TN: 2010 Rhys San Mateo County Pinot Noir

I acquired 2 bottles of this in the spring as replacement bottles. I decided to open the wine this past weekend for a wine buddy of mine to determine how much I would buy with the current offer. I would say that if your are a fan of restrained Pinot with delineated bright fruit flavors with the floral/spicy element from the whole cluster fermentation then I would say to BACK UP THE TRUCK. This is a great wine for $45/bottle IMO. My friend and I both stated we would not have guessed California Pinot if it was served to us blind.

a good one for early consumption? not too stemmy?

I would say that the wine could use a couple of years of additional bottle age to integrate the whole cluster aspect but that said, it is a delicious bottle of wine. I would tell you to wait another year or two if you are more sensitive to the steminess.

Todd, I did not need to see this. I bought one, as I had to spread budget and your post is not helping.

Had one this wkend and after a few hours of air this was terrific. Really very good. Posted a note under a separate thread. Kicked the crap out of an 05 MSD Prem Cru i had yesterday in terms of qpr …

Bought 6 of these simply based on track record of the producer. Great to read this note!

Not sure why this is a good thing, given that it comes from somewhere in California.

It is good thing when a majority of the pinots people talk about are from the Russian River Valley (not necessarily on this board). I love California Pinot when it is in the more restrained style from areas like the Santa Cruz Mountains and the TRUE Sonoma Coast.

California wine that tastes halfway like French wine is awesome. French wine that tastes halfway like California wine is an abomination. Try to keep up.

Damn I forgot the golden rule - wine shall reflect the specific place of its origin…unless that place is California.

Definitely not too stemmy. Most approachable young Rhys pinot yet to me - I’ve been buying since the 2006 vintage.

I will have to dissent the previous.

IMO, and seeing a few other notes on CT with similar comments, I think the stems are still showing too much on this and need to integrate. I got a very vivid green bean note with my bottle that was pretty distracting. Anyone confirm that green bean would be a stem characteristic? I’m just guessing a bit with that one.

Other than that the wine needs time to coalesce, but the fruit and flowers are delicious.

I bought the 2009 from the last mailing list offer. How is it that the 2010 is available?

I suspect the 2009 you purchased was the Santa Cruz Mountains, a different bottling. There was no 2009 San Mateo County.

Popped a bottle with dinner tonight. Not the best Rhys ever to be sure, but darned good. It is a bit stemmy (not too much), but I like that.

I absolutely loved this wine!

2010 Rhys Pinot Noir San Mateo County - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, San Mateo County (1/7/2013)
What a gorgeous glass of wine. The nose was slender yet beautifully focused with tart cherry and cranberry up front with a whiff of grapefruit, which was followed by a soothing note of nutmeg and contrasted by soil and florals tones. On the palate it was soft with medium weight and elegance; slowly revealing its layers as an initial burst of juicy red fruit gave way to citrus notes and inner florals tones. The finish was shorter than I anticipate, yet still completely satisfying with hints of red berries and an autumnal, earthy note that I usually associate with well aged Nebbiolo. What more could you as for?

With a two hour decant, this wine was singing. It was an immediate hit with everyone tasting it. What really stole the show was the bouquet, with it’s bright fruit, earth and that beautiful citrus note that brought it all home. This was a real head-turner and a great introduction to RHYS for guests. (94 pts.)

Opened one last night and drank about half of it over about three hours. Certainly restrained as noted, lighter red fruit, never really opened up. Left overnight in decanter on the bar…tonight the fruit came up, seemed to take on some darker characteristics and the mouthfeel rounded out…nice.

I had a similar experience but it was more enjoyable on the first night and continued to open by the second night with some red fruit coming out. I ended up with 18 bottles plus a couple of mags and am not at all disappointed given price point and non SVD.

Thank you. My failing eyesight in a dark cellar and those Rhys labels… checked again: they say Family Farm in wee little letters below San Mateo.