TN: 2017 Rhys Syrah Horseshoe Vineyard

  • 2017 Rhys Syrah Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (4/21/2021)
    The Horseshoe Syrah has always been one of my favorite wines from Rhys. Over the years it has evolved, becoming deeper and more savory, vintage after vintage. As a last minute substitute, this bottle did not get any prep, either early opening or decanting, but from the first sip it showed the depth of character that I have come to expect from this bottling. Meaty, smoky, savory - it’s archetypal Syrah. The tannins are present, but not overwhelming, so it’s as pleasurable as it is interesting. Some poor, but fortuitous mis-planning has me with a great deal of this wine, and after one 500 ml bottle I am very happy that I made the mistake. I’ll leave the 750s for a long time.

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I seem to be piggybacking on David’s notes the past couple of nights. Popped and poured at cellar temp from 375ml. Smoky bacon, olives and black pepper on the nose. Surprisingly sweet and approachable on the attack with some generous blackberry fruit intermingled with meaty, peppery spice. Definitely has some tannic grip on the back end, but tannins are not too obtrusive. In this format, drinking well early, but a long life left obviously, particularly in bigger formats. Now that the Skyline Syrah is no longer produced, this is my favorite Rhys bottling year in and year out. Great potential for this wine.

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It’s my favorite Rhys bottling as well.

  • 2017 Rhys Syrah Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains (6/17/2023)
    Two years ago I said I would wait a long time before opening any 750ml bottles of this wine. Well, sometimes two years is long enough. Four hours in a decanter didn’t hurt either. Still, it’s a very young wine, and has some teeth behind the black fruit and roasted meat. Normally a young, structured wine needs some extra time to come together in the mid-palate, but this actually shows very well, with extra herbal elements, and a richness that buffers some of the harder edges. At one point I was concerned that I had overbought on this particular wine, but after two bottles I am very happy that I have a lot of it.

I think 2012 Horseshoe Syrah was the most surprising wine I had last year, didn’t expect the depth and savory notes. Definitely my favorite wine from Rhys, strong case for them to be a Syrah focused producer instead of Pinot.

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