carries-through to the palate, too. Deeply embedded, steely mineral note gives some complexity, but this is mostly about being a rich, buttery, Chardonnay. Drink or Hold.

Popped and poured at cooler than cellar temp. Slightly sticky capsule and deep golden color had me worried this might have been oxidized. Muted nose with hints of lemon oil, honey and baking spices. Somewhat muddled palate - butterscotch, acidity, some lemon, but each flavor kind of sticking out rather than being integrated. I think this cork must have failed.

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My last bottle. PnP. In a really good place now, but should hold. Immediately, a large dose of pineapple, with tropical fruit, apple, citrus, spice and a hint of oak. The palate is filled with pineapple, apple, peach, spice, minerals, citrus, a touch of oak. Good acidity balances the fruit, leading to a long smooth finish.