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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 90.7 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 45 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by gbauer on 1/9/2023: Shows well, with tannin starting to resolve and plenty of fruit still there. Comes across as savory, but there is still fruit in the background. Improves with air. No rush. (1157 views) | | | Tasted by GrapeScott on 4/11/2022 & rated 87 points: Despite owning a case plus of mixed vintages going back to '08, this is the first Rhys Skyline syrah I've opened. Seems like I have a lot more experience with their Horseshoe according to CT. Anyways, this bottle left me a bit underwhelmed, despite giving it two days of air. The nose is its best feature, with a nice mineral streak to go along with some subtle black fruit. A bit lean and shrill, with dry tannins, that became more pronounced on day 2. I'm not sure this will improve further with aging. (1848 views) | | | Tasted by WST on 3/20/2022: Boring upon opening, but I decanted for a few hours before the tasting and it was quite nice. Dense minty chocolate aromas and flavors, this was the only wine of the night that might not have been obviously Syrah. I've had better examples from this vineyard. The vines have long been torn out and replanted to Pinot Noir, and it this were the only bottle I had tried, I wouldn't mourn their departure. (1699 views) | | | Tasted by Neecies on 3/20/2022: Warren's. Since when does California syrah show dense blackberry fruit layered with mint, dark chocolate and redwood sawdust? Since this one. Never in a million years would have guessed it could be anything other than Cabernet Sauvignon, and delicious as such. But syrah? Wow, how different. (1753 views) | | | Tasted by glou.sf on 3/14/2022 & rated 93 points: Lots of fruit on the nose with dark berries and maybe a hint of VA. Good structure with quite drying tannins, more dark fruit flavors and some olives on the palate. Nice finish. Quite delicious now, but this really needs more time. I'd try again in 5-10 years. 92-93+ (1822 views) | | | Tasted by grafstrb on 12/21/2021 & rated 87 points: -- decanted one hour before initial taste --
-- tasted non-blind over a few hours --
NOSE: ripe and purple-fruited; faint tobacco/mineral note on the back end.
BODY: dark garnet color, with a little bit of sediment present; medium bodied.
TASTE: moderate drying tannins; ripe purple fruits; seems straightforward; medium acidity; light oak; seems kind of flat and boring -- muted, with little depth; no obvious signs of TCA, and the aromatics are expressive, so maybe this is just a simple, ho-hum, wine.?
50, 5, 12, 14, 6 = 87 (1839 views) | | | Tasted by llink on 2/17/2021 & rated 90 points: Popped and poured. Blackberry, spice and a subtle herb/stem note. The palate is deep and rich with lively medium acid fruit and a bunch of burly, drying tannins. Hour 2 update, oh my this wine has seriously burly tannins. (2215 views) | | | Tasted by pjhr on 10/9/2020 & rated 92 points: As tasty as the last bottle with similar tasting notes. (2020 views) | | | Tasted by rosenst1 on 10/8/2020 & rated 91 points: PnP, cellared since release, and tasted over 2 days. Medium dark red. A bit reticent on the nose but with swirling and on the second day this showed a very herbal/spice driven character. On the palate as noted by others, this wine is quite soft and would be hard to id as Syrah. I don't get the grippy tannins but there is some residual tannin on the finish on day 2. The nose becomes a bit more varietally "correct" with white pepper on day 2 but the palate impression is quite soft and unusual. Interesting wine; may keep my last bottle for a couple more years. (2028 views) | | | Tasted by blisscompound on 9/10/2020 & rated 91 points: Don’t doubt that Rhys is doing good work (1971 views) | | | Tasted by pjhr on 7/10/2020 & rated 92 points: Tasty blackberry, olive, and floral notes on the nose and savory palate with chewy tannins on the moderate finish. (1964 views) | | | Tasted by bobdobilina on 4/16/2020 & rated 93 points: Dark and slightly cloudy sangria color.
High toned nose. Very floral. White pepper. Ferrous.
Carries through to the start of the palate. Mineral, ferrous. Fruity and wild. Blackberries? and blood. More fruit presence than the 2008. Very firm tannins. (1819 views) | | | Tasted by jjct on 2/14/2020: As others have noted, this has soft, pinot-y fruit. However this bottle also had some pretty grippy tannins. Good quality wine. (1721 views) | | | Tasted by jlm on 11/2/2019: Opened a week after an '09 Horseshoe Syrah. This was markedly different. Whereas the HS was big and tannin when opened, the Skyline was immediately more approachable. But if someone had served this blind and told me it was an '09 Nuits Vaucrains, I would have believed them. It's got dark cherry fruit, spice, and flowers. And the palate does not have the weight or tannic structure of the HS syrah from the week before. The body is much lighter and the power of the HS is absent. It's certainly an interesting wine, but is just not a typical syrah in any way. It would be fascinating to taste this side-by-side with the Skyline PN of the same vintage. Maybe I'll do that someday in the future. (1805 views) | | | Tasted by Tom Warden on 5/5/2019 & rated 91 points: A bit flat. (2382 views) | | | Tasted by soyhead on 4/8/2019: plummy, no black pepper, tasted blind DC called it straightaway a california pinot. and to his point its actually quite pinoty for a syrah (2213 views) | | | Tasted by theharve on 9/20/2018 & rated 92 points: well balanced with good fruit and acidity and mild tannins which diminished
after 30 minutes. try again next year. (2577 views) | | | Tasted by Acohen on 3/19/2018 & rated 90 points: Dark fruit with lots of plum and some licorice notes (2809 views) | | | Tasted by rmalloy on 8/27/2017 & rated 93 points: Lovely. I think Rhys syrahs are similar in spirit to their pinot noirs; there's the same acidic energy and fresh fruit flavors. There's more of a smoked meat and pepper character to the syrahs (along with an obviously deeper violet color and stronger tannins), but there's also a burgundian elegance.
The fruit here (candied strawberry?) is gorgeous. But I also admire the syrah aromatic complexity and typicity. This is unique, world-class syrah that seems to have at least ten years of life ahead of it. It tastes remarkably youthful for a 2009. (3516 views) | | | Tasted by Wine Sparty on 7/20/2017 & rated 92 points: Popped and put in the decanter, and started drinking within about 20 minutes. Aroma is pretty light, with some cherry. Taste has a bit of a tart cherry thing, but the tart isn't bad..it's just a hint of it. Definitely has some of the cigar box aroma to it as well. (3117 views) | | | Tasted by Tubulus on 4/17/2017 & rated 92 points: Inspired by a friend's note on the 09 horseshoes, decided to open this one up. A very pure wine, in the sense that it's not a super-meaty/savory rhone-style, or a stinky/animal/funky Washington-style, or an under-ripe CA coast style. It's just...a really nice syrah that lives somewhere in between all of those. Still has some tannin but is very drinkable now, with or without food. The nose is a little closed up at least on day 1, will see what day 2 brings. (3165 views) | | | Tasted by t_moderne on 2/11/2017 & rated 90 points: Pop and pour and served with food ( Sous vide sirloin, roasted potatoes, and gr,een beans, in caees younwere wondering).
Dark purple color.
Nose of dark fruits, some floral violet notes, and cured black olives.
Flavors of dark fruits, some olives, and a savory and herbal note suggesting some whole cluster. Shows a bot of heat on the finish, which is surprisng given the 12.8% abv. (3086 views) | | | Tasted by cartime on 2/9/2017: Still tight. Needs more time or significant decanting. (2577 views) | | | Tasted by bobdobilina on 8/9/2016 & rated 93 points: 2nd bottle I've tried... This has very much come out of its slumber and is starting to fire.
Dark Blood Sangria color.
Super expressive nose of violets, meat, white pepper, camphor and a touch of game.
Cool black fruits on the palate. Hung meat, Loads of black pepper, very firm tannins. Some salinity on the finish. Shows some real depth and yet manages to also be light on its feet in the vein of a fine Cote Rotie. (3030 views) | | | Tasted by RSC on 12/5/2015 & rated 89 points: Tasted after a one hour decant. Just okay, but not great. Tannins still up front but not much else there. While past wines have often improved with age, I'm not sure this has enough fruit to pull it off. Not a bad bottle of wine, but not special either. (3237 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Josh Raynolds
Vinous, May/June 2012, IWC Issue #162
(Rhys Vineyards Syrah Skyline Vineyard Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jeb Dunnuck
JebDunnuck.com, Issue #10 (12/4/2011)
(Rhys Syrah Skyline Vineyard) Login and sign up and see review text. | By John Gilman
View From the Cellar, May/Jun 2011, Issue #33, Recently Tasted California Wines The Search for Traditionalists Turns Up A Crowd
(Rhys Vineyards “Skyline Vineyard” Syrah) Login and sign up and see review text. | By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (1/28/2011)
(Rhys Syrah Skyline Vineyard) Barrel sample - dark black red violet color; lavender, subtle green herb, baked plum nose; tasty, rich, baked berry, black fruit, poised, plum palate with rather a diffuse finish at the moment; medium-plus finish 93-95 pts. (100% whole cluster; less than 10% new French oak) 93 points |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous and JebDunnuck.com and View From the Cellar and RJonWine.com. (manage subscription channels) |
| Rhys Producer website2009 Rhys Syrah Skyline Vineyard2009 Rhys Skyline Vineyard Syrah
The single acre of densely planted Syrah at Skyline produces a very unusual California Syrah. The warm red fruit, very low alcohol and spicy, soil driven complexity combine to make a completely unique and singular wine. With perfect ripeness, loads of spice and a firm finish, this 2009 is a great example of Syrah grown on this rocky site.Syrah Varietal article (Wikipedia) | (Wines Northwest)
Note that some producers in the Northern Rhone distinguish between simply Syrah and "Serine", the latter described as ‘an ancient clone of Syrah, the berries of which are more oval-shaped and less deeply pigmented than Syrah’ by producer Tardieu-Laurent. Skyline Vineyard On weinlagen-infoUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Santa Cruz Mountains Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association | Wikipedia
Once referred to by wine writers as the Chaine d'Or -- or "golden chain" -- the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA sits above Silicon Valley, running along the craggy range next to the Pacific on some of the prettiest parts of Northern California. The area supports more than 75 wineries, despite being limited by geography and high land prices.
In 1981 the Santa Cruz Mountains Viticultural Appellation became federally recognized, one of the first American viticultural areas to be defined by geophysical and climatic factors. The appellation encompasses the Santa Cruz Mountain range, from Half Moon Bay in the north, to Mount Madonna in the south. The east and west boundaries are defined by elevation, extending down to 800 feet in the east and 400 feet in the west. |
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