TN: 2017 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard

  • 2017 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (5/5/2021)
    Lemon spice cake with a jolt of electricity. It’s vibrant, even to the point of being harsh on the back end. There’s also a clear note of chewable baby aspirin, a characteristic that I recognize from my ill-spent toddler years. Didn’t expect to get into the wayback machine and travel back to 1971.

Posted from CellarTracker

Great note. St. Joseph aspirin?

I think I have one of these in inventory.
May wait to open it until this impression leaves my mind.

Yes!

Aspirin has been the most common Chardonnay marker for me. I’d say 90% of them have it.

Maybe, though I don’t find it that often. Perhaps because it’s obscured by oak.

Acetylsalicylic Acid!! I’ve never picked that up so I guess I am going to have to open up a bottle of Chardonnay now

Is it the bitterness of aspirin that is being tasted? I taste aspirin in many IPAs that I attribute to bitterness.

I find some of the cool-climate, or early pick, Pinots and Chardonnays can have a touch of bitterness that I think often may be characterized as ‘minerality’.
Perhaps being of Italian descent and growing up eating escarole, chicory, broccoli rabe and arugula, I am fine with a touch of bitterness in my food.

I didn’t find it bitter.

2017 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains (4/11/2022)
– popped and poured –
– tasted non-blind over approx. 1.5 hrs. –
– 375 mL –

NOSE: high-toned and expressive; tart apple and tangerine.

BODY: medium maize color; medium-light bodied.

TASTE: fuji apple; mineral; 12.8% alc. not noticeable; medium+ acidity; slightly creamy; bright butterscotch note; excellent. Drink Now or Hold. gut impression score: 92.