I’ll keep 'em for scientific curiousity then, as I didn’t enjoy it enough to drink another soon, makes me think twice about ordering them again too for the price.
I am sorry to hear that you guys haven’t enjoyed this wine. The notes here don’t resonate with my past experience but unfortunately I am not going to be able to open a bottle until next week.
From a technical standpoint, this wine has plenty of acidity. In fact more than most White Burgs that we analyze. My best guess is that the rich fruit has moved to the forefront which is probably temporary. In either case, I plan to taste it and report back since I am certainly puzzled.
Curious to see what you find Kevin. Maybe you vinified the Batard-Montrachet of SCM.
Kris,
Funny you mention Batard as that is exactly the vineyard that I would choose to compare this wine to.
It’s what I thought of, but having had the Chard since 2004, this was quite a departure, maybe I was expecting one thing and surprised by another.
I’m going to try and validate that point about expectations. I drank through my 2 bottles already. The first one was very impressive and I got to drink most of it myself over the course of 2-3 days. Richer and rather less minerally/more sweet/more oaky than previous Rhys Chards (I’ve had 1 bottle of 06, 07, and 08 Alpine) but a VERY satisfying drink I’d compare to Varner or Rivers-Marie at similar price points and quality. I was happy although I’d have been happier still at $35 not $45.
The 2nd bottle was part of a flight that was single-blind to me. I knew it was in the mix, along with a 2010 Huet Sec and another unfamiliar Chardonnay from Savannah-Chanel. Being clueless about the Huet/Chenin Blanc in general and snobbishly dismissing the Savannah Chanel, I presumed that what turned out to be the Rhys was the S-C (and thought the Huet was the Rhys, so very embarrassing) since that Rhys was so much more blowsy in comparison to the other wines. I respected but didn’t love it, ranking it behind the others.
Alas, the Rhys was the fattest of those wines, not in accordance with my preset style expectation from Rhys which I suspect negatively impacted my evaluation of what is a generally strong California Chardonnay that does have more nuance and stoney midpalate than a few disappointed sips and easy youthful breadth might first indicate. The S-Chanel wine, a 2010 SVD I believe, suggested to me that this producer might have broken free from its previous oak-heavy approach and thus be worth another look, but I only had that one small pour…
and the Huet, well, that was a fun trip when I got to take some time with it the next day and made both the Chards seem common in comparison.
The Rhys should be fine to drink and probably improve slightly over a few years but I was not upset at having experienced both these bottles in their showy youth.
I have four sleeping, and will certainly wait a few months based on this feedback. I hope its just in an awkward phase right now. Thanks, all!
I liked this wine and I am happy to have a few more on hand but I could see why it was declassified in that it lacked a little punch compared to previous bottlings. I intend to drink up these 2009 SCM’s within the next year or two.
When is the release of the 2009 SVD Chardonnay’s?
David,
We will release the '09 Alpine Chard in our next offer (which we just scheduled for 1/31) and the '09 Horseshoe will be released in September.
Kevin, what are the quantities/allocations going to be like for the '09 SVD Chards that have yet to be released? Thanks.
Bob,
With the new Ocean facing block at Alpine now producing, we have a bit more Alpine Chardonnay this vintage. We are hoping to be able to offer 2 btls to all customers that ordered last Fall and possibly 3 btls for our biggest customers. That is the preliminary plan but it is not yet finalized.
Kevin,
with the upcoming release, will the allocation be guaranteed for a specific time period ?
Thanks, Joe
1/31 will be a happy day 
Kevin,
Any idea how the pinots will be allocated?
Joe,
As we have in past releases, we plan to honor the allocations for about 2 weeks. We will have all the details and dates in the offer.
Andrew,
Customers allocated the Swan Terrace will be offered 2 bottles. All Customers will be offered 4 Alpine and 3 bottles of SCMtns Pinot.
We tried this bottle last night with pork steak leftovers turned into tacos. I liked it much more than my previous taste and Mel liked it too, though less enthusiastically than I did. Lots of lemon and saline noticed, some of that butterscotch too. It is round and less acidic than expected. It doesn’t have the mouthfeel to make the price quite right though. In no way did I think this was bad Chardonnay but like Scott wrote above $35 seems its place. Remaining bottle will be sideways another 24-36M I think.
I also had this last night, and liked it better than my prior taste last November. But I thought the acidity was just right, giving lift and focus. And I also thought $45 was a little strong.
After reading this thread, we opened a bottle to check in on this bottling. Since we released it in the Fall, this wine has changed and is currently showing fleshier, richer and more fruit driven compared to earlier in its life. In 2007, we bottled the same fruit (one barrel) and did not release it due to this character. This turned out to be a phase and the 2007 has added more definition, delineation and minerality with each year. It has been my house white, so I have watched its evolution closely.
That’s a long way of saying, people may want to cellar this wine for a couple of years as there is a good chance it will become more enjoyable.
Thanks, Kevin (and everyone) for the detailed accounts of this wine. It’s great to have the benefit of this kind of information before opening bottles, particularly bottles which one can only get in such tiny quantities as Rhys chardonnays.