Composed entirely of declassed Bearwallow fruit. Lemony, lots of cut/intensity, lime zest and a touch of apple. Larry Piggins made a comment about grapefruit, which I thought was spot on. It's the acid that has that bit of edge that reminds me of that fruit. Finishes with a light lemon curd and a lift of green apple. Terrific wine.

Composed now of Alpine, 'Shoe and Pajaro declassed fruit. Touch of smokiness, rounder and spicier than the 2016 Alesia Anderson Valley we tasted next to it. Orange, lemon and lots of citrus that energizes the wine.

It shows the lemon peel that is part of the 2016 Alesia Anderson Valley, so if you like this aspect (as I very much do), than you can find that here, too. And to affirm the thinking that vineyard designate wines (like this Bear) should be a step-up from the declassed version (Alesia AV), well it really is: there is more polish and the finish really lengthens in this Bear. The purity of the lemon is on display here, along with some anise and a precise focus of flavor. Light flint infuses both the core of the wine and the finish, and it reminded me of the tactile impression that I got recently while in the Montagne of Champagne. Like the 2015, this is another good year for Bear Chard and I believe now we're starting to see what Bear Chard can be.

Spicy green apple which my notes say is 'prominent', as one would find in cutting one fresh and tasting the crisp flesh. Lime, a flinty core and lots of cut with bright acid and orange oil. For what it's worth, I thought this bottle started off shut down and kind of flat when we first had it in the glass but with air, it was allowed to unfold.

Lightly smoky, flint and a distinct jasmine flower (I drink a fair amount of jasmine green tea and I found this sweet, floral aspect). Also here was what I thought was a little bit of an oily note in the texture with an intense yellow/green apple, light pineapple and a spicy long finish of green apple skin. My last 2 words in my notes say "seductive" and "gorgeous". Beautiful stuff and Alpine reigns king again for me.

Composed entirely of declassed Bearwallow fruit. Dark apple, roasted cherry, blueberry and a touch of savory which I flagged in my notes to say "herb, but not herbal". I say this because I don't want my note to take you down the rat-hole of 'stemmy' because this is not. I failed to write down the whole cluster % on this one but I did recall a few times during the tasting us talking through the wines with the Rhys team about how the whole cluster routines have been changing, with some wines now completely de-stemmed and others seeing less %. In the end, for me this savory quality was/is more about a soil imprint, which I have found in Bear before and it is here again, which is now beginning to affirm for me that the emergence of a terroir/signature is coming through. It's a loamy note that I really dig. There is lovely balance here and this is medium weight as it crosses through my palate. I LOVED this wine and starred it as one of my WOTD for our visit. Will be easy to buy this on release and load several of them to the cellar.

Composed of declassed singe vineyard fruit and I didn't right down the vineyards but given the small circle of options that these could be, it's not hard to guess. Solidly red fruited with lots of intensity shown through iron, herb (not herbal), a distinct pomegranate and it adds more plushness than the 2016 Alesia Anderson Valley (which is entirely declassed Bearwallow). The fruit here is just a bit richer than that wine yet the structure is higher, too. Man, these new Alesia AVA bottlings in 2016 are good.

Shows a more rugged quality, a deeper fruit than the 2016 Alesia AV PN, yet I don't feel that this Bear has the balance yet of the Baby Bear (my nickname for the 2016 Alesia AV PN). It doesn't show the definition of that wine yet either. What is here is red apple, richer, with astringence in the finish. I also didn't find the soil note, the loam that I got in the Baby Bear so I just don't think the Bear is ready yet, as polished as the Baby Bear wine. Also of note, if you are into the fuller picture of the Bear site, we also have the Porcupine Hill bottling coming from it and I found that wine showing very well in comparison to this regular Bear so either call my palate off on the Bear, or call Kevin and Jeff's composition of the Porkie Hill some wise blending. I consistently like the Bear bottling in past years so I will re-taste after the wines arrive in the future and scope it again. FWIW, I tasted Bear this past February and found it more composed.

Juicy, spicy and has the quality that showcases the same delineation that I found in the 2016 Alesia AV bottling (which is all declassed Bear). This Porkie shows the roasted cherry quality and intense finish that was more akin to that wine, too. Balanced, with great definition and uniquely has the structural coil of the 2016 Bear bottling which I noted in my note for that wine. I know all this sounds a bit confusing because we have one vineyard--Bearwallow--creating the juice for three wines: Alesia AV, Bear and Porkie Hill but this helps explain why I make comments here about aspects of each that show up in one, and yet not in the other. Ultimately, I find the Porkie be intense, red fruited, with acid and herb.

Plush and round, and I found this to be open-knitted and easy to enjoy. Juicy red fruit with a plum flesh, a little bit of cedar and then a plum skin note in the finish. Delicious.

Pepper (100% whole cluster but this isn't stemmy, yet it does give this some of a pepper signature). Hard cherry candy, spicy with some kiwi. My notes say high-toned, which as I look back is a pretty meaningless term so my sense is that I got stuck in trying to describe the intensity and the edges in the wine. Red fruited, with rose water and some finishing tannin. I'd like to re-taste this again but I don't have this option so if you need some added perspective, look up Brig Campbell's note, as he tasted from the same bottle.

Pungent aromatic, a floral and spicy thing going on that I really enjoyed (FWIW, this is one of the few Rhys PNs that still see 100% whole cluster). My notes say this: "Power + Intensity + Structure". It also has the loamy/soil imprint of the Bearwallow, a wet earth kind of thing. Deeply red fruited, with beautiful depth perfect ripeness and a light jammy quality in the finish. Another WOTD for me, a wine of real class.

Initially, seemed a little reduced to me in the glass but it blew off with air. The bouquet is fragrant (30% whole cluster) and the core of the wine has an intense, concentrated pomegranate that is rich, along with red cherry. The richness here is a pure red-fruited flavor that is sexy yet not cloying. Delicious.

This was poured next to the 2016 Alpine so we could do a side-by-side. The color on the Swan is darker. 100% whole cluster and it emits a bit of that quality in prickly, stem note in the aromatic. Pomegranate, cherry, lots of primary fruit, reminding of a wine that is more like a barrel sample, full of fruit, power and youthfulness. I noted too that the Swan does have similar expression of the Alpine, yet seems to be evolving more slowly.

Gamey, smokey aromatic with some pepper but let's get it out of the way that this is totally destemmed. I don't want anyone running off into the ether and thinking it's stem, stem. Dark red fruit that shows a depth, supporting acidity, kiwi and reminds me of the fruit character of the 2016 Bearwallow. Not sure I have found red apple in 'Shoe before but it was in this bottle plus strawberry and finishing spice. Fantastic wine, and also has my big star in my notes, of my top 3 wines of the whole day, along with the 2016 Skyline and 2016 Alesia AV PN.

Black pepper, purple flower aromatics. Cherry, juicy, lavender, medium weight, spicy and a tangy finish. This is suave and balanced and several comments I heard at the table was WOTD. I didn't log it as mine but I did like this wine a lot.

Light petrol, an oily note in the aromatic plus a stoniness and apple. The palate (and confirmed by a second bottle we had over 48 hours) is the core of this wine shows a green banana (credit to Sean Kennedy for getting his head around this comment and putting it out there), along with lime and what I keep wanting to call a green tropical. I'm not even certain a 'green tropical' exists so think perhaps of melon or guava, or both. Medium in weight and a lithe texture.