Rhys Alpine/Horseshoe Tasting at Frank's

Chards and Pinots were bagged though we knew which wines were in each flight. Therefore only which vineyard was in which glass was unknown to us.

• 2015 Rhys Blancs de Blancs Bearwallow Vineyard

  USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley

  Very strong white grape aromas. Sweet flavored fruits on the palate. Not much in the way of doughy, citrus or autolytic characters. Much more in the vein of a lighter sparkling wine than something like a Champagne. Sort of big round fruit expression versus the smooth regalness of higher end bubbles. We ended up with a vintage Bollinger on the table next to this which really brought the differences between a classic Champagne and this wine into focus. A nice, decent sparkling wine but nothing more. The low dose is remarkable though given the sweetness of flavor. As a low dose skeptic I think the decision to hold back helped keep this wine from being a caricature and let the fresh fruit show itself off.

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• 2007 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année Rosé

  France, Champagne

  Bollinger rarely fails to let me down. Even for a vintage where only a certain subset of houses made vintage wine Bollinger still stepped up strongly. This was more elegant than Bollinger often is. Very even across the palate. Just pretty. The color was certainly different coming off as a lighter salmon shade reminiscent of an orange wine. Goes down way too easy.

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• 2016 Rhys Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Bagged but knew all but which vineyard was in which bag. Nose shows immediate honeysuckle then some sulfury wood and citrus. Light bodied and crisp. Especially in comparison to the wine next to it. Touch of a grip. The concentration level seems lower than the Alpine. Being blind that concentration made me default my guess to Horseshoe since I have little experience with this vineyard's Chards. I'd like to try this again after the oak has some time to integrate. It's a light touch and expresses more in the vein of how you smell it in a Burgundy. But I'm not certain I'd want to got longer than 10 years on this either. I found the Alpine more compelling if less classic. This was solid to good.

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• 2016 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Bagged but knew all but which vineyard was in which bag. Rich nose of lemon oil. Rich and complex palate. Compelling but not even right now. This also needs some time to integrate to me. I've found a strong depth of fruit in my previous experience with Alpine Chards so I defaulted my guess that way with this. That concentration of fruit makes me more bullish on aging this one versus the Horseshoe. This excited me a good deal more also. I wasn't convinced the acidity was really up there to keep this on an even keel but it also felt a touch clumsy in a young way. Very tasty though. Check back in 2-3 years. Maybe +5 for best results.

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• 2015 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Bagged but knew all but which vineyard was in which bag. Light bodied to look at, not showing much extraction. Nose shows some forest floor earth and celery. Young ripe Pinot fruits. Shows pretty tight on the palate. Crisper with better acids than the bottle next to it. Lots of bitter fruit skin notes with light tannin. This seemed a bit overwhelmed by the stems. Maybe the fruit will unfurl and step up but my experience with Cali Pinot and strong stem inclusion is not that positive. The fruit really needs to show some concentration to suck that up. I feel like they purposely dialed back from letter the fruit be the show in the more recent wines. On the plus side, this saw just about no air.

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• 2015 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Bagged but knew all but which vineyard was in which bag. Shows little in the way of extraction in terms of color. Young full fruited Pinot notes with touches of herby stems. Much richer and weightier on the palate than the Horseshoe. Bigger bodied but also much stronger tannin. This comes off like a wine with a lot of potential. This also saw very little air upon our tasting it which I think factors into it feeling a touch round. I'd bet on a strong future for this one. The fruit density was on display here where it was difficult to locate in the Horseshoe. This made the stem inclusion come off as spice rather then the whole show.

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• 2012 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Bagged but knew all but which vineyard was in which bag. Darker in color than the 2015's. Spicy nose showing stemmy celery notes. Compelling and juicy. light grip behind some showing acidity. touch of a bite. Needs to chill. Seems like it's a bit awkward. I believe this also saw minimal air so maybe that would have helped some. I still found it intriguing. No rush here.

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• 2012 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Bagged but knew all but which vineyard was in which bag. Darker in color than the 2015's. Earthy nose being somewhat reserved. Shows some apple skin. Tighter palate than the Horseshoe. More monolithic and round. Good grip. Touch of sort of barrel oxidation sort of note as in this is showing some age already even though it comes off as quite tight. Tough to read this one. This one also didn't see a lot of air if memory serves. The Horseshoe was more interesting this round.

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• 2010 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  This also seemed grapey in comparison to the younger wines we drank in front of it. Stemmy asparagus notes. Juicy, bright and clean palate. Quite even feeling with a light grip. Quite different than the Alpine in nearly every way. And much more interesting to drink in the moment. Could be an air thing though.

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• 2010 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Bagged but knew all but which vineyard was in which bag. Still quite grapey on the nose. This also showed a strong celery stems note. Again the Alpine was richer on the palate. This one showed some baking spice and wood notes. It also seemed simpler and a touch sharp. Almost sullen. This one also probably could have used quite a bit of air I'm guessing. Kind of brooding and really allowed the Horseshoe to steal it's thunder. But I wouldn't be worried. It seems like there is a good wine here that's just sort of sulking in how we woke it

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• 2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Swan Terrace

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Bagged but knew all but which vineyard was in which bag. Decanted about 6 hours prior to tasting. All these 08's showed tons of young fruit still, especially in comparison to the much less extracted, much younger wines in front of them. Floral, subtle sexy nose. Fleshy still. juicy yet showing minerals. Grippy. This one probably showed the best of the three. Seems like there is something a touch more special in here. Giving the showing even after plenty of air you've got plenty of time to find out. Could be playing on another level.

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• 2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Bagged but knew all but which vineyard was in which bag. Decanted about 6 hours prior to tasting. All these 08's showed tons of young fruit still, especially in comparison to the much less extracted, much younger wines in front of them. A bit roasty on the nose but otherwise not giving up much. Fleshy palate. Dense, dark berry fruits. Solid grip. This one probably showed the least of the three which is saying something. And it saw six hours of air. Go figure.

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• 2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Bagged but knew all but which vineyard was in which bag. All these 08's showed tons of young fruit still, especially in comparison to the much less extracted, much younger wines in front of them. Complex, rocky nose. Tight and very grippy on the palate. So very dense still. Almost modern showing the most ripeness of the three. But this one saw little air. Again, don't rush to open this.

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• 2014 Coessens Coteaux Champenois Vendange Entière

  France, Champagne, Coteaux Champenois

  No notes taken. I was quite intrigued with this. The couple of still wines I've had from Champagne previously I can remember not enjoying at all. This is quite good. Very old world but also showing plenty of fruit density. This could be a touch better in a couple years. Definitely leans into the more earth, savory expressions of Pinot. Very cool bottle.

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