I thought the two whites were very good wines and I especillay enjoyed the 08.
Our end of the table thought that the reds were basically all over the map. For the 06 Alpine/06 Swan the comment was preference for the Swan on the nose but by far and away the Alpine on the palate.
It would have also been interesting to have recorded the method and air time of the different bottles. I brought the '11 FF which was slow-oxed for about 30 hrs and thought it drank very well. The '13 Bearwallow was a PnP which again our end really liked.
Joseph,
2012 had the highest acidity we have seen. 2013 is more typical or average for us (depending on the vineyard). A fun fact to know - Our Chardonnay grape’s acid levels are meaningfully higher than most White Burgs while our Pinot acids are fairly similar to Red Burgundy.
I am in an opposite trajectory compared to some of the folks on this thread. I’ve been a fan since I started buying in the 2006/7 vintages but I have actually gotten more bullish on the wines over time. Reliably good, though I will admit I have been using the appellation wines as cellar defenders to some degree.
When I have had SVDs I haven’t found many completely shut down, though I drink a bottle over several nights so I get a chance to find the sweet spot of how much air each wine needs. My plan is to drink SVD wines starting in the 7-8 years old timeframe up to maybe 12-15 years from vintage so not hanging on to them as long as some folks. I don’t doubt they’ll age but my attitude is why wait, unless I find the wines don’t show well. They have shown well for me, but I do check CT to get an idea of how they’re drinking.
When we did the vertical Horseshoe Pinot tasting a few weeks ago, we slow-oxed the wine beginning early in the morning. I thought most of them were pretty open by dinner, except the 2010 which never really opened and the 2007 which seemed to shut down after pouring.
I drank my first '06 Alpine Pinot on Saturday. It was muscular, all right, but in a lean, cool way. And I agree that it is still very tightly wound. I liked it and, much to my surprise, my wife loved it (she normally favors wines that are more fruit forward). Impressive.
WOW: “Pinots produced in the Skyline vineyard are as close to Vosne-Romanée as California gets.”
Where are they getting the pricing?
Family Farm Vineyard ($80)
Home Vineyard ($140)
The Bearwallow Vineyard ($100)
Alpine ($125)
Swan Terrace ($160)
Horseshoe Vineyard ($120)
Skyline Vineyard ($160)
I sure as hell hope this isn’t the pricing for the next release!
Thanks for the notes, guys. On the 'Shoe pinots, I would agree with you on the 2008 being a long ager, but I found my 2009 quite open and approachable a few months back. I do think for 2008, a decant time is important, as that vintage seems to reflect a structure that portends aging.
2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard- USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (1/17/2015) Rhys Tasting With The Gang–Part 2 (My Place): Dig this wine, which was one of three Shoe pinots we drank (2009 and 2011 being the other two). Like with the 2008 Family Farm, I too like this '08 Shoe. Broad shouldered, with spicy black cherry and soil. Finishes with a pure, crsytalline quality, yet plenty of tannin here and I suspect this will age very well and show terrific down the road.
2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard- USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (1/17/2015) Rhys Tasting With The Gang–Part 2 (My Place): This has a broad texture, expansive like the 2008 Shoe I tasted before it from the same flight. There is a darker quality here to this 2008, a dark raspberry and dark cherry, what my notes also say is a ‘brooding’ quality. And, like the 2008, it contains that same soily quality that I enjoyed in that wine, a mulchy note. But different from the 2008, this 2009 is more approachable.
I opened the '09 Alpine last night and decanted for 45 minutes before double decanting as I was taking the bottle to a buddies house to watch some college hoops. We both felt the wine was drinking great. Give the '09s some time to breath and have at them. Will they continue to improve for several more years, absolutely, but certainly no harm in enjoying now with an hour or two decant.
The article also mentions Rhys is coming to retail soon, maybe this is foreshadowing of retail prices? Also, have we discussed Pajaro vineyard yet? That’s the first I’ve heard of it.
Patrick,
I think those prices were reflective of NYC retail which is typically a markup above our direct prices. We have been developing Mt. Pajaro vineyard since 2011 and the first productive vintage will be 2016. This means that we will have a lot to say about the vineyard in 2018 when the first wines are ready and in bottle.
OK Paul, twist my arm (our vineyards are my favorite topic).
Mt. Pajaro vineyard is located across the road (and the fault) and uphill from Windy Oaks on Hazel Dell rd. The soil is phenomenal for Pinot and Chardonnay with 20" of finely textured brown/pink clay over a diverse sedimentary base that includes sandstone and black and red shale. This geology is called “Mt. Pajaro Shale”. The climate is similar to Alpine and Horseshoe with even lower summer temperatures. We have planted the vineyard entirely tightly spaced with 3.5’ rows and 2-3’ between vines depending on the rootstock (all low vigor). Our expectation is that this vineyard will produce a very different expression but offer similar quality to our Alpine and Horseshoe Vineyards.
Kevin, If you don’t mind telling us, what happens to the grapes in the meantime? Do they get sold off in bulk in some fashion? Or are there even any grapes due to the replanting that you’ve done? Just curious to understand more about the life cycle of a vineyard before it becomes Rhys worthy.
Patrick,
We are focused on vine development at this stage which means that we will cut off any fruit through this year. Next year (2016) we plan to let the vines have a crop and we will evaluate the resulting wine. If we think it is of sufficient quality we will use it for Rhys, if not we will sell it off in bulk. Given the timeframe and spacing, I will be surprised if the 2016 fruit is not very good quality.
