November 2, 2023 - Tried decanting after my bottle from a year ago, and still had the same experience of dominant pungent reduction. I worried about cork taint on the nose, but the palate showed no signs of it, so I don't think that was the problem. Also the fact that this is the second bottle showing similarly. Just a weird experience that is an outlier with Rhys Chardonnay for me going back to the 2006 Alpine. My last bottle, and I'm not sorry to see it go.
August 19, 2023 - Lemon gold color. Scents of lemon oil, oyster shell and pineapple. Looks advanced, but the palate is seamless pear and lemon custard flavors with a core of bright concentrated acidity. Finishes long and smooth with a touch of lemon and minerals. Very nice. I would drink up if you have some as they will not be as good once the acidity fades further. This bottle was perfