PnP. Opens with red and black cherry, earth, stems, spice, floral and light cedar. Rich and smooth. On the palate is more red and black cherry, earth, stems, spice and light cedar. Smooth, medium finish. My last bottle. I was not impressed with the previous 3 bottles, but it seems to have finally come around and this was very enjoyable. no hint of decline.
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There is a lot to like about this. Unfortunately its all orbiting some green stemminess that's still fairly potent. Silky mouthfeel and some smoked rockiness were very welcome. The fruit still carries much of the power of its youth though its clearly beyond the primary. Its just that big celery stalk and asparagus thing ruining the party. That leaves some light pepper and tannin which is a plus but the greener notes are hard to ignore. Droops on its frame over night, with tartness showing up so drink up. Pretty good though if you are a fan of big stem inclusion.
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dark red, 90 minutes of airtime in bottle produced subtle earthy berry nose, dense mixed berry fruit, toasted brioche, with a surprisingly good dose of rose petal, finishes long with spicy fruit. Great wine for the price.
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Dark red, opened 60-75 min before dinner, nice dark berry nose, earthy luscious dark berry and cassis on palate, medium weight, very smooth medium length finish. Don't remember the initial cost when we purchased from winery but certainly less than the single vineyard releases. Good value in our minds.
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Mild brown tint. Very tart black raspberry, still drinking very fresh and young. Great depth. Finishes with great red berry flavors bursting from the glass
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Drank half a bottle over 2.5 hours. I didn't know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. Lovely red-fruit, black cherry, earth and cranberry. Really nice acidity, with a spicy lingering finish. This tastes like a restrained California pinot.
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Dark ruby garnet core fading slightly at the rim. The nose is gorgeous with pure heady aromas of raspberries, black cherries, crushed stones, underbrush, and rose petals. The palate has ideal balance with rich red fruits, spicy earth complexity, sweet supple tannins, and fresh lifting acidity. Definitely seems like the stems have given this a nice spice tinged lift to the overall profile and especially to the finish. A gorgeous wine from Rhys and a super positive indicator for good things to come from their aged wines.
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Gorgeous nose of ripe red raspberries up front and in supporting roles are green herbal notes (likely attributable to 100% whole cluster fermentation) and a bit of Pinot funk. The palate is substantially less exciting, with sour rhubarb flavor and oak char dominating the palate. Tannins aren't terribly noticeable while drinking, but the finish is akin to licking fine grained sandpaper (or at least what I imagine it to feel like). Pristine storage; I don't think that this is flawed, so much as I'm just not vibing with this wine.
Day two: the char note is nowhere to be found, but the whole cluster is evident, and now the red fruits are mixed with a floral/stemmy hybrid. Significantly better on the second day; a long decant is warranted.
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This wine had a deep red center and very light red rims. The medium intensity nose generated rhubarb, sour cherry, tan spices, and some mineral notes.
This wine was a bit disjointed when first poured with some prickly acidity. After 8 hours of decanting, the wine was rich and ripe with a nice texture and substantial (for a pinot) rounded tannin. It had good length.
This is a nice little pinot that is still a few years away from its ideal drinking zone. I don't think it is going to get a lot better but age could release some additional complexity.
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Drinking beautifully with soft earthy red fruit throughout. Complicating notes of baking spice and slate with crisp acidity to balance the dense fruit and tannins. The nose is simply gorgeous with black cherry, boysenberry, violet, and flint. Those notes carry over to the beautifully elegant palate and give this wine a complete and complex profile. I feel this wine is a great indicator of what the single vineyard Rhys Pinots will deliver at maturity.
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Wow, this was really rocking tonight vs about a dozen other Rhys Pinots from many sites and vintages. A so called second wine from Rhys, but out shined the majority of the single vineyard wines. Wonderful depth of fruit with beautifully balanced acid and tannin structure with layers of spices and complexity. A bit of a bruiser, but holds it all together so well.
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Rhys Dinner Following Rhys Tasting (Prairie Grass - Northbrook IL): Wow, what a great wine for declassified fruit, especially that it has evolved and developed nuanced complexity with cellar time. Nicely mature red and black cherry with earth and spice hints. Good weight, better length, and very good balance.
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Fresh ripe nose with blackcurrant and raspberry. Fruit forward on the palate, smooth rich dark fruits, nice density clean mid palate. Persistent finish with darker fruits to the fore. Quite good, but one dimensional and unashamedly new world. Has aged well, but in a good place with limited upside.
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Certainly more integrated than the last bottle from a few years back, don't notice any herbaceous stemmy notes. Just some dark fruit, a little age, nicely in balance with perhaps slightly lower acid than I would like. Enjoyable though nothing really jumped out.
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PopnPour tasted over 1 hr and day 2 -nearly opaque dark red no bricking -big sweet rich rhubarb spice stems -med acidity, med weight and depth, sweet rhubarb red fruit faint pine element (agree with most recently posted TN on this one-first time I've picked this up in a Rhys pinot), some spicy oak and med/med- tannins on decent length finish; more open and oak more noticeable on day 2 -stylistically very Rhys, this is near the quality level of some of the single vineyard wines, this bottle still may have some further positive development left in it, I would be an outlier on the Community Drink Dates as it may not have even peaked yet and surely will be doing well for another 3-5+ years
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This was served blind, and so absent all the hype and baggage that goes with Rhys. It was really good. It was also distinctive, with interesting pine needle accents to the deep red fruit. Solid acidity and a dash of finishing tannin made for a balanced, complete wine.
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Dinner@BA: Blind. Sweet pinot fruit. My co-conspirator nails it as Cali Pinot, and from there we get to Rhys quickly. Very mellow, bright ruby with a touch of garnet. This is now fully ready. Quite surprised to find it's the Santa Cruz given the depth and purity of fruit, but then in 09 this is a blend of declassified Alpine and Horseshoe. This is lighter, and redder fruited than a bottle last year. Over the course of a couple of hours this shows well, but does start to subside and seem quite broad and simple, so serve cool and don't decant. Just about ****
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Dark berries, dark cherries, rosemary, and flowers on the nose. Medium+ tannins that have softened with more dark berry notes followed by cranberry and orange flavors. Nice finish.
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Ben's USA @ Brunswick House (Brunswick House): Declassified Alpine and Horseshoe estate fruit. Reasonably dark with quite a spicy nose. Fuller, denser and with a slightly savoury element. Opens up to smooth, dark but sweet fruit. Ready and moreish. This is drinking well, and relatively easily cf the Alpine which still needs time. ****
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Very much California meets Burgundy - can taste the stems. Nose of red currant, black currant and herbs. A palate of strawberries, plums and green pepper with a hint of warmth.
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This wine was firing on all fours tonight. Smooth, with easy going, and not hit yourself over the head with fruit. I'm glad I drank this, but sorry I don't have more. Dinner with a Flyertalk friend at MP Taverna in Irvington. Old wine with an old friend = good memories.
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Medium red color with medium transparency. Ripe cherry pie aromas with some blueberry and blackberry notes. Palate has a big hit of cherry cola followed by blackberry and some spice elements that carry into a cinnamon bark finish with some lingering tannins. Not as enthralling as the bottle enjoyed a year ago but good for the sweet tooth tonight. Superb winemaking with maybe less-than-superb raw material seems the call here. If served blind tonight, I would have said it was a Chambolle trying to please the California palate. Not sure that's a compliment, but it's a polished wine. Overall, I did like it but could see where others would not.
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Bottle #6 of 6. Perfectly mature at this point. Detailed and nuanced, deep ripe cherry fruit, baking spices, and the stems have fully integrated. I personally think this is one of Rhys's better non-SVD offerings. So lush, and yet with beautifully balanced precision. Longish finish. Drink over the next 3-5 years. I just looked to see if I could find more, and the cheapest on winesearcher pro is $70. That says a lot. Wonderful wine.
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Unimpressive. Stewed raspberry, with some forest floor, mushroom and roasted nuts (?) on the nose. More muddy red fruit on the palate, with black tea and clove. Unfocused, faded and a bit dull.
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Brief taste upon popping. Moderately expressive ripe cherry rhubarb some oak. Middle weight med+ concentration and complexity ripe dark fruit and noticeable oak on finish. Drinking well but still needs some time to really blossom.
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PopnPour, tasted over 2 hrs and day 3 -nearly opaque dark red no bricking -expressive ripe spice rhubarb oak -med- acidity, med weight but lush and deep, slightly faded sweet ripe dark fruits spice, med tannins and oak; better balanced on day 3 and taking on a baking spice element -seems a bit out of balance now or just needs more air/time
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Popped and poured and enjoyed over two days. Three words - stems, rhubarb, and acid. This is a very terroir driven wine and only changed slightly over two days. On day two the fruit became slightly more perceptible and the fine tannin melded into the backdrop. These are very traditional wines and I suspect this is on the same aging curve as a good Burgundy. As such, I would hold bottles for a few more years to see how they improve.
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Subtle nose of cherry and forest floor (?). Very balanced, mature cherry/raspberry fruit, a little mid pallet sweetness with a touch of acid on the muted finish. Ready to drink, would not count on any additional improvement.
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Forward flavors of candied red fruit. The wine was disjointed, with an unpleasant, artificial menthol note like Scope mouthwash. With a couple hours of air, the green note became darker, more like forrest floor, but it never became fully integrated with the fruit. Despite the 13.3% abv, there was a trace of heat on the finish. Overall this was an incredibly disappointing showing.
A charming and complex Pinot that is drinking beautifully right now. Light purple in color, medium in body, gorgeous nose of blackberry, spice, straw, and earth. Layered tastes of sour cherry, raspberry, forest floor, and cedar, with a wispy finish. 13.3% alcohol. This has a fantastic balance of fruit and earth. I have recently been under-whelmed by younger single-vineyard Pinots from Rhys, but this suggests that I was just drinking them too early. Incredible for an appellation-level wine.
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Had this along with a Ceritas Escarpa from the same year. This feels closer to maturity and I would say fuller fruit and more tannin than the Ceritas, which was more elegant and had a bit more acidity.
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Well received by all 4 drinkers. in a good place now. mellow, pinot profile. earth, forest floor, dried strawberry and a little flat cola (dr. pepper?)
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Pinot Around the World with Gillian Ballance MS (SF Wine Center): Pale ruby with a crimson rim. Clean, sweet aromas of cool-climate fruit - fresh cranberry, underripe red cherry, orange juice / tangerine, peach. Slightly sweet on the palate (ripe attack, maybe even slight RS). Ripe, with softer acid than the Burgs. Alcohol is balanced, maybe only 13%. Slight white pepper, slightly herbal - stems? Slight oak presenting as sweet sawdusty vanilla. Around 8.5
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Opened but did not decant for 6 hours. Initial glass was heavy and concentrated with Kirsch. Opened up with 3 more hours of air. More floral and balanced. Needs air and some time.
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Similar tasting note to previous bottle. Tasty dark cherry and earthy aromas and flavors with brambly notes and a hint of ? brett with a moderate finish.
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Dark red color with limited transparency. Bright cherry nose with some floral elements. Palate shows plenty of cherry, raspberry, and some floral vanilla elements that carry into a medium finish. Very satisfying and open for business. Expect further development but no need to hold these. Drink or hold.
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Tight at first, with the stems evident in the background. Developed over three nights, with the second night being the best. Noticeable sassafras/cola with the deep, perfectly detailed and ripe fruit. This has that particular pinot note I love - like sticking one's head in a barrel of freshly picked ripe cherries sitting in the midday sun - dank in its sweetness and yummy stinkiness. I was looking for more cut at the end, but I'd drink this anytime. Side by side with an 08 Anthill Farms Peters pinot, which had more electricity, but less depth and staying power. Delicious.
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Not in a great spot right now. Nose of strawberry and cherry. Palate lacks acidity, feels hot and alcoholic, with a bitter stemmy finish. Either needs time or just isn't very good.
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Spicy, with a mouth-wateringly stemmy tang, it's delicious. The overt stemminess toned down fairly quickly, and the spicy sweet fruit became more pronounced, but not going over the top or becoming cloying.
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Decanted for 1 hour and consumed over next 4 hours. This is in a good spot now. Cali style PN with a light touch. Notes of red berries, forest floor, rhubarb, mineral, and spice.
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Wonderful blend of dark cherry, chewy herbs and focused acidity. Stems add crunchy structure to the ripe fruit. Better with a decant, but a unique style of California Pinot that is structured and acidic, but certainly distinct from Burgundy. Drink over the next 5 years.
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Nose: Perfumed with tart red cherries, rhubarb, baking spices, plums, roses, strawberries.
Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity and silky tannins. The feel is elegant and balanced with red cherries, rhubarb, baking spices, strawberries, and some raspberries.
Overall: This is coming together beautifully. There is still a primary quality to the fruit, but, it's taking on a higher tone.
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This is rocking right off the bat....definite pop n pour Nose is so expressive with incense, red flowers, bright red fruit, pickle juice, and subtle citrus notes Palate is velvety...really nice texture and balance. Great acid profile. Fruit is ripe but balanced with red flowers, minerals, incense, nutmeg, citrus peel and stemmy notes. Finish is medium+ Great wine
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#4 of 6. Ripe, accessible, tarry, almost varnishy, young Barolo-like nose right out of the gate, this is succulent, forward, detailed and delicious. Ripe for sure, with hints of stem inclusion easily balanced by the gobs of dry extract. Notes of cola and spice intermingle with the big, juicy, but still focused, ripe black cherry compote. Yum. Can't wait for the single vineyard designates! (But I am...) This bottle good for another 3-6 years.
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First experience with this producer, had to see what the fuss is all about. Notes of licorice, Herbs, Tobacco, and rasberries. Def has a lot of stem inclusion aromatics.. Smells like a southern rhone grenache. Love that. Has a short tight dry finish but is probably due to its young age. This is the type of pinot i strive to make myself, glad to have finally tasted it. :) and at only $35 a bottle!
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Drank over two nights. Similar comments. Great balance of minerality, dark red fruits, acidity. Drinking well on the second night. This is very good Pinot.
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I liked this a lot less than some of the 2012s I've opened recently. The stems (I think) seem to be showing a lot of bitterness and the fruit has receded a bit. Hopefully it integrates and smoothes out a bit more with age. Seems darker fruited but at least on day 1 a bit out of balance.
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Decanted for a bit and drank over 2 nights. I thought this was very nice. Complex, nice dark red fruits, spice but fresh and nice acidity. Still could use a few years to gain a bit in my opinion.
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Didn't get too much time with this bottle, unfortunately. Much more open and relaxed than the last one, though, with nice secondary complexity. Seemingly on a trajectory to gain more.
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Just as good as the last bottle 2yrs ago and evolving into a nice wine. A lot of depth and expression on the nose with black cherry, citrus, and a little spice. After couple hours air the stem inclusion still stands out a bit on the palate, but a very nice core of dark sweet black cherry and plum fruit really anchor the wine. Plenty of acidity and freshness despite the density. Length finish adding some mint and spice notes to the repeating fruit character. Probably still on the upswing but unfortunately my last bottle.
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Thanksgiving dinner warm up. Very, very good. Solid, tasty, beautiful balance and structure. Some cola, ripe fruit notes that make this distinctly Californian. Big, bright, black cherry fruit. Great silkiness, mid-palate and persistence. Not the complexity and electric focus of a single vineyard site, this is a delicious, deep and well made Pinot to whet the palate for the rest of the Rhys gems to come. Really very well made. At peak and for another 5-7 years.
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This bottle was very stemmy, certainly a different animal from the last bottle I tried. It did open up a bit and showed some nice fruit, but I think I'll opt for drinking my last bottle sooner rather than later.
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Enjoyed last night with a roasted Chicken. Delicious bottle that is drinking very well right now. 20 min of air and it was kicking. Very fresh. Great acids. Tons of blue fruits. Lovely.
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Popped the cork only for 3 hours prior to drinking over dinner with 2 other 2009 Cali Pinot's This was by far the tightest with lots of astringency and lemon quality. After about 5 hours it started to reveal some fine potential
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PnP. Medium deep red. Lovely deep complex nose of dark fruits and a spice I associate with whole clusters. Medium full on the palate with nice depth of flavor and an edginess of spice and forest floor which dominates the long finish. Drinking well at age 5; and my last bottle. Expect this will continue to be good for a few years. This has a Santa Cruz Mountains characteristic that is hard to describe but clearly differentiates it from areas further North and South. Very interesting wine.
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Drinking terrifically this Pinot is made in a Burgundian style with a beautiful, subtle nose and great body and structure. Fleshy flavors of cherries, forest floor and minerals.
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Popped and poured. Fresh and fragrant. This pinot is a joy to drink. Extremely fruity with a great acidic backbone. Bing cherry, strawberry flavors dominate. I'm glad that I have another. Very young. Will likely improve for at least a few years.
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Consumed over 2 days. PnP on 1st night...came across as taut, stemmy & tart. Let it breathe for another 3.5 hrs., but still could have used more air. Nose of red & black raspberries, rhubarb, big spice (prolly from the stems), forest floor, & picked up a hint of rich chocolate-covered cherries. Flavors of dark red berries & raspberry, herbs, rhubarb, spice, tea, earth & mineral. Became more herbaceous & spicy on 2nd night. Sophisticated & precise showing good purity in its fruit w/fine grained tannins, moderate acidity & a long finish. Yet still young & many years ahead before it hits it peak.
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I thought this was an outstanding bottle right out of the gate. Such aromatics of wild picked berries along with a similar taste profile. Vibrant, alive, fresh. Only wanted a glass of wine, almost drank the whole bottle. In a perfect place.
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Slow ox'ed for about 1.5 hours and then drank over a couple of hours. Started off with a wonderful earthy nose with some dark berries poking out. Eventually evolved to show blackberry and earth in balance with a little floral touch. The deep, dark purple violet colour led to a great palate feel and well balanced palate of tart blackberry and blueberry, earth, minerals and a touch of spice. Fairly decent finish with a good dose of smooth but persistent tannin. Good balance, decent acidity. The one real detraction was at times there seemed to be a little heat on the finish though this smoothed out more and more as it got air.
This wine really needs at least a few more years to show its best, air or no air.
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I'm conflicted on this bottle, my 2nd of 2. given the way its drinking, I'm surprised by the modest 13.3% alcohol. seemed fruitier, seemed darker. I guess I should have waited, popped and poured, seemed a little green and stemmy, and at the same time seemed dark and ripe and borderline overripe at times. I guess I just don't get it. I don't know what to advise on this wine, nice nose and all but I just don't see the upside.
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The wonderful nose and concentration of the Pinot fruit are terrific. Red berry fruit combined with fresh cut flowers and a touch of forest floor. There is some tannin, primal aspect still holding it back though in the finish- do I need to decant it?
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This bottle was almost the complete opposite of the bottle I had 1.5 years ago that took days to unfurl. This one was most impressive at opening, with soil on the nose that was evocative of Burgundy, and otherwise typical Rhys fruit with a touch of cola and spice. Consumed over several days, this one just failed to ever really grab me.
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Earthy, high acidity nose with an earthy and lean palate with crunchy bright berries and lots of lift. Too young but not really my cup of tea. The svds have a fruit intensity I love while the Ava's I don't seem to be a huge fan of. Good, drinkable, not something look forward to.
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Having just returned from Burgundy, this shows by contrast more of what Rhys is doing. This bottle is not far off the mark from what I tasted there from 1ers in the 09 and 10 vintages, and while this is more akin to a village wine, with the single vineyards in the 1er stable, color me impressed, even with my eurocentric, oak-phobic orientation. Definitely a new world rendition, but by this I do NOT mean "modern," just different and even more traditional than some growers I tasted there, especially in 09. This has a whole cluster orientation, and even a more earthy, 'lean' quality to it. Needs time for sure, but this seems to have it in hand - easily good for another 7 years - this shines a spotlight on the word 'balance.' Can't wait for the next decade when the single vineyards will be coming online. All about potential, and not just this wine, but the winery. Nice!
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Followed over 2 nights. Showed a bit of stem tannin early on, but there is plenty of fruit that emerges with air. In the mouth the fruit is sweet, though not confected, and reminiscent of plum-skins and black cherries. The stems add a spiciness to the fruit, especially if you let the glass warm up (where there's just a touch of warmth on the finish). With air this drinks fine now, though should soften around the edges a bit with another 24 months or so in the bottle.
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Wow, this is drinking REALLY well. Its balance is more savory than my note from 6 months ago indicates; it's still got some of that fruit which straddles red & black, and a bit of allspice, and now there's a bit of umami element - mushroom, soy? No, maybe more like chicken broth. Delicious with a variety of foods and alone.
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Turkey and roast sweet potatoes, onion, fennel, and parsnip. Decanted 30 minutes before serving. Medium purple, clear and consistent to the rim. spicy fruit nose, a touch of cinnamon and cloves. Medium body, earthy with some spic and a touch of acid to brighten. We didn't know what to make of this wine's palate, quite different.
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Fairly dark ruby. Not much of a nose but slight floral elements, slight eucalyptus. Black cherry and cola with slight mineral on the palate. Moderately concentrated and a bit sweet. Fairly viscous mouthfeel. Medium finish.
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Popped and poured. Rich nose of berries and cherries. On the palate rich smorgasbord of fruits tending towards the black fruit end of the spectrum with tannins and full cluster elements on the finish which goes on and one; lovely wine. Quite ripe. May age but why wait?
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Decanted 2 hours. Violet-tinged garnet, translucent. Bright berries and iron-mineral on the nose, asian spice as well. Light, but penetrating red fruit with evident mineral acidity and firm tannin. Good tension. Magically paired with a vanilla-infused corn/tomato timbale.
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Mmm! Better than expected. Delicious red fruit, cola, earth profile with superb balancing acidity and judicious oak. Will soften and improve its integration over the next 3 years or so. Not bad, guys! Still holding my single vineyards, so this is a mouth-watering appetizer. Glad I'm long with this winery.
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Medium red. Iron, tart red fruit and soil. Light weight (truly feels like Pinot). Lovely feel and sense of airiness. Excellent fruit, well embedded acidity, mostly resolved tannins and more terroir than in any domestic Pinot I can recall. Very, very satisfying and tasty.
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This bottle - the first I've opened - was emphatically not in a dumb phase. Aromatically bold from the moment of cork liftoff, it was firing on all cylinders for the first sip 30 min later. Loads of dark berry and black cherry fruit with some spice )stems?) and a bit of earth. Pow-pow-powerful yet without the alcoholic heat or weight of lesser California blockbuster-in-a-bad-way pinot. Might be *interesting* to save some for a few yeas down the road, but I don't know that it's liable to improve per se.
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Double decanted back into bottle for ten hours, then decanted for 30 minutes prior to drinking. Tight and mostly closed down. Weak nose and strong vein of minerals on palate with faint dark berries in background. I am out of these but would recommend holding for a few years.
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I like my Rhys with more age, and admittedly popped this by accident thinking it was a different bottle. Decanted and followed for an hour. Not giving much at all but it didn't seem tight, not enjoyable so re-bottled and left 2/3 hoping for more on day 2.
ok, day 2, even less fruit. no pleasure here. Hope I just caught it in a very dumb phase.
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Not really sure where this is going. Lots of dark berry fruit, but not much else going on. Price of entry is pretty steep, given that I can get 1er Cru Burg (SLB, Pernand) for the same or less.
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Quirky flavor profile for a domestic Pinot Noir. Aromatic and flavorful but lacked the core characteristics I look for in this category. No strawberries, no orange peel/oil. Strange. Not necessarily bad, just strange. And not similar to other Rhys bottlings I've enjoyed more (like the '06 and '08 Alesia bottlings).
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13.3% alcohol. Black cherry color. Pretty nose of dark cherry, stems, and an earthy undertone. In the mouth, vibrant and refined, with good texture and mouth feel and plenty of bursting black cherry fruit. There's a stemmy note underlying the palate that makes me think this will become slightly too stemmy down the road, as was the case with some of the Alesia wines from 2006. But this is terrific drinking right now. A-
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Drank it over three days and it improved each day. Aromas of red fruit, spices and some savory notes. Complex on the palate with notes of pomegranate, raspberries, mushrooms, Indian spices and some rose petals. Long finish with grainy tannins and savory, spicy notes. Drinking well but should improve with near term aging.
