Rhys Tasting with TNs

[Alan_Rath]

Been meaning to post notes from a dinner a bunch of Bay Area Berserkers did back in September. Kevin joined us, and offered a unique and special bottle: 2001 Pinot Home Vineyard. I’ll drop these in here, unless Frank tells me to get my own thread

2011 Rhys Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Quite nice, bit of toast on the palate, nice medium richness, good length, holding quite well with just a touch of development. (92 pts.)

2010 Rhys Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Quite rich, opulent, good acidity and balance, rich umami finish, has the tropical note I find in Rhys chards of the middle period. (93 pts.)

2006 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Good color, quite rich, very rich, nice umami, good acidity. I think this is a great representation of the Rhys style, vintage, and evolution in the wines. More recent vintages are just a little less flamboyant, and more reserved. (91 pts.)

2011 Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Delicious, beautifully rich but controlled fruit, not quite the tropical opulence of the older Rhys Chards we drank alongside, great acidity, mild umami notes. Fabulous. (93 pts.)

2001 Rhys Pinot Noir Home Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay (9/17/2019)
Lightly earthy nose, very nice deep dark raspberry fruit, with lovely light leather and spice notes, excellent acidity, nice complexity and medium length. What a lovely wine, one of the first (the first?) vintages, made in Kevin’s garage. With only a few bottles left, a real honor to be shown this wine. (92 pts.)

2006 Rhys Pinot Noir Swan Terrace - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Light stem and that slightly old clothes closet note on the nose, then rich, deep dark raspberry fruit, strong acidity, quite rich, tasty, with a slight sweet note on the finish; still very youthful, can go for years.

2007 Rhys Pinot Noir Swan Terrace - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Wow, gorgeous deep black cherry/raspberry, stem spice is background for some nice complexity, terrific balance, still quite young but very drinkable. Fabulous. (93 pts.)

2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Swan Terrace - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Lovely light spice/earth nose, beautiful dark raspberry and black cherry palate, more of those wonderful light spice notes, great complexity and balance. (94 pts.)

2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Swan Terrace - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Nice dark cherry and raspberry fruit, hints of spice, more open and forward than the 07 and 08, very nice but not quite the tension and complexity of those two vintages. (92 pts.)

2010 Rhys Pinot Noir Swan Terrace - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
More obvious stems on the nose than the 07-09, bit of green showing through, fairly rich, more forward, good balance, maybe the most drinkable of the early Swans but a bit less interesting. (91 pts.)

2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Skyline Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Dark raspberry with some black cherry, touch more brooding and grippy than the Swan and Horseshoe, this has so much beautiful complexity, and needs years to really show. Leave this one alone, it should be amazing with time. (94 pts.)

2006 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Very rich, voluptuous, slight sweet nose, good acidity, but maybe just a bit “too much” of everything for my palate. (90 pts.)

2006 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Hillside - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Big and rich, voluptuous, quite rich, round, just a bit too much intensity here, hides the finesse and complexity I expect from a Rhys. I can see why this made the Hillside bottling, but it goes just a bit too far. (91 pts.)

2007 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Quite rich and intense, the Alpine terroir is here, but amplified in this vintage to 11. Almost too much, needs a big steak! (92 pts.)

2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Such beautiful dark raspberry fruit, great balance and lovely complexity. (93 pts.)

2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Fairly rich dark fruit, good balance and acidity, this consistent with the Rhys “middle period”, and the warmer vintage. Very nice. (91 pts.)

2010 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
The nose on this is different from earlier vintage Alpines, showing some definite sweet and ripe character. That comes across on the palate, this is the ripest of the 06-10 Alpines, and comes across a bit on the simple side as well. (88 pts.)

2013 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Nice, slightly softer, has the dark raspberry of the mountain vineyards, but shows the now trademark higher toned strawberry notes of Horseshoe. (91 pts.)

[ToddFrench]

Wow, what a collection of notes! Sorry I missed it, but I was busy at the ‘snow globe’ game!

I’m hopefully in next time!

[R_M_Kriete]

I took a walk today and was thinking about all the feedback here, as well as what I discussed with Brian Bohr during the event, too. I have decided to put on another event, but will pull back on the total bottles, which will also affect attendance count, unfortunately. I will send out a note to all those attended last weekend, and we’ll just pick a date and let it land with 8 total seats, which to me seems like the right number.

Ultimately, I don’t want to throttle back on inclusion, as the premise of involving people and connecting is important to me but I just have come to the point where doing 20+ bottles isn’t effective anymore for an assessment of things like we sought, at least for me. We’ll do one vintage, tackle the wines of that range, and then have one table that we share where we can discuss differences and themes of those wines. I’ll do it in January once the holidays are over.

