Rhys Tasting With The Gang--Part 2

This was our follow-up tasting, a Part 2 for the first event that we held in October 2014. Given the body of work for Rhys, it's of course hard to get through everything but with two events, we made a good crack at it.

Fruit, cheese and sliced meats course (Whole Foods)

• 2010 Rhys Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Smoky nose, with some distinct barrel toast/wood tones, with the same infusing the palate. The fruit shows a lemon brulee note, then lots of lemon peel acidity, lime and some orange. Finish lingers. In looking at my last TN, I found more oak this time on the wine, more seasoning here. My perception now with Rhys chandonnay is that the oak is a seasoner in their style, at times high for me and so my opinion if I was king would be to pull it back some. I understand that there will be people who like the oak and who will call me over-sensitive to it but I'm simply expressing here that the acidity and quality of what Horseshoe chard is, even Alpine, why not just dial that oak back more and let the fruit and terrific winemaking do the talking?

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Empanadas from Maro Wood Grill

• 2007 Rhys Syrah Horseshoe Vineyard Flawed

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  TCA here. I even went back to the wine at midnight when breaking down the kitchen and confirmed the TCA again. Too bad.

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• 2008 Rhys Syrah Horseshoe Vineyard

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Next to the 2009, this 2008 comes across riper and certainly lacks the defining black pepper of the 2009. Cherry fruit, light herbal and a touch of blueberry preserve. Even with the decant this saw of about an hour earlier in the day and the slow ox time, was still tight at dinner.

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• 2009 Rhys Syrah Horseshoe Vineyard

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Wow, what an aromatic this shows. Just a blast of freshly ground black pepper infuses the bouquet. Striking pepper, along with some lavender. Terrific acidity, balanced and expressing a leaner style of fruit, shaded with herb and menthol. Lots of energy here and this should be a great ager........re-tasted again at midnight, same black pepper, same balance energy and cool climate makeup. Charred cherry, iron, charcoal and juicy. Finally, re-tasted again at lunch the next day, it's now softened up. I really enjoy this wine, a great syrah in the red fruit, cool climate camp.

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Empanadas from Maro Wood Grill

• 2007 Rhys Pinot Noir Family Farm Vineyard

  USA, California, San Francisco Bay, San Mateo County

  Andrew opened this as his backup wine, so it didn't see the air that the rest of the wines at dinner received. Didn't matter much as this was firing really well. Has a beautiful blue fruit quality to it, reminding me a lot of Copain Kiser. Dusty, with a rock dust note, just a great aromatic. Juicy and fresh. Of note, we also did this wine at the last Rhys dinner from Oct 2014, when it showed great there, too.

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• 2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Family Farm Vineyard

  USA, California, San Francisco Bay, San Mateo County

  Decanted one hour, slow oxed for 4 hours more. Started off a bit rough and tumble for me , with red fruit and tannic in tone. Was wound up, showing a lot of acidity, a meaty note too but tight. All together, the fruit and acidity, reminding me of Burgundy. I then re-tasted the wine later well after dinner and the cherry had become more tangy, with lean strawberry, soily/mulch and terrific acidity. Re-tasted yet again the following morning and it shows the character for me of what 2008 Rhys is and can be, which are red fruited wines that are refreshing and balanced. This one here is not as complex as the Horseshoe, instead a bit more fruity in tone but yet real good. Should continue to age well.

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• 2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Family Farm Vineyard

  USA, California, San Francisco Bay, San Mateo County

  We opened two bottles of this, as one of the guys brought a backup. I've not been a fan of this wine and last night again confirmed my same feeling. This wine just exhibits a level of barnyard that I don't care for. One bottle is showed much stronger, less so on the other and there was some talk that the latter bottle was TCA'd but I smell tested both bottles at the end of the night when I was cleaning up and they both had levels of that aromatic. There was fruit in the better bottle, showing black cherry, strawberry but then saddle.

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Chicken and Beef Koobideh, Rice Duo of Addas and Shirin Polo, Must O' Khiyar and Hummus from Bahar

• 2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard

  USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley

  Like the 2009 Family Farm, I have not been a fan of this Bearwallow but this 2009 did great last night, even again this morning when I retasted it. Bigger in tone, yes, and that is not surprising as I too have found the 2009 Copain Kisers to be big wines too, and that plot is not far from Bearwallow so this is a vintage thing. There is intensity here, with the nose showing the vintage ripeness. And, next to the 2010 and 2011, seemed to me to be the fleshiest of the three. There is plenty of zingy fruit here, with a real distinctly spicy tone. Has kind of a hard cherry candy feel, with a hint of game on the wine. Since last night, the wine has fleshed out pretty well so with air, this does fine now.

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• 2010 Rhys Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard

  USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley

  My notes on this wine are just from dinner only, as I did not have any to re-taste late last night nor this morning. Tight and juicy say my notes, with coiled, spicy fruit. Dark apple and a roasted cherry quality and with what I thought was some oak tannin. Interestingly, this was the lowest ABV of the flight (2009-2011), yet the comments at the table said this one was the biggest, even with the 2009 coming in at 13.9 and a half point higher than this 2010.

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• 2011 Rhys Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard

  USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley

  OK, so this was the most distinctive of the Bear flight (2009-2011), with a smoky, toasty nose, which to me neither shown by the other 2 Bear wines. Juicy, lean strawberry with good acidity. In addition, in error yesterday, I pulled an extra '11 Bear and so I just tossed the full bottle back to the fridge. So, with about 12 hours of slow ox, I pulled it now to taste that bottle and see what is there. Soft and juicy, with the same smoky note inside the palate. This bottle seems to better reflect the red apple notes that are such a part of the AV deep end and so to that point, the wine is true to its place. Shows a meaty note too, along with what I have found in a number '11 CA pinots, which is a zesty quality. This wine has it. With this bottle, and taking the 12 hours of slow ox under cork into account, I don't see this as an ager as the energy (like say in the 2008 Rhys pinots) is not here. I'd say to drink this wine now, enjoy it for what's here as to me there won't be any net add with letting it age.

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Chicken and Beef Koobideh, Rice Duo of Addas and Shirin Polo, Must O' Khiyar and Hummus from Bahar

• 2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  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.

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• 2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  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.

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• 2011 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  This has some syrah qualities to it, with a light signature of smoke and pepper in the aromatic. The fruit seems approachable but in total, kind of dull, especially in contrast the tension of the 2008 and the brooding aspect of the 2009. Before I called it a night, I re-tasted the wine to see if it has picked up any intensity. I found the same peppery aromatic, then some spicier cherry fruit and some red apple with better energy. Again, it seemed reminiscent of cool climate syrah, what I have found in leaner years with both Copain and Wind Gap, when syrah and pinot can cross paths and to an extent mimic the other. And finally, I had forgot that I squirreled some away for this morning, so I made a third pass at the wine. Again, the same kind of syrah/pinot intersection, with a spicy watermelon, zesty fruit and gamey note today, reminding me of the 2010 Copain Baker Ranch syrah, also grown in the Anderson Valley. Like with the 2011 Bearwallow that we also drank at the same dinner last night, I see this 2011 Shoe as earlier drinker and one that I don't believe will gain anything more with age. I have one left, I'll drink it in the next 1-2 years.

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• 2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Swan Terrace

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Opened this at the end of our Rhys dinner, pouring it as the final wine to complete what had been a flight of Horseshoe pinot (2008, 2009 and 2011). Dumped to decanter and swirled it as well as I could to let it breathe. I wasn't all concerned about structure, as knowing 2009, I figured it would be bigger in tone, yet I hoped the lack of air wouldn't tamp down the aromatics and balance I expected from it. Nose shows light graphite and stem, with raspberry, strawberry, and from all the 2009s we had over the dinner, this Swan showed minerality. Delicate yet still reflects the ripeness of the vintage. Really good, of course all gone, so nothing to report back on today. Shared with friends and great palates, which is what great wine should be for!

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Chocolate Mousse Pie (ala the Dr Mrs)

• 2011 Sint-Sixtusabdij Trappist Westvleteren 12

  Belgium, Flanders, Westvleteren

  Not sure if I picked the right vintage designation so take my choice, accordingly. I looked at the bottle, I don't see any vintage designation. That aside, this was a unique tasting experience. My notes say cumin, caramel and mint, and at 10%, I didn't taste any of that higher ABV. Instead, just a unique and fascinating beer. Thank you Bryan for bringing this to the dinner.

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• 2003 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Port

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Stags Leap District

  Ehh, too big for me. Listed at 18% and I simply have a hard time these days consuming things that are this high in ABV. In general, I have a tough time with port too as it's just not my thing but with a chocolate dessert, it seemed to do well enough. I know this bottle had a cool story behind it for Bryan so thanks for bringing to the meal, buddy.

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