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No subtlety here; this is one exuberant wine. Dense nose and flavors of dark fruit including blackberry and plum; sweet floral notes. Long finish. Drinking fine now, but this clearly has room for improving with some bottle age.
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If this is declassified fruit, I'm really looking forward to Rhys's single vineyard stuff. Could smell this wine all night. Very feminine, soft, nothing harsh or sticking out. On opening trending towards red fruit and minerals. After 4 hours in decanter it opened up and trended towards darker fruit.
solid pinot with an lovely fruit nose - red fruits, delicate acidity, fruit forward - definitely new world. This is declassified fruit from Rhys - would like to see this $10 less, but still very good.
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Opened about 90 mins ago, to be paired with some turkey and bean soup. The core of this wine is held together with a mix of blue and red fruit, pretty luscious and juicy, along with a root beer note and kiwi. There are some vanilla shadings that come through, along with some light mineral. There is some supporting acid here that keeps the wine fresh but I would offer that the juicy and darker notes make me think this is best consumed young. There is also some presence of the stemmy, herbal note that I mentioned last time but it's not all that prominent. And letting the wine really come up to room temp, even a bit of a gamey/meaty note in the finish. I have one left, I will drink it in late 2013.
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This showed young and boisterous with nice aromatics, and a touch of sweet fruit. Adequate acidity and nice underlying mountain structure. I'm a fan....drink with a long slow-ox, or hold for further upside.
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Winery's 1st SCM appelation PN made w/declassified juice from Horseshoe & Alpine bottlings. At first PnP, then PnV & consumed over 5 hrs. Aromatic & complex bouquet of cranberry, black raspberry, black cherry, clementine rind, rhubarb & hint of cola. Rich & dry & tart w/dark red berries, earth, spice, bit of pepper, surrounded by a mild stemmy frame. Building minerality over a few hours. Nicely balanced w/abundantly crisp acidity, youthful lush tannins, mid-bodied & medium+ finish. This still has some years ahead w/good potential for improvement. 1st time having a Rhys & looking forward to many more. (91+)
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This bottle gives a similar impression to previously experiences with this wine; however, on this occasion the wine seems more complete and integrated on the bouquet and palate.
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This showed extremely well. Fragrant and open, with bright floral, cherry, rhubarb, mulch and herbal notes. Good weight on the palate, with a balancing energetic, vibrant acidic crunch in the finish. Very good length, with layers of lively flavors. This surely has the stuffing to age in the medium term.
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Note after 3 hours in a decanter. Spice, dried herbs, floral notes and sage on the nose. Some Asian spice, herbs and minerals on the palate. Nice acidity and balance. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how this will age, but I like it quite a lot now.
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PnP. An interesting one. The stems are prominent but they show up in brownish flavors rather than green ones -- this wine has a strong twiggy, earthy flavor. The fruit is quite ripe and dark, I thought of blackcurrant, but there's a lot of acid and it's tart rather than sweet. The interplay between the black fruit, the twiggy stems, the acid, and some light sandpapery tannins is not entirely harmonious, but there's a lot going on for sure, and occasionally the wine shows a spicy, vosne-like flavor. Not densely structured and I don't see this being a long ager but I think it will be better with a bit more time for everything to come together.
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tasted blind. nose - cherry, cola mouth - rhubarb, barnyard, herbal/spicy, doug picked up tea. probably a good food wine but fell flat in a blind pinot tasting. shocked to see it unveiled as the rhys.
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Popped and poured. Medium deep red; warm nose of red fruits and spice; excellent legs. Medium bodied on the palate; but deceptive depth and a very long finish with some well integrated tannins. The finish is quite remarkable and keeps on echoing tannins and a spicy note. Interesting wine.
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On the lighter (color) side for CA pinot. Clearly CA fruit but light on its feet. good acidity. mostly cherry but some darker fruits as well, along with a little bit of spice.
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A littler riper on the nose than expected, but the palate is nicely balanced with wonderful fruit and acid. Very primary at this point and should improve over the next couple years.
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Ripe red fruit and purple flowers, framed by whole cluster spice, which I found less intrusive than my first experience with Rhys. Shut down for me overnight but opened up with air to show some rich red fruit, peppery spice, and hints of earthiness. Nice acidity and delicate tannins. Enjoyed it. Looking forward to trying this with some more bottle age.
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Darker red in the glass, rich cherries on the nose, a medium bodied, richer style of Pinot, not heavy, drying tannins, could probably use another 2 - 3 years, good entry level wine
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13.3% alcohol. Medium ruby red. Expressive, mostly red aromas. Cherry dominates the palate, accompanied by forest and strawberry. Excellent balance with nice acidity. Lingering aftertaste. Drinking nicely now and should continue to evolve in a good way for several years. Nice job by Kevin, Jeff and the team!
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Opened about 30 minutes before first pour. Aromas of lightly sweetened cherries and asian spices. They meld together very well into a medium bodies mid-palate and just a hint of earth at the end.
After a couple hours the asian spices have faded a bit, leaving the cherries (more cola like) and perhaps some strawberry as well. I like the way this wine evolves - I look forward to day 2.
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A very nicely structured wine, crimson colored, spicy, earthy red fruit, and really shows that the Santa Cruz Mountains produce some terrific pinot noir. The only nit to pick is that for about the same price MEV provides more depth and complexity (this is declassified Alpine/Horseshoe fruit). In the final analysis, a lovely wine which I would rather see in the $30 to $35 price range.
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Nice entry level Cali PN. Aromatics that fill the room. Medium bodied, with tangy fruit and cherry cola flavors. Some nice notes of damp earth. Very refreshing and quaffable.
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This bottle was very different than the previous ones I've tried as it was much more expressive on the palate with darker fruits and cola. Over time, the cola component acted like a weed and really dominated the red fruit and spice notes. Still a nice drink and seemingly going through an intriguing evolution.
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PnP'd and then enjoyed over an afternoon. Initially had a very distinct taste of rhubarb and strawberry, which evolved into a more cherry-like dark berry fruit. Very intense fruit, but I didn't find it unbalanced, overpowering, or hot. As stated in another note, quite "quaffable." One of the most enjoyable young Pinot's I've had in some time, and an outstanding and interesting wine.
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This could be pegged for a burgundy, but there are some serious gamay characteristics as well. A little crunchy, green leaves, stems, bright red fruit for days -- and a quaffer. Some new world ripeness and sappiness brings this back to CA. As interesting as it is delicous...
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Interesting floral nose of dark cherry fruit, licorice, grapefruit, some stems, and spice. Palate has a racy cut, with vibrant acidity but still has a darker fruit profile. Spice adds plenty of complexity throughout. Stone on a lengthy finish with some sandalwood and touch of dry tannins. This could use several years but I keep opening them when in the mood for the style. Better than last bottle.
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This was really just a great drink, start to finish. Granted, I can easily see how it may not be for everyone based on flavor profile, but this is absolutely solid Pinot and the finest early drinking QPR Pinot to which I've had the pleasure. It is immediately approachable upon corking. The nose and palate are similar, very floral with red and black cherry, spice, and hints of stem. What I appreciate so much is how it is layered on the palate, everything is delineated so at different times you get the ripe fruit, spice, and my first time having two distinct layers of florality with darker and lighter notes. The spine of acidity and earth is subtle, but it dials back the fruit just enough to keep it lively and interesting. The fruit is cool with not a hint of heat. The spice and earth seem to oscillate back and forth, giving extra dimension with food. No reason not to drink this now or over several years, just an easy and nicely complex wine with no hardness and invisible tannin. Very very good.
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1 hr decant. Moderate nose of red cherry, cola and floral wood notes. Light body, gained some weight in the glass, of sweet cherries,vanilla and sassafras. Medium finish.
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Wow. This was singing. Extremely well-balanced with some interesting soil notes and a long finish. This was one of the most enjoyable bottles of Rhys I have had to date. Drink or hold.
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Such a blast to drink this right now. In fact, this is showing much better than any of the vineyard designated wines did when we tasted through them a few weeks back. I don't think it's showing the earthiness that some of the higher end wines in the lineup often do, but it's an absolute textbook demonstration of the house style with its emphatic but classically proportioned fruit and tensile, stem-influenced spine that actually gives it real thirst-quenching power. It's not just drinkable but seriously guzzlable. And it could easily be pegged for a Burgundy. I'd love to throw this in a blind lineup with some Dujac and Chandon des Briailles.
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Double decanted in the morning before drinking at wine dinner that evening. Enchanting nose with dark red fruits and bramble. Beautiful rich dark red color with mid to light weight. Bramble on palate with florals, spice and mineral in the background. Nice finish. Very good AVA wine and I wish I had bought more.
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Mmmmm...satisfies a SC Mtns Pinot craving! Love the dark stem spices and florals in this.........nice fresh crushed wild berries, raspberry fruit...candied, yet not too sweet.......plenty of cranberry/orange acidity, as well as some good minerality crunch to it. Shows nice smoked stems, bright cherry pit, forest floor, sarsaparilla. Great young, fresh Pinot feel...with a little darkness! Tasty now...but will no doubt benefit with age. +pts
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nose - berry fruit, black pepper mouth - an intriguing sweet transitioning into savory blend, good minerality, respectable tannins. With a bolder fruit profile this could be a homerun. With dinner, quite fine.
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Tight on the first night, but pointing in a good direction. After a day open (highly recommended) it relaxed, showing some real litheness and delicacy and (pungent) rocks and flowers. Still a bit tannic, but great restraint and a pleasure to drink.
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non blind. i do like rhys pinots. have had mostly the vineyard designates to date so that is my perspective so far. wasn't entirely sure what to expect from this and had forgotten the notes that came with it. classic pinot color. bright. nose is fair and hints of cola and cherry fruit. not much earth or complexity. this contineus on the palate. yes there is cola here, perhaps a bit too much for overall balance. but not so off putting. however the fruit here is rather simple. cherry mostly with a bit of acid structure. nothing bad here just a simple movement through the palate and seems one dimensional in that regard. didnt really hit any part of palate or tongue in a special way. but again, noting wrong here and nothing off putting. nice, but simple finish. just can't quite give this a 90.
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Mediocre, very disappointing. Yes, very heavy cola flavor on this, have one more to drink so will give it a second chance, but may not buy from Rhys again if I don't see any improvement.
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Decanted three hours. Medium bodied. Sweet cola nose. Dusty tannins and a grainy mouthfeel make it taste like a great beaujolais. Nice fruit core. Good to drink now.
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Upon opening, this had a nice nose. Poured an ounce taste and this was somewhat woody and definitely closed. Aerated and decanted for an hour and this continued to improve thereafter with bright cherry and raspberry fruits and good complexity. Medium length finish. Was worried about serving this to family that tends not to love pinot, but this turned out to be a crowd pleaser. Hold.
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Put in decanter and drank over the next 3 hours, with chicken parmesan for dinner. Aroma has some cola and baking spices. Taste has light cherry, with a little tartness, as well as the cola. It was definitely an enjoyable drink, but this wasn't too special.
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Drank too soon, but finding myself with an increasing number of bottles in my cellar from wineries that I have yet to even try. I'd like to give them a few years, but do I buy more when the next offer comes? (Don't judge... if you're reading this review I bet you have your fair share in your cellar!!!) Anyway, this was really nice. C said it was like being in a strawberry patch. I think it needs to round out on the back end (and who doesn't like a nice round back end, right?). Guessing it will score higher in a few years, and now feel safe in continuing my Rhys purchases.
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Followed over about three hours. At this point, this is a bit rounder than the Rhys SVDs. An enjoyable, well made wine, but perhaps lacking just a bit for me at the price point.
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Perfumed aromas to start with ripe black fruit. Palate was more one-dimensional, with plenty of sweet black fruit that in highly attractive, just a bit short and simple.
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Nice effort from the Rhys team. The robe was a deep ruby red; the nose was densely perfumed, a hallmark characteristic of Rhys’ wines, with red fruits (predominantly cherry and red raspberry), minerals, spice, florals and stems. The palate didn’t seem closed but just wasn’t as engaging as the nose. The palate offered a muted version of the notes displayed on the nose, though this still was an enjoyable drink.
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A wine that's very easy to misread if you don't give it enough time to unwind. On night one, this was unsatisfying; it had many characteristics typical of Rhys pinots - tart but present fruit with a slight citrus blossom topnote on the nose, stemmy/pine needle herbal aromatics, etc. but a streak of bitterness to the tannin, and the sum result was this was simply unharmonious. Resealed in the fridge, night 2 was much the same. Finally, on night 3 this began to unfurl, and night 4 and day 5 saw a wine that was just singing. The bitterness to the tannin had receded, allowing a sweet pinesap quality to the fruit to come to the fore. Although I wouldn't recommend drinking this now without at least a long decant, I believe in 5-6 years time, this bottling will give the single vineyard pinots a real run for their money. Keep your hands off, but load up and you will be happy you did, further down the road.
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Followed over ~3hrs. This goes through some interesting transformations with air. Almost a fruit bomb upon opening, with deep black cherry notes, but this faded with an hour of air and the wine tightened up. Nose of black cherries, licorice, saline, stems, and rose petals. Palate was finely structure with chalky tannins, and present but not assertive acidity--though the wine is balanced, focused and fine, if subtle. Some herbal, wood, and hints of ssice notes on the palate. Lengthy sandalwood/sawdust finish with some chalky stone. Big step up from the '08 Alesia, which is the Rhys I have the most experience with. Nice structure, though really not integrated at this point, but strong potential, I think. Given this a couple years to pull together.
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Good Pinot. I very much like the cherry, berry flavors, and there's a hint of floral on the nose that accents the fruit. It's a bit hard on the palate right now, so will wait on my other bottles.
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It's been a while since I tasted an 09 Rhys, the last time being my April 2011 visit when I worked through all of them. This cuvee bottling was not part of that day's lineup so I'm doing this one for the first time. I've had the wine open about 30 mins so my initial impression is just that, to be followed later by some notes after the wine breathes out more fully. Listed alc is 13.3%. The aromatic signature shows the whole cluster that I recall from the other 2009s a year ago--has that smoky, cracker pepper/herb note. The palate is softer, weightier than some of the 2009s I recall from my visit, more forward here absent the minerality and cut of the other bottlings. The fruit core is pretty, lots of raspberry, cherry hard candy and then the presence of the herbal note driven from the stems. Some light tannin also lives in the finish but when emerges for me is a loamy/soily note, and pine needle, which are features I found in some of the other Rhys 09s, namely the Family Farm and Alpine. At the very end, a touch of oak arrives but it's seasoning with a brushing of cinnamon stick. I'll be curious to see how air treats this wine as we have dinner in about 2 hours......and next day, pretty much the same, maybe a bit softer in tone but there is a bit of a gamy note in the finish. For a drink window, I'd say now through 2014.
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A nice entry point into the Rhys portfolio. This wine does benefit from a couple of hours in the decanter and then opens up with a nice balance of dark cherry fruit, a touch of smokiness, and a bit of tannin on the back end.
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Opened and poured, this wine gave a good showing with aromatics of black cherry, plum and spice notes. The bouquet shows an underlying herbal, stem quality that at this stage does not detract from the wine. The medium bodied palate shows youthful fruit and good balance with a medium length finish. This wine should benefit from an additional year two of bottle age.
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i know, i know. too soon. but i couldn't resist as i didn't make the pick up event this weekend. initially, notes of spice and white flowers - very pretty. flavors were reticent but showed some fruit. fast forward 3 hours and the aromatics are now showing more red fruits in addition to the floral and spice notes. the flavors have softened but still show some oak and stems, but in a balanced way. dark, brooding red fruit. good acid and tannic structure. think this will be better in 6-12 months, but am glad to get a preview.
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Tasted at pickup day. No formal notes taken. Bottles were opened the day before and slow-ox'ed by the winery elves. Pretty red fruits and florals. Charming. Open and approachable, albeit simple. In the mouth it's light-medium bodied accompanied with some acidic structure and light stone and spice elements. Low oak. Comparable to the Alpines, but at a lower level. Reminds me of a young Chambolle villages. Quite approachable now. Drink now and enjoy.
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Nose - summer savory, warm, various dried and fresh herbs, green bamboo shoot, peppermint, deep fruit in the background. Nice savory and wood spices, cranberry with black cherry, dusty/chalky tannin, hint of mintiness.
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Tasted at the Nov. 12, 2011, pickup day. A blend of Alpine and Horseshoe fruit (50/50). Lovely spice on the nose, with nice red fruit. The palate is fairly lean and focused, showing the stem inclusion a bit (though not in a bad way), and has pretty red fruit to back it all up. While approachable now, I imagine this needs another year before getting into it (or roughly six months after release?).
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Tasted at pick-up day. Darker shade of purple; earthy, fruits, brambly, forest floor, pepper; closef, good acid bite, light fruit style. Promising and very pleasing. Although I suugest 2014-2018 drink window, it is accessible sooner.
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4/16/2024 - gharter Likes this wine: 88 Points
PnP. Opens with red and black cherry, earth, stems, spice, floral and light cedar. Rich and smooth. On the palate is more red and black cherry, earth, stems, spice and light cedar. Smooth, medium finish. My last bottle. I was not impressed with the previous 3 bottles, but it seems to have finally come around and this was very enjoyable. no hint of decline.
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5/6/2023 - Burgundy Al wrote: 89 Points
Still wonderfully fresh, easily balanced, also subtly nuanced and spiced. Very good now, while not close to fading.
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1/16/2023 - WetRock wrote:
There is a lot to like about this. Unfortunately its all orbiting some green stemminess that's still fairly potent. Silky mouthfeel and some smoked rockiness were very welcome. The fruit still carries much of the power of its youth though its clearly beyond the primary. Its just that big celery stalk and asparagus thing ruining the party. That leaves some light pepper and tannin which is a plus but the greener notes are hard to ignore. Droops on its frame over night, with tartness showing up so drink up. Pretty good though if you are a fan of big stem inclusion.
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12/15/2021 - Schwarzer Hund Likes this wine:
dark red, 90 minutes of airtime in bottle produced subtle earthy berry nose, dense mixed berry fruit, toasted brioche, with a surprisingly good dose of rose petal, finishes long with spicy fruit. Great wine for the price.
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8/11/2021 - Schwarzer Hund Likes this wine:
Dark red, opened 60-75 min before dinner, nice dark berry nose, earthy luscious dark berry and cassis on palate, medium weight, very smooth medium length finish. Don't remember the initial cost when we purchased from winery but certainly less than the single vineyard releases. Good value in our minds.
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5/15/2021 - rustyRudy Likes this wine: 92 Points
Mild brown tint. Very tart black raspberry, still drinking very fresh and young. Great depth. Finishes with great red berry flavors bursting from the glass
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4/25/2021 - galewskj wrote: 92 Points
Drank half a bottle over 2.5 hours. I didn't know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. Lovely red-fruit, black cherry, earth and cranberry. Really nice acidity, with a spicy lingering finish. This tastes like a restrained California pinot.
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1/8/2021 - Badfish wrote:
Dark ruby garnet core fading slightly at the rim. The nose is gorgeous with pure heady aromas of raspberries, black cherries, crushed stones, underbrush, and rose petals. The palate has ideal balance with rich red fruits, spicy earth complexity, sweet supple tannins, and fresh lifting acidity. Definitely seems like the stems have given this a nice spice tinged lift to the overall profile and especially to the finish. A gorgeous wine from Rhys and a super positive indicator for good things to come from their aged wines.
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11/29/2020 - CMN wrote: 79 Points
Gorgeous nose of ripe red raspberries up front and in supporting roles are green herbal notes (likely attributable to 100% whole cluster fermentation) and a bit of Pinot funk. The palate is substantially less exciting, with sour rhubarb flavor and oak char dominating the palate. Tannins aren't terribly noticeable while drinking, but the finish is akin to licking fine grained sandpaper (or at least what I imagine it to feel like). Pristine storage; I don't think that this is flawed, so much as I'm just not vibing with this wine.
Day two: the char note is nowhere to be found, but the whole cluster is evident, and now the red fruits are mixed with a floral/stemmy hybrid. Significantly better on the second day; a long decant is warranted.
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7/29/2020 - Charlie Carnes Likes this wine: 89 Points
Very nice dark red and purple fruited, pinot noir. This also has a pretty light brown/clay earth mineral component. It is drinking nicely right now.
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4/18/2020 - Tubulus wrote:
Great nose. Palate did not quite live up.
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2/22/2020 - fclarity wrote: 92 Points
This wine had a deep red center and very light red rims. The medium intensity nose generated rhubarb, sour cherry, tan spices, and some mineral notes.
This wine was a bit disjointed when first poured with some prickly acidity. After 8 hours of decanting, the wine was rich and ripe with a nice texture and substantial (for a pinot) rounded tannin. It had good length.
This is a nice little pinot that is still a few years away from its ideal drinking zone. I don't think it is going to get a lot better but age could release some additional complexity.
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2/1/2020 - Badfish Likes this wine:
Drinking beautifully with soft earthy red fruit throughout. Complicating notes of baking spice and slate with crisp acidity to balance the dense fruit and tannins. The nose is simply gorgeous with black cherry, boysenberry, violet, and flint. Those notes carry over to the beautifully elegant palate and give this wine a complete and complex profile. I feel this wine is a great indicator of what the single vineyard Rhys Pinots will deliver at maturity.
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8/21/2019 - KenK Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wow, this was really rocking tonight vs about a dozen other Rhys Pinots from many sites and vintages. A so called second wine from Rhys, but out shined the majority of the single vineyard wines. Wonderful depth of fruit with beautifully balanced acid and tannin structure with layers of spices and complexity. A bit of a bruiser, but holds it all together so well.
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8/20/2019 - Burgundy Al wrote: 89 Points
Rhys Dinner Following Rhys Tasting (Prairie Grass - Northbrook IL): Wow, what a great wine for declassified fruit, especially that it has evolved and developed nuanced complexity with cellar time. Nicely mature red and black cherry with earth and spice hints. Good weight, better length, and very good balance.
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4/20/2019 - bergkamp10 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Fresh ripe nose with blackcurrant and raspberry. Fruit forward on the palate, smooth rich dark fruits, nice density clean mid palate. Persistent finish with darker fruits to the fore. Quite good, but one dimensional and unashamedly new world. Has aged well, but in a good place with limited upside.
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2/2/2019 - Chrisinroch wrote:
nice enough on open, but much better day 2 and 3.
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10/10/2018 - jfkwines wrote: 92 Points
Really great spot, cherries abound, integrated tannins. I think this is the end of the prme drinking window
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5/27/2018 - Federsin wrote:
Dominated by its fruit, resolved tannins, low acidity, decent enough, would not think this will get any better
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5/14/2018 - Tubulus wrote: 90 Points
Certainly more integrated than the last bottle from a few years back, don't notice any herbaceous stemmy notes. Just some dark fruit, a little age, nicely in balance with perhaps slightly lower acid than I would like. Enjoyable though nothing really jumped out.
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4/17/2018 - Cote d'Or wrote:
PopnPour tasted over 1 hr and day 2
-nearly opaque dark red no bricking
-big sweet rich rhubarb spice stems
-med acidity, med weight and depth, sweet rhubarb red fruit faint pine element (agree with most recently posted TN on this one-first time I've picked this up in a Rhys pinot), some spicy oak and med/med- tannins on decent length finish; more open and oak more noticeable on day 2
-stylistically very Rhys, this is near the quality level of some of the single vineyard wines, this bottle still may have some further positive development left in it, I would be an outlier on the Community Drink Dates as it may not have even peaked yet and surely will be doing well for another 3-5+ years
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3/23/2018 - Rieslingfan wrote:
This was served blind, and so absent all the hype and baggage that goes with Rhys. It was really good. It was also distinctive, with interesting pine needle accents to the deep red fruit. Solid acidity and a dash of finishing tannin made for a balanced, complete wine.
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2/20/2018 - flentvall Likes this wine: 92 Points
Drinking very well at the moment. Balanced, with nice purity of fruit. Pleasantly surprised, though not sure why I wouldn't expect it to perform.
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2/17/2018 - SimonG wrote: 91 Points
Dinner@BA: Blind. Sweet pinot fruit. My co-conspirator nails it as Cali Pinot, and from there we get to Rhys quickly. Very mellow, bright ruby with a touch of garnet. This is now fully ready. Quite surprised to find it's the Santa Cruz given the depth and purity of fruit, but then in 09 this is a blend of declassified Alpine and Horseshoe. This is lighter, and redder fruited than a bottle last year. Over the course of a couple of hours this shows well, but does start to subside and seem quite broad and simple, so serve cool and don't decant. Just about ****
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1/5/2018 - jfkwines wrote: 90 Points
Cherry, light mouthfeel but good texture on the back of the taste. Held up well to roast duck
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12/21/2017 - I1bearup wrote: 94 Points
Bright acid with perfect weight. Bright red fruits with minor hints of oak.
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7/23/2017 - glou.sf wrote: 92 Points
Dark berries, dark cherries, rosemary, and flowers on the nose. Medium+ tannins that have softened with more dark berry notes followed by cranberry and orange flavors. Nice finish.
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6/18/2017 - gzim wrote: 88 Points
Nice quaffed. Easy to drink. Ripe fruit, cola and some toasty notes.
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5/23/2017 - SimonG wrote: 91 Points
Ben's USA @ Brunswick House (Brunswick House): Declassified Alpine and Horseshoe estate fruit. Reasonably dark with quite a spicy nose. Fuller, denser and with a slightly savoury element. Opens up to smooth, dark but sweet fruit. Ready and moreish. This is drinking well, and relatively easily cf the Alpine which still needs time. ****
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5/23/2017 - A.Hansen Likes this wine: 91 Points
Very much California meets Burgundy - can taste the stems. Nose of red currant, black currant and herbs. A palate of strawberries, plums and green pepper with a hint of warmth.
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4/21/2017 - dhammer53 wrote: 92 Points
This wine was firing on all fours tonight. Smooth, with easy going, and not hit yourself over the head with fruit. I'm glad I drank this, but sorry I don't have more. Dinner with a Flyertalk friend at MP Taverna in Irvington. Old wine with an old friend = good memories.
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3/22/2017 - fredb Likes this wine:
Medium red color with medium transparency. Ripe cherry pie aromas with some blueberry and blackberry notes. Palate has a big hit of cherry cola followed by blackberry and some spice elements that carry into a cinnamon bark finish with some lingering tannins. Not as enthralling as the bottle enjoyed a year ago but good for the sweet tooth tonight. Superb winemaking with maybe less-than-superb raw material seems the call here. If served blind tonight, I would have said it was a Chambolle trying to please the California palate. Not sure that's a compliment, but it's a polished wine. Overall, I did like it but could see where others would not.
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1/4/2017 - sawira wrote: 92 Points
Bottle #6 of 6. Perfectly mature at this point. Detailed and nuanced, deep ripe cherry fruit, baking spices, and the stems have fully integrated. I personally think this is one of Rhys's better non-SVD offerings. So lush, and yet with beautifully balanced precision. Longish finish. Drink over the next 3-5 years. I just looked to see if I could find more, and the cheapest on winesearcher pro is $70. That says a lot. Wonderful wine.
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12/19/2016 - JOJ wrote: 86 Points
Unimpressive. Stewed raspberry, with some forest floor, mushroom and roasted nuts (?) on the nose. More muddy red fruit on the palate, with black tea and clove. Unfocused, faded and a bit dull.
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12/4/2016 - MotoMannequin wrote: flawed
Corked
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12/1/2016 - Backdoctor wrote: 92 Points
wonderful PN. Balanced, fruit still good on palate. Wish I had more.
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11/25/2016 - Tree512 wrote: 90 Points
Nice up front fruit and well balanced. Nothing profound but very enjoyable.
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10/15/2016 - Cote d'Or wrote:
Brief taste upon popping. Moderately expressive ripe cherry rhubarb some oak. Middle weight med+ concentration and complexity ripe dark fruit and noticeable oak on finish. Drinking well but still needs some time to really blossom.
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9/24/2016 - Cote d'Or wrote:
PopnPour, tasted over 2 hrs and day 3
-nearly opaque dark red no bricking
-expressive ripe spice rhubarb oak
-med- acidity, med weight but lush and deep, slightly faded sweet ripe dark fruits spice, med tannins and oak; better balanced on day 3 and taking on a baking spice element
-seems a bit out of balance now or just needs more air/time
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9/15/2016 - redwhiteandrich wrote: 87 Points
Cherry cola
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7/19/2016 - EhrlichDY wrote: 91 Points
Popped and poured and enjoyed over two days. Three words - stems, rhubarb, and acid. This is a very terroir driven wine and only changed slightly over two days. On day two the fruit became slightly more perceptible and the fine tannin melded into the backdrop. These are very traditional wines and I suspect this is on the same aging curve as a good Burgundy. As such, I would hold bottles for a few more years to see how they improve.
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7/17/2016 - G8tor80 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Subtle nose of cherry and forest floor (?). Very balanced, mature cherry/raspberry fruit, a little mid pallet sweetness with a touch of acid on the muted finish. Ready to drink, would not count on any additional improvement.
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7/6/2016 - cubswinws wrote: 86 Points
Correct varietal but bitter aftertaste made this less enjoyable.
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6/9/2016 - CMN wrote: 82 Points
Forward flavors of candied red fruit. The wine was disjointed, with an unpleasant, artificial menthol note like Scope mouthwash. With a couple hours of air, the green note became darker, more like forrest floor, but it never became fully integrated with the fruit. Despite the 13.3% abv, there was a trace of heat on the finish. Overall this was an incredibly disappointing showing.
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6/9/2016 - msuwine Likes this wine: 93 Points
A charming and complex Pinot that is drinking beautifully right now. Light purple in color, medium in body, gorgeous nose of blackberry, spice, straw, and earth. Layered tastes of sour cherry, raspberry, forest floor, and cedar, with a wispy finish. 13.3% alcohol. This has a fantastic balance of fruit and earth. I have recently been under-whelmed by younger single-vineyard Pinots from Rhys, but this suggests that I was just drinking them too early. Incredible for an appellation-level wine.
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6/5/2016 - glou.sf Likes this wine: 93 Points
Red berries, menthol, spices, and tart cherries on the nose. Raspberry notes on the palate with medium acidity. Nice finish.
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4/26/2016 - ruchottalex Likes this wine: 92 Points
Had this along with a Ceritas Escarpa from the same year. This feels closer to maturity and I would say fuller fruit and more tannin than the Ceritas, which was more elegant and had a bit more acidity.
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3/12/2016 - pjhr Likes this wine: 91 Points
Tasty dark cherry and raspberry aromas and flavors with earthy and toasty oak notes on the palate and moderate finish.
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3/2/2016 - WestCoast wrote: 93 Points
Well received by all 4 drinkers. in a good place now. mellow, pinot profile. earth, forest floor, dried strawberry and a little flat cola (dr. pepper?)
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3/1/2016 - RajivAyyangar wrote: 85 Points
Pinot Around the World with Gillian Ballance MS (SF Wine Center): Pale ruby with a crimson rim. Clean, sweet aromas of cool-climate fruit - fresh cranberry, underripe red cherry, orange juice / tangerine, peach.
Slightly sweet on the palate (ripe attack, maybe even slight RS). Ripe, with softer acid than the Burgs. Alcohol is balanced, maybe only 13%.
Slight white pepper, slightly herbal - stems? Slight oak presenting as sweet sawdusty vanilla.
Around 8.5
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2/1/2016 - lolo66 wrote:
ready on pop n pour. This is quite voluptuous. full fruited. darker profile berry fruit with a nice ending of minerality and spice.
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1/31/2016 - Jimpren Likes this wine: 90 Points
Opened but did not decant for 6 hours. Initial glass was heavy and concentrated with Kirsch. Opened up with 3 more hours of air. More floral and balanced. Needs air and some time.
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1/21/2016 - pjhr wrote: 91 Points
Similar tasting note to previous bottle. Tasty dark cherry and earthy aromas and flavors with brambly notes and a hint of ? brett with a moderate finish.
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1/17/2016 - Acohen Likes this wine: 90 Points
Lots of tart cherry, some cola and bright acidity
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1/9/2016 - fredb Likes this wine:
Dark red color with limited transparency. Bright cherry nose with some floral elements. Palate shows plenty of cherry, raspberry, and some floral vanilla elements that carry into a medium finish. Very satisfying and open for business. Expect further development but no need to hold these. Drink or hold.
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1/8/2016 - sawira wrote: 91 Points
Tight at first, with the stems evident in the background. Developed over three nights, with the second night being the best. Noticeable sassafras/cola with the deep, perfectly detailed and ripe fruit. This has that particular pinot note I love - like sticking one's head in a barrel of freshly picked ripe cherries sitting in the midday sun - dank in its sweetness and yummy stinkiness. I was looking for more cut at the end, but I'd drink this anytime. Side by side with an 08 Anthill Farms Peters pinot, which had more electricity, but less depth and staying power. Delicious.
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10/29/2015 - mye wrote: 84 Points
Not in a great spot right now.
Nose of strawberry and cherry. Palate lacks acidity, feels hot and alcoholic, with a bitter stemmy finish.
Either needs time or just isn't very good.
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10/10/2015 - MikeATL Likes this wine: 91 Points
Spicy, with a mouth-wateringly stemmy tang, it's delicious. The overt stemminess toned down fairly quickly, and the spicy sweet fruit became more pronounced, but not going over the top or becoming cloying.
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8/31/2015 - pjhr wrote: 91 Points
Tasty dark cherry and raspberry aromas and flavors with earthy and brambly notes on the palate and moderate finish.
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8/29/2015 - DRS-Inc wrote: 92 Points
Decanted for 1 hour and consumed over next 4 hours. This is in a good spot now. Cali style PN with a light touch. Notes of red berries, forest floor, rhubarb, mineral, and spice.
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8/18/2015 - rmodak wrote: 92 Points
Wonderful blend of dark cherry, chewy herbs and focused acidity. Stems add crunchy structure to the ripe fruit. Better with a decant, but a unique style of California Pinot that is structured and acidic, but certainly distinct from Burgundy. Drink over the next 5 years.
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8/4/2015 - Amerique wrote: 93 Points
Delicious cherry/strawberry fruit with earthy and herbal flavors, excellent structure, nice finish, very nice mountain pinot noir
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8/1/2015 - jfont123 wrote: 92 Points
Nice fruit concentration.. Decanted 1 hr.
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7/31/2015 - Tom Warden Likes this wine: 89 Points
Wine Spectator rated this wine 82 points...they must have had a bad bottle...this is a good wine, a bit brambly but in a nice way.
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6/17/2015 - KeithAkers wrote: 91 Points
Nose: Perfumed with tart red cherries, rhubarb, baking spices, plums, roses, strawberries.
Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity and silky tannins. The feel is elegant and balanced with red cherries, rhubarb, baking spices, strawberries, and some raspberries.
Overall: This is coming together beautifully. There is still a primary quality to the fruit, but, it's taking on a higher tone.
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6/4/2015 - Dave Canada wrote: 92 Points
This is rocking right off the bat....definite pop n pour
Nose is so expressive with incense, red flowers, bright red fruit, pickle juice, and subtle citrus notes
Palate is velvety...really nice texture and balance. Great acid profile. Fruit is ripe but balanced with red flowers, minerals, incense, nutmeg, citrus peel and stemmy notes.
Finish is medium+
Great wine
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6/2/2015 - sawira wrote: 92 Points
#4 of 6. Ripe, accessible, tarry, almost varnishy, young Barolo-like nose right out of the gate, this is succulent, forward, detailed and delicious. Ripe for sure, with hints of stem inclusion easily balanced by the gobs of dry extract. Notes of cola and spice intermingle with the big, juicy, but still focused, ripe black cherry compote. Yum. Can't wait for the single vineyard designates! (But I am...) This bottle good for another 3-6 years.
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5/10/2015 - cpsmith33 Likes this wine: 92 Points
similar notes. this is good stuff.
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2/27/2015 - beachdude8977 Likes this wine: 92 Points
First experience with this producer, had to see what the fuss is all about. Notes of licorice, Herbs, Tobacco, and rasberries. Def has a lot of stem inclusion aromatics.. Smells like a southern rhone grenache. Love that. Has a short tight dry finish but is probably due to its young age. This is the type of pinot i strive to make myself, glad to have finally tasted it. :) and at only $35 a bottle!
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2/24/2015 - cpsmith33 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Drank over two nights. Similar comments.
Great balance of minerality, dark red fruits, acidity. Drinking well on the second night.
This is very good Pinot.
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1/27/2015 - Tubulus wrote: 88 Points
I liked this a lot less than some of the 2012s I've opened recently. The stems (I think) seem to be showing a lot of bitterness and the fruit has receded a bit. Hopefully it integrates and smoothes out a bit more with age. Seems darker fruited but at least on day 1 a bit out of balance.
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1/21/2015 - cpsmith33 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Decanted for a bit and drank over 2 nights. I thought this was very nice. Complex, nice dark red fruits, spice but fresh and nice acidity. Still could use a few years to gain a bit in my opinion.
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1/9/2015 - rralls wrote: 92 Points
Brought by Joe to Paces and Vine. Really delicious and kept opening up with additional air.
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1/8/2015 - Screameagle Likes this wine: 91 Points
Seems to be in it's prime and drinking very well. Wish I had more of these in my cellar.
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12/22/2014 - Dave Dalluge wrote: 92 Points
This was awesome. Still a little tight, but showing lovely dark fruit and spice on the nose. Silky smooth on the palate. Excellent.
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12/13/2014 - rhit Likes this wine:
Didn't get too much time with this bottle, unfortunately. Much more open and relaxed than the last one, though, with nice secondary complexity. Seemingly on a trajectory to gain more.
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12/13/2014 - Nutty08 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Just as good as the last bottle 2yrs ago and evolving into a nice wine. A lot of depth and expression on the nose with black cherry, citrus, and a little spice. After couple hours air the stem inclusion still stands out a bit on the palate, but a very nice core of dark sweet black cherry and plum fruit really anchor the wine. Plenty of acidity and freshness despite the density. Length finish adding some mint and spice notes to the repeating fruit character. Probably still on the upswing but unfortunately my last bottle.
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11/27/2014 - sawira wrote: 92 Points
Thanksgiving dinner warm up. Very, very good. Solid, tasty, beautiful balance and structure. Some cola, ripe fruit notes that make this distinctly Californian. Big, bright, black cherry fruit. Great silkiness, mid-palate and persistence. Not the complexity and electric focus of a single vineyard site, this is a delicious, deep and well made Pinot to whet the palate for the rest of the Rhys gems to come. Really very well made. At peak and for another 5-7 years.
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11/17/2014 - jfont123 wrote: 90 Points
PnP w the in-laws at El Caserio
Concentrated and lacking acid. Drink now
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11/16/2014 - xwine wrote:
This bottle was very stemmy, certainly a different animal from the last bottle I tried. It did open up a bit and showed some nice fruit, but I think I'll opt for drinking my last bottle sooner rather than later.
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11/12/2014 - wineduggery wrote: 87 Points
Not sure where the 90+ point rating for this wine are coming from. This is an elegant but simple, entry-level Pinot. Nothing more.
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11/11/2014 - BHP1994 wrote: 92 Points
Enjoyed last night with a roasted Chicken. Delicious bottle that is drinking very well right now. 20 min of air and it was kicking. Very fresh. Great acids. Tons of blue fruits. Lovely.
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9/27/2014 - TLR wrote: 90 Points
Popped the cork only for 3 hours prior to drinking over dinner with 2 other 2009 Cali Pinot's This was by far the tightest with lots of astringency and lemon quality. After about 5 hours it started to reveal some fine potential
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9/10/2014 - rosenst1 wrote: 91 Points
PnP. Medium deep red. Lovely deep complex nose of dark fruits and a spice I associate with whole clusters. Medium full on the palate with nice depth of flavor and an edginess of spice and forest floor which dominates the long finish. Drinking well at age 5; and my last bottle. Expect this will continue to be good for a few years. This has a Santa Cruz Mountains characteristic that is hard to describe but clearly differentiates it from areas further North and South. Very interesting wine.
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9/9/2014 - cartime wrote: 89 Points
Fairly simple and starting to soften up. Drink soon.
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8/20/2014 - Zonk wrote: 92 Points
Drinking really nicely, but could have used an hour of air. Cherries and a bit of darker fruit.
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7/23/2014 - mclanew Likes this wine: 92 Points
Drinking terrifically this Pinot is made in a Burgundian style with a beautiful, subtle nose and great body and structure. Fleshy flavors of cherries, forest floor and minerals.
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4/15/2014 - Blue Shorts wrote: 93 Points
Popped and poured. Fresh and fragrant. This pinot is a joy to drink. Extremely fruity with a great acidic backbone. Bing cherry, strawberry flavors dominate. I'm glad that I have another. Very young. Will likely improve for at least a few years.
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3/26/2014 - todd_0_matic wrote:
Brad
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3/21/2014 - DRS-Inc wrote:
Consumed over 2 days. PnP on 1st night...came across as taut, stemmy & tart. Let it breathe for another 3.5 hrs., but still could have used more air. Nose of red & black raspberries, rhubarb, big spice (prolly from the stems), forest floor, & picked up a hint of rich chocolate-covered cherries. Flavors of dark red berries & raspberry, herbs, rhubarb, spice, tea, earth & mineral. Became more herbaceous & spicy on 2nd night. Sophisticated & precise showing good purity in its fruit w/fine grained tannins, moderate acidity & a long finish. Yet still young & many years ahead before it hits it peak.
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2/25/2014 - lolo66 wrote: 93 Points
I thought this was an outstanding bottle right out of the gate. Such aromatics of wild picked berries along with a similar taste profile. Vibrant, alive, fresh. Only wanted a glass of wine, almost drank the whole bottle. In a perfect place.
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1/20/2014 - kultcha wrote:
Slow ox'ed for about 1.5 hours and then drank over a couple of hours. Started off with a wonderful earthy nose with some dark berries poking out. Eventually evolved to show blackberry and earth in balance with a little floral touch. The deep, dark purple violet colour led to a great palate feel and well balanced palate of tart blackberry and blueberry, earth, minerals and a touch of spice. Fairly decent finish with a good dose of smooth but persistent tannin. Good balance, decent acidity. The one real detraction was at times there seemed to be a little heat on the finish though this smoothed out more and more as it got air.
This wine really needs at least a few more years to show its best, air or no air.
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1/7/2014 - mye Likes this wine: 90 Points
Easy drinking, medium ruby red. nose of red fruit, cherry, and a touch of cola.
Still quite young, but earthiness starting to show. Enjoyable.
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12/31/2013 - blaine wrote:
I'm conflicted on this bottle, my 2nd of 2. given the way its drinking, I'm surprised by the modest 13.3% alcohol. seemed fruitier, seemed darker. I guess I should have waited, popped and poured, seemed a little green and stemmy, and at the same time seemed dark and ripe and borderline overripe at times. I guess I just don't get it. I don't know what to advise on this wine, nice nose and all but I just don't see the upside.
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12/22/2013 - mclanew wrote: 90 Points
The wonderful nose and concentration of the Pinot fruit are terrific. Red berry fruit combined with fresh cut flowers and a touch of forest floor. There is some tannin, primal aspect still holding it back though in the finish- do I need to decant it?
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11/24/2013 - brigcampbell wrote:
I like strawberry. This wine is for me. Sweet strawberry nose but tarte strawberry flavor. Nicely balanced acidity. Really pleasant drinking.
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11/22/2013 - Justin B wrote: 86 Points
Just not my cup of tea per se.
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10/25/2013 - amateurwino wrote: 88 Points
This bottle was almost the complete opposite of the bottle I had 1.5 years ago that took days to unfurl. This one was most impressive at opening, with soil on the nose that was evocative of Burgundy, and otherwise typical Rhys fruit with a touch of cola and spice. Consumed over several days, this one just failed to ever really grab me.
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10/17/2013 - Uglypinga wrote:
Earthy, high acidity nose with an earthy and lean palate with crunchy bright berries and lots of lift. Too young but not really my cup of tea. The svds have a fruit intensity I love while the Ava's I don't seem to be a huge fan of. Good, drinkable, not something look forward to.
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10/14/2013 - sawira wrote: 90 Points
Having just returned from Burgundy, this shows by contrast more of what Rhys is doing. This bottle is not far off the mark from what I tasted there from 1ers in the 09 and 10 vintages, and while this is more akin to a village wine, with the single vineyards in the 1er stable, color me impressed, even with my eurocentric, oak-phobic orientation. Definitely a new world rendition, but by this I do NOT mean "modern," just different and even more traditional than some growers I tasted there, especially in 09. This has a whole cluster orientation, and even a more earthy, 'lean' quality to it. Needs time for sure, but this seems to have it in hand - easily good for another 7 years - this shines a spotlight on the word 'balance.' Can't wait for the next decade when the single vineyards will be coming online. All about potential, and not just this wine, but the winery. Nice!
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10/12/2013 - rjoyer wrote:
Followed over 2 nights. Showed a bit of stem tannin early on, but there is plenty of fruit that emerges with air. In the mouth the fruit is sweet, though not confected, and reminiscent of plum-skins and black cherries. The stems add a spiciness to the fruit, especially if you let the glass warm up (where there's just a touch of warmth on the finish). With air this drinks fine now, though should soften around the edges a bit with another 24 months or so in the bottle.
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10/8/2013 - Charlie Pendejo Likes this wine:
Wow, this is drinking REALLY well. Its balance is more savory than my note from 6 months ago indicates; it's still got some of that fruit which straddles red & black, and a bit of allspice, and now there's a bit of umami element - mushroom, soy? No, maybe more like chicken broth. Delicious with a variety of foods and alone.
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9/28/2013 - bjschmitt wrote:
Turkey and roast sweet potatoes, onion, fennel, and parsnip.
Decanted 30 minutes before serving.
Medium purple, clear and consistent to the rim. spicy fruit nose, a touch of cinnamon and cloves.
Medium body, earthy with some spic and a touch of acid to brighten.
We didn't know what to make of this wine's palate, quite different.
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9/25/2013 - winopops3 Likes this wine: 88 Points
Fairly dark ruby. Not much of a nose but slight floral elements, slight eucalyptus. Black cherry and cola with slight mineral on the palate. Moderately concentrated and a bit sweet. Fairly viscous mouthfeel. Medium finish.
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9/18/2013 - rosenst1 wrote: 93 Points
Popped and poured. Rich nose of berries and cherries. On the palate rich smorgasbord of fruits tending towards the black fruit end of the spectrum with tannins and full cluster elements on the finish which goes on and one; lovely wine. Quite ripe. May age but why wait?
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9/1/2013 - jdbcolumbus Likes this wine: 90 Points
Aromatic nose with cinnamon Asian spice. Juicy palate with noticeable whole cluster element. Bright, dry finish.
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8/5/2013 - thomaskeil wrote: 91 Points
Decanted 2 hours. Violet-tinged garnet, translucent. Bright berries and iron-mineral on the nose, asian spice as well. Light, but penetrating red fruit with evident mineral acidity and firm tannin. Good tension. Magically paired with a vanilla-infused corn/tomato timbale.
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7/9/2013 - sawira wrote: 89 Points
Mmm! Better than expected. Delicious red fruit, cola, earth profile with superb balancing acidity and judicious oak. Will soften and improve its integration over the next 3 years or so. Not bad, guys! Still holding my single vineyards, so this is a mouth-watering appetizer. Glad I'm long with this winery.
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5/15/2013 - vulgar little monkey wrote: 88 Points
Tight and muted, but with depth and power to burn. Savory and deeply textured. Check back in 2 years.
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5/4/2013 - drwine2001 wrote:
Medium red. Iron, tart red fruit and soil. Light weight (truly feels like Pinot). Lovely feel and sense of airiness. Excellent fruit, well embedded acidity, mostly resolved tannins and more terroir than in any domestic Pinot I can recall. Very, very satisfying and tasty.