What about multiple groups of 8, each “confined” to their own table for the formal tasting? Then, let everyone walk around and be social. Any other wines tasted from the other groups’ tables would be merely informal. That way, no one gets left out, but the # of wines you can seriously focus on is effectively limited.

[Bryan_Price]

I always enjoy the photos - one of these days I’ll learn how to upload a pic. I like Rhys wines quite a bit, and have realized that the Chardonnays are quite special, and Santa Cruz fruit overall also is outstanding.

[G_Bienstock]

In contrast to Alan R’s bottle of 2011 Horseshoe Chardonnay, a bottle I opened last week was advanced in color and character and heading down hill fast. Nothing like a fine bottle opened last year. Very disappointing.

[Chris_Seiber]

Been meaning to post notes from a dinner a bunch of Bay Area Berserkers did back in September. Kevin joined us, and offered a unique and special bottle: 2001 Pinot Home Vineyard. I’ll drop these in here, unless Frank tells me to get my own thread

2011 Rhys Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Quite nice, bit of toast on the palate, nice medium richness, good length, holding quite well with just a touch of development. (92 pts.)

2010 Rhys Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Quite rich, opulent, good acidity and balance, rich umami finish, has the tropical note I find in Rhys chards of the middle period. (93 pts.)

2006 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Good color, quite rich, very rich, nice umami, good acidity. I think this is a great representation of the Rhys style, vintage, and evolution in the wines. More recent vintages are just a little less flamboyant, and more reserved. (91 pts.)

2011 Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Delicious, beautifully rich but controlled fruit, not quite the tropical opulence of the older Rhys Chards we drank alongside, great acidity, mild umami notes. Fabulous. (93 pts.)

2001 Rhys Pinot Noir Home Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay (9/17/2019)
Lightly earthy nose, very nice deep dark raspberry fruit, with lovely light leather and spice notes, excellent acidity, nice complexity and medium length. What a lovely wine, one of the first (the first?) vintages, made in Kevin’s garage. With only a few bottles left, a real honor to be shown this wine. (92 pts.)


2019-09-17 19.14.50.jpg


2006 Rhys Pinot Noir Swan Terrace - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Light stem and that slightly old clothes closet note on the nose, then rich, deep dark raspberry fruit, strong acidity, quite rich, tasty, with a slight sweet note on the finish; still very youthful, can go for years.

2007 Rhys Pinot Noir Swan Terrace - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Wow, gorgeous deep black cherry/raspberry, stem spice is background for some nice complexity, terrific balance, still quite young but very drinkable. Fabulous. (93 pts.)

2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Swan Terrace - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Lovely light spice/earth nose, beautiful dark raspberry and black cherry palate, more of those wonderful light spice notes, great complexity and balance. (94 pts.)

2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Swan Terrace - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Nice dark cherry and raspberry fruit, hints of spice, more open and forward than the 07 and 08, very nice but not quite the tension and complexity of those two vintages. (92 pts.)

2010 Rhys Pinot Noir Swan Terrace - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
More obvious stems on the nose than the 07-09, bit of green showing through, fairly rich, more forward, good balance, maybe the most drinkable of the early Swans but a bit less interesting. (91 pts.)

2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Skyline Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Dark raspberry with some black cherry, touch more brooding and grippy than the Swan and Horseshoe, this has so much beautiful complexity, and needs years to really show. Leave this one alone, it should be amazing with time. (94 pts.)

2006 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Very rich, voluptuous, slight sweet nose, good acidity, but maybe just a bit “too much” of everything for my palate. (90 pts.)

2006 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Hillside - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Big and rich, voluptuous, quite rich, round, just a bit too much intensity here, hides the finesse and complexity I expect from a Rhys. I can see why this made the Hillside bottling, but it goes just a bit too far. (91 pts.)

2007 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Quite rich and intense, the Alpine terroir is here, but amplified in this vintage to 11. Almost too much, needs a big steak! (92 pts.)

2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Such beautiful dark raspberry fruit, great balance and lovely complexity. (93 pts.)

2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Fairly rich dark fruit, good balance and acidity, this consistent with the Rhys “middle period”, and the warmer vintage. Very nice. (91 pts.)

2010 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
The nose on this is different from earlier vintage Alpines, showing some definite sweet and ripe character. That comes across on the palate, this is the ripest of the 06-10 Alpines, and comes across a bit on the simple side as well. (88 pts.)

2013 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (9/17/2019)
Nice, slightly softer, has the dark raspberry of the mountain vineyards, but shows the now trademark higher toned strawberry notes of Horseshoe. (91 pts.)


2019-09-17 19.58.33.jpg

That’s great. I think your successes with those bottles continues to speak to what I observed in Frank’s recent tasting, which is that you’re generally rewarded if you have the patience to let these pinots get to 8+ years old.