Chicago, IL
Tasted Wednesday, May 24, 2017 by acyso with 441 views
Given all the perpetual hype about Rhys Vineyards and their wines, I decided to crack into the oldest part of my stash to check in on a few vintages and see how the wines were coming along.
Due to some logistical constraints, the bottles were essentially popped and poured. This may not have been the best treatment for these wines.
These wines are not as good as I remembered them; they are showing a lot of fleshy fruit and some sweetness that I really don't enjoy in my chardonnay. As well, some hints of botrytis seem to have emerged; this was not something I had picked up earlier.
Both the pinot sites we tasted here, Horseshoe and Family Farm, showed commonalities across vintages. Family Farm seemed to show a little denser and richer, while Horseshoe is slightly more mineral and has a bit of better acid character. Going vertically, it seemed to me that 2010 was cooler, as the wines showed that unripe-candied fruit character that I really don't like in the new-wave California pinots. The 2009s were ripe, and the wines seemed to have suffered for it.
I've maintained that the best wines to come out of Rhys are the syrahs, and tonight's flight was no exception. These were the strongest wines with a flavour profile that is more in line with their old world analogues (to me, that is a good thing).
The wines tonight did not speak to me at all. I derived little enjoyment from them, though to me it is absolutely clear they are well-made. These may not have been opened in the right window; what that window is, nobody knows. The truth of the matter is that the estate has not been around long enough for any good track record to emerge. Whether these wines resolve into something truly enjoyable in the future is yet to be determined, and anyone suggesting one way or another is quixotic at best (although, I am not optimistic).
And as to the critics' rave reviews? I'm as confused by them as I am by the wines.
2008 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard 88 Points
USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains
Golden in colour. Seems mature, which is surprising, since white Burgundies are nowhere at that point yet; I think it has something to do with the relative ripeness here. Not reductive, this shows a lot of fleshy fruit, and perhaps a hint of botrytis as well. A decent full-bodied chardonnay, but it's certainly not my style.
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2009 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard 85 Points
USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains
I liked this a lot more a few years ago. In the intervening time, this seems to have gotten fleshier and fuller, and seems to show even more botrytis than the 2008. There's a slight bit of reduction here. On the finish, there is a very persistent amount of bitterness that really detracts from the experience. The acidity here also seems to be overwhelmed a bit from the flabbier butter notes.
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