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4/12/2013 - Charlie Pendejo Likes this wine: 92 Points
This bottle - the first I've opened - was emphatically not in a dumb phase. Aromatically bold from the moment of cork liftoff, it was firing on all cylinders for the first sip 30 min later. Loads of dark berry and black cherry fruit with some spice )stems?) and a bit of earth. Pow-pow-powerful yet without the alcoholic heat or weight of lesser California blockbuster-in-a-bad-way pinot. Might be *interesting* to save some for a few yeas down the road, but I don't know that it's liable to improve per se.
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3/29/2013 - dgriffin3480 wrote: 89 Points
Double decanted back into bottle for ten hours, then decanted for 30 minutes prior to drinking. Tight and mostly closed down. Weak nose and strong vein of minerals on palate with faint dark berries in background. I am out of these but would recommend holding for a few years.
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3/24/2013 - gzim wrote: 84 Points
I like my Rhys with more age, and admittedly popped this by accident thinking it was a different bottle. Decanted and followed for an hour. Not giving much at all but it didn't seem tight, not enjoyable so re-bottled and left 2/3 hoping for more on day 2.
ok, day 2, even less fruit. no pleasure here. Hope I just caught it in a very dumb phase.
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3/23/2013 - Rieslingfan wrote:
Not really sure where this is going. Lots of dark berry fruit, but not much else going on. Price of entry is pretty steep, given that I can get 1er Cru Burg (SLB, Pernand) for the same or less.
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3/22/2013 - RobertDwyer wrote: 84 Points
Quirky flavor profile for a domestic Pinot Noir. Aromatic and flavorful but lacked the core characteristics I look for in this category. No strawberries, no orange peel/oil. Strange. Not necessarily bad, just strange. And not similar to other Rhys bottlings I've enjoyed more (like the '06 and '08 Alesia bottlings).
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2/19/2013 - gutt22 Likes this wine:
13.3% alcohol. Black cherry color. Pretty nose of dark cherry, stems, and an earthy undertone. In the mouth, vibrant and refined, with good texture and mouth feel and plenty of bursting black cherry fruit. There's a stemmy note underlying the palate that makes me think this will become slightly too stemmy down the road, as was the case with some of the Alesia wines from 2006. But this is terrific drinking right now. A-
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2/18/2013 - jwsmith wrote: 91 Points
Very nice pinot with good balance and acidity. Better than expected.
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2/6/2013 - MCUBEB Likes this wine:
Drank it over three days and it improved each day. Aromas of red fruit, spices and some savory notes. Complex on the palate with notes of pomegranate, raspberries, mushrooms, Indian spices and some rose petals. Long finish with grainy tannins and savory, spicy notes. Drinking well but should improve with near term aging.
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1/24/2013 - pgordon62 wrote: flawed
Corked, bummer
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1/14/2013 - WST Likes this wine: 90 Points
No subtlety here; this is one exuberant wine. Dense nose and flavors of dark fruit including blackberry and plum; sweet floral notes. Long finish. Drinking fine now, but this clearly has room for improving with some bottle age.
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12/31/2012 - elamasters wrote: 88 Points
A big, dark-fruited Pinot. Overwhelmingly stemmy right now.
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12/30/2012 - jtinto Likes this wine: 92 Points
If this is declassified fruit, I'm really looking forward to Rhys's single vineyard stuff. Could smell this wine all night. Very feminine, soft, nothing harsh or sticking out. On opening trending towards red fruit and minerals. After 4 hours in decanter it opened up and trended towards darker fruit.
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12/20/2012 - Charlie Carnes wrote:
This is a solid declassified or second Rhys pinot. It has pretty red berries and cherries, mineral and spice.
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12/1/2012 - lolo66 wrote: 90 Points
solid pinot with an lovely fruit nose - red fruits, delicate acidity, fruit forward - definitely new world. This is declassified fruit from Rhys - would like to see this $10 less, but still very good.
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11/19/2012 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Opened about 90 mins ago, to be paired with some turkey and bean soup. The core of this wine is held together with a mix of blue and red fruit, pretty luscious and juicy, along with a root beer note and kiwi. There are some vanilla shadings that come through, along with some light mineral. There is some supporting acid here that keeps the wine fresh but I would offer that the juicy and darker notes make me think this is best consumed young. There is also some presence of the stemmy, herbal note that I mentioned last time but it's not all that prominent. And letting the wine really come up to room temp, even a bit of a gamey/meaty note in the finish. I have one left, I will drink it in late 2013.
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11/11/2012 - Colima74 wrote: 94 Points
Delicious mix of dark red berries and a hint of stem/greeness that adds complexity. The nose provides the same sensations. I love that hint of green.
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10/20/2012 - rjoyer wrote:
This showed young and boisterous with nice aromatics, and a touch of sweet fruit. Adequate acidity and nice underlying mountain structure. I'm a fan....drink with a long slow-ox, or hold for further upside.
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10/19/2012 - DRS-Inc wrote: 91 Points
Winery's 1st SCM appelation PN made w/declassified juice from Horseshoe & Alpine bottlings. At first PnP, then PnV & consumed over 5 hrs. Aromatic & complex bouquet of cranberry, black raspberry, black cherry, clementine rind, rhubarb & hint of cola. Rich & dry & tart w/dark red berries, earth, spice, bit of pepper, surrounded by a mild stemmy frame. Building minerality over a few hours. Nicely balanced w/abundantly crisp acidity, youthful lush tannins, mid-bodied & medium+ finish. This still has some years ahead w/good potential for improvement. 1st time having a Rhys & looking forward to many more. (91+)
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10/15/2012 - sehill wrote: 89 Points
This bottle gives a similar impression to previously experiences with this wine; however, on this occasion the wine seems more complete and integrated on the bouquet and palate.
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10/2/2012 - Mike Dildine wrote: 91 Points
I really like this. Bodes well.
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10/1/2012 - yui wrote: 92 Points
cherries and minerals with great balance. Silky.
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9/23/2012 - mdefreitas wrote: 92 Points
This showed extremely well. Fragrant and open, with bright floral, cherry, rhubarb, mulch and herbal notes. Good weight on the palate, with a balancing energetic, vibrant acidic crunch in the finish. Very good length, with layers of lively flavors. This surely has the stuffing to age in the medium term.
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9/10/2012 - cookie7 wrote: 91 Points
Note after 3 hours in a decanter. Spice, dried herbs, floral notes and sage on the nose. Some Asian spice, herbs and minerals on the palate. Nice acidity and balance. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how this will age, but I like it quite a lot now.
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9/9/2012 - coremill wrote: 88 Points
PnP. An interesting one. The stems are prominent but they show up in brownish flavors rather than green ones -- this wine has a strong twiggy, earthy flavor. The fruit is quite ripe and dark, I thought of blackcurrant, but there's a lot of acid and it's tart rather than sweet. The interplay between the black fruit, the twiggy stems, the acid, and some light sandpapery tannins is not entirely harmonious, but there's a lot going on for sure, and occasionally the wine shows a spicy, vosne-like flavor. Not densely structured and I don't see this being a long ager but I think it will be better with a bit more time for everything to come together.
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9/4/2012 - kenhoeve wrote: flawed
Showing high toned a little volatile, losing all the depth and pretty acidic. Didn't come around day two. Slight TCA?
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9/1/2012 - soyhead wrote: 87 Points
tasted blind. nose - cherry, cola
mouth - rhubarb, barnyard, herbal/spicy, doug picked up tea. probably a good food wine but fell flat in a blind pinot tasting. shocked to see it unveiled as the rhys.
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8/29/2012 - rosenst1 wrote: 91 Points
Popped and poured. Medium deep red; warm nose of red fruits and spice; excellent legs. Medium bodied on the palate; but deceptive depth and a very long finish with some well integrated tannins. The finish is quite remarkable and keeps on echoing tannins and a spicy note. Interesting wine.
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8/27/2012 - Zonk wrote: 92 Points
On the lighter (color) side for CA pinot. Clearly CA fruit but light on its feet. good acidity. mostly cherry but some darker fruits as well, along with a little bit of spice.
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8/15/2012 - keelegl wrote: 90 Points
A littler riper on the nose than expected, but the palate is nicely balanced with wonderful fruit and acid. Very primary at this point and should improve over the next couple years.
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8/12/2012 - cartime wrote: 90 Points
Ripe red fruit and purple flowers, framed by whole cluster spice, which I found less intrusive than my first experience with Rhys. Shut down for me overnight but opened up with air to show some rich red fruit, peppery spice, and hints of earthiness. Nice acidity and delicate tannins. Enjoyed it. Looking forward to trying this with some more bottle age.
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8/11/2012 - Federsin Likes this wine:
Darker red in the glass, rich cherries on the nose, a medium bodied, richer style of Pinot, not heavy, drying tannins, could probably use another 2 - 3 years, good entry level wine
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8/2/2012 - Mike Dildine wrote: 93 Points
13.3% alcohol. Medium ruby red. Expressive, mostly red aromas. Cherry dominates the palate, accompanied by forest and strawberry. Excellent balance with nice acidity. Lingering aftertaste. Drinking nicely now and should continue to evolve in a good way for several years. Nice job by Kevin, Jeff and the team!
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7/29/2012 - ssimpsonjr wrote: 90 Points
Opened about 30 minutes before first pour. Aromas of lightly sweetened cherries and asian spices. They meld together very well into a medium bodies mid-palate and just a hint of earth at the end.
After a couple hours the asian spices have faded a bit, leaving the cherries (more cola like) and perhaps some strawberry as well. I like the way this wine evolves - I look forward to day 2.
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7/27/2012 - sehill wrote: 88 Points
Similar to previous experiences with this wine.
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7/27/2012 - Matt T wrote: 92 Points
Delicious. Perfect acidity. Love how this drinks and wish I had more.
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7/25/2012 - xwine wrote:
A very nicely structured wine, crimson colored, spicy, earthy red fruit, and really shows that the Santa Cruz Mountains produce some terrific pinot noir. The only nit to pick is that for about the same price MEV provides more depth and complexity (this is declassified Alpine/Horseshoe fruit). In the final analysis, a lovely wine which I would rather see in the $30 to $35 price range.
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7/23/2012 - mjf@ulkner wrote: 90 Points
Nice entry level Cali PN. Aromatics that fill the room. Medium bodied, with tangy fruit and cherry cola flavors. Some nice notes of damp earth. Very refreshing and quaffable.
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7/22/2012 - wineaux2 wrote:
This bottle was very different than the previous ones I've tried as it was much more expressive on the palate with darker fruits and cola. Over time, the cola component acted like a weed and really dominated the red fruit and spice notes. Still a nice drink and seemingly going through an intriguing evolution.
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7/22/2012 - MusignyBlanc wrote: 93 Points
PnP'd and then enjoyed over an afternoon. Initially had a very distinct taste of rhubarb and strawberry, which evolved into a more cherry-like dark berry fruit. Very intense fruit, but I didn't find it unbalanced, overpowering, or hot. As stated in another note, quite "quaffable." One of the most enjoyable young Pinot's I've had in some time, and an outstanding and interesting wine.
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7/15/2012 - tdelorme wrote:
This could be pegged for a burgundy, but there are some serious gamay characteristics as well. A little crunchy, green leaves, stems, bright red fruit for days -- and a quaffer. Some new world ripeness and sappiness brings this back to CA. As interesting as it is delicous...
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6/29/2012 - Nutty08 wrote: 93 Points
Interesting floral nose of dark cherry fruit, licorice, grapefruit, some stems, and spice. Palate has a racy cut, with vibrant acidity but still has a darker fruit profile. Spice adds plenty of complexity throughout. Stone on a lengthy finish with some sandalwood and touch of dry tannins. This could use several years but I keep opening them when in the mood for the style. Better than last bottle.
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6/28/2012 - kenhoeve wrote: 93 Points
This was really just a great drink, start to finish. Granted, I can easily see how it may not be for everyone based on flavor profile, but this is absolutely solid Pinot and the finest early drinking QPR Pinot to which I've had the pleasure. It is immediately approachable upon corking. The nose and palate are similar, very floral with red and black cherry, spice, and hints of stem. What I appreciate so much is how it is layered on the palate, everything is delineated so at different times you get the ripe fruit, spice, and my first time having two distinct layers of florality with darker and lighter notes. The spine of acidity and earth is subtle, but it dials back the fruit just enough to keep it lively and interesting. The fruit is cool with not a hint of heat. The spice and earth seem to oscillate back and forth, giving extra dimension with food. No reason not to drink this now or over several years, just an easy and nicely complex wine with no hardness and invisible tannin. Very very good.
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6/25/2012 - bobpsi wrote: 88 Points
1 hr decant. Moderate nose of red cherry, cola and floral wood notes. Light body, gained some weight in the glass, of sweet cherries,vanilla and sassafras. Medium finish.
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6/24/2012 - Matt T wrote: 92 Points
Wow. This was singing. Extremely well-balanced with some interesting soil notes and a long finish. This was one of the most enjoyable bottles of Rhys I have had to date. Drink or hold.
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6/22/2012 - Keith Levenberg wrote: 94 Points
Such a blast to drink this right now. In fact, this is showing much better than any of the vineyard designated wines did when we tasted through them a few weeks back. I don't think it's showing the earthiness that some of the higher end wines in the lineup often do, but it's an absolute textbook demonstration of the house style with its emphatic but classically proportioned fruit and tensile, stem-influenced spine that actually gives it real thirst-quenching power. It's not just drinkable but seriously guzzlable. And it could easily be pegged for a Burgundy. I'd love to throw this in a blind lineup with some Dujac and Chandon des Briailles.
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6/21/2012 - dgriffin3480 wrote: 93 Points
Double decanted in the morning before drinking at wine dinner that evening. Enchanting nose with dark red fruits and bramble. Beautiful rich dark red color with mid to light weight. Bramble on palate with florals, spice and mineral in the background. Nice finish. Very good AVA wine and I wish I had bought more.
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5/30/2012 - Mrbuzz Likes this wine: 92 Points
Mmmmm...satisfies a SC Mtns Pinot craving! Love the dark stem spices and florals in this.........nice fresh crushed wild berries, raspberry fruit...candied, yet not too sweet.......plenty of cranberry/orange acidity, as well as some good minerality crunch to it. Shows nice smoked stems, bright cherry pit, forest floor, sarsaparilla. Great young, fresh Pinot feel...with a little darkness! Tasty now...but will no doubt benefit with age. +pts
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5/12/2012 - soyhead wrote: 88 Points
nose - berry fruit, black pepper
mouth - an intriguing sweet transitioning into savory blend, good minerality, respectable tannins. With a bolder fruit profile this could be a homerun. With dinner, quite fine.
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5/7/2012 - rhit wrote:
Tight on the first night, but pointing in a good direction. After a day open (highly recommended) it relaxed, showing some real litheness and delicacy and (pungent) rocks and flowers. Still a bit tannic, but great restraint and a pleasure to drink.
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5/4/2012 - jc-mmb wrote: 88 Points
non blind. i do like rhys pinots. have had mostly the vineyard designates to date so that is my perspective so far. wasn't entirely sure what to expect from this and had forgotten the notes that came with it. classic pinot color. bright. nose is fair and hints of cola and cherry fruit. not much earth or complexity. this contineus on the palate. yes there is cola here, perhaps a bit too much for overall balance. but not so off putting. however the fruit here is rather simple. cherry mostly with a bit of acid structure. nothing bad here just a simple movement through the palate and seems one dimensional in that regard. didnt really hit any part of palate or tongue in a special way. but again, noting wrong here and nothing off putting. nice, but simple finish. just can't quite give this a 90.
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4/26/2012 - Hollywdbjo wrote: 79 Points
Mediocre, very disappointing. Yes, very heavy cola flavor on this, have one more to drink so will give it a second chance, but may not buy from Rhys again if I don't see any improvement.
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4/22/2012 - IamNotDrinkingAny#@!%Merlot wrote: 91 Points
Awesome fruit, cola, spiciness. Not the most complex but very enjoyable.
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4/22/2012 - mhauser wrote: 88 Points
Decanted three hours. Medium bodied. Sweet cola nose. Dusty tannins and a grainy mouthfeel make it taste like a great beaujolais. Nice fruit core. Good to drink now.
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4/18/2012 - Michael Davidson wrote:
Agree mostly with Wine Sparty below. Lots of cola, spice, and green tea on the nose. Round and full on the palate. Tasty, but not special.
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4/16/2012 - Matt T wrote: 91 Points
Upon opening, this had a nice nose. Poured an ounce taste and this was somewhat woody and definitely closed. Aerated and decanted for an hour and this continued to improve thereafter with bright cherry and raspberry fruits and good complexity. Medium length finish. Was worried about serving this to family that tends not to love pinot, but this turned out to be a crowd pleaser. Hold.
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4/15/2012 - Wine Sparty wrote: 88 Points
Put in decanter and drank over the next 3 hours, with chicken parmesan for dinner. Aroma has some cola and baking spices. Taste has light cherry, with a little tartness, as well as the cola. It was definitely an enjoyable drink, but this wasn't too special.
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4/12/2012 - domco wrote: 90 Points
Drank too soon, but finding myself with an increasing number of bottles in my cellar from wineries that I have yet to even try. I'd like to give them a few years, but do I buy more when the next offer comes? (Don't judge... if you're reading this review I bet you have your fair share in your cellar!!!) Anyway, this was really nice. C said it was like being in a strawberry patch. I think it needs to round out on the back end (and who doesn't like a nice round back end, right?). Guessing it will score higher in a few years, and now feel safe in continuing my Rhys purchases.
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4/9/2012 - B Paul wrote: 90 Points
Followed over about three hours. At this point, this is a bit rounder than the Rhys SVDs. An enjoyable, well made wine, but perhaps lacking just a bit for me at the price point.
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4/8/2012 - Burgundy Al wrote: 88 Points
Perfumed aromas to start with ripe black fruit. Palate was more one-dimensional, with plenty of sweet black fruit that in highly attractive, just a bit short and simple.
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4/7/2012 - J Huber wrote: 89 Points
Lovely wine, intriguing spice, medium-to-full body. Noticeable oak notes but well-integrated and worked with the spice.
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4/3/2012 - wineaux2 wrote: 91 Points
Nice effort from the Rhys team. The robe was a deep ruby red; the nose was densely perfumed, a hallmark characteristic of Rhys’ wines, with red fruits (predominantly cherry and red raspberry), minerals, spice, florals and stems. The palate didn’t seem closed but just wasn’t as engaging as the nose. The palate offered a muted version of the notes displayed on the nose, though this still was an enjoyable drink.
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3/31/2012 - amateurwino wrote: 92 Points
A wine that's very easy to misread if you don't give it enough time to unwind. On night one, this was unsatisfying; it had many characteristics typical of Rhys pinots - tart but present fruit with a slight citrus blossom topnote on the nose, stemmy/pine needle herbal aromatics, etc. but a streak of bitterness to the tannin, and the sum result was this was simply unharmonious. Resealed in the fridge, night 2 was much the same. Finally, on night 3 this began to unfurl, and night 4 and day 5 saw a wine that was just singing. The bitterness to the tannin had receded, allowing a sweet pinesap quality to the fruit to come to the fore. Although I wouldn't recommend drinking this now without at least a long decant, I believe in 5-6 years time, this bottling will give the single vineyard pinots a real run for their money. Keep your hands off, but load up and you will be happy you did, further down the road.
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3/30/2012 - Nutty08 wrote: 91 Points
Followed over ~3hrs. This goes through some interesting transformations with air. Almost a fruit bomb upon opening, with deep black cherry notes, but this faded with an hour of air and the wine tightened up. Nose of black cherries, licorice, saline, stems, and rose petals. Palate was finely structure with chalky tannins, and present but not assertive acidity--though the wine is balanced, focused and fine, if subtle. Some herbal, wood, and hints of ssice notes on the palate. Lengthy sandalwood/sawdust finish with some chalky stone. Big step up from the '08 Alesia, which is the Rhys I have the most experience with. Nice structure, though really not integrated at this point, but strong potential, I think. Given this a couple years to pull together.
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3/28/2012 - Rieslingfan wrote: 87 Points
Good Pinot. I very much like the cherry, berry flavors, and there's a hint of floral on the nose that accents the fruit. It's a bit hard on the palate right now, so will wait on my other bottles.
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3/26/2012 - rerail84 wrote:
Really great Pinot. Decanted for 2 hours. Fruit started to show about 3 hours into it. Very, very young. Will try again in 2 years
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3/24/2012 - Frank Murray III wrote:
It's been a while since I tasted an 09 Rhys, the last time being my April 2011 visit when I worked through all of them. This cuvee bottling was not part of that day's lineup so I'm doing this one for the first time. I've had the wine open about 30 mins so my initial impression is just that, to be followed later by some notes after the wine breathes out more fully. Listed alc is 13.3%. The aromatic signature shows the whole cluster that I recall from the other 2009s a year ago--has that smoky, cracker pepper/herb note. The palate is softer, weightier than some of the 2009s I recall from my visit, more forward here absent the minerality and cut of the other bottlings. The fruit core is pretty, lots of raspberry, cherry hard candy and then the presence of the herbal note driven from the stems. Some light tannin also lives in the finish but when emerges for me is a loamy/soily note, and pine needle, which are features I found in some of the other Rhys 09s, namely the Family Farm and Alpine. At the very end, a touch of oak arrives but it's seasoning with a brushing of cinnamon stick. I'll be curious to see how air treats this wine as we have dinner in about 2 hours......and next day, pretty much the same, maybe a bit softer in tone but there is a bit of a gamy note in the finish. For a drink window, I'd say now through 2014.
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3/23/2012 - Rob MacKay wrote: 88 Points
A nice entry point into the Rhys portfolio. This wine does benefit from a couple of hours in the decanter and then opens up with a nice balance of dark cherry fruit, a touch of smokiness, and a bit of tannin on the back end.
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3/20/2012 - sehill wrote: 88 Points
Opened and poured, this wine gave a good showing with aromatics of black cherry, plum and spice notes. The bouquet shows an underlying herbal, stem quality that at this stage does not detract from the wine. The medium bodied palate shows youthful fruit and good balance with a medium length finish. This wine should benefit from an additional year two of bottle age.
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3/20/2012 - kthornton78 wrote: 91 Points
i know, i know. too soon. but i couldn't resist as i didn't make the pick up event this weekend. initially, notes of spice and white flowers - very pretty. flavors were reticent but showed some fruit. fast forward 3 hours and the aromatics are now showing more red fruits in addition to the floral and spice notes. the flavors have softened but still show some oak and stems, but in a balanced way. dark, brooding red fruit. good acid and tannic structure. think this will be better in 6-12 months, but am glad to get a preview.
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11/13/2011 - jakuda wrote:
Tasted at pickup day. No formal notes taken. Bottles were opened the day before and slow-ox'ed by the winery elves. Pretty red fruits and florals. Charming. Open and approachable, albeit simple. In the mouth it's light-medium bodied accompanied with some acidic structure and light stone and spice elements. Low oak. Comparable to the Alpines, but at a lower level. Reminds me of a young Chambolle villages. Quite approachable now. Drink now and enjoy.
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11/12/2011 - yhn wrote: 90 Points
Nose - summer savory, warm, various dried and fresh herbs, green bamboo shoot, peppermint, deep fruit in the background.
Nice savory and wood spices, cranberry with black cherry, dusty/chalky tannin, hint of mintiness.
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11/12/2011 - xwine wrote:
Tasted at the Nov. 12, 2011, pickup day. A blend of Alpine and Horseshoe fruit (50/50). Lovely spice on the nose, with nice red fruit. The palate is fairly lean and focused, showing the stem inclusion a bit (though not in a bad way), and has pretty red fruit to back it all up. While approachable now, I imagine this needs another year before getting into it (or roughly six months after release?).
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11/12/2011 - Steve Brickley Likes this wine: 92 Points
Tasted at pick-up day. Darker shade of purple; earthy, fruits, brambly, forest floor, pepper; closef, good acid bite, light fruit style. Promising and very pleasing. Although I suugest 2014-2018 drink window, it is accessible sooner.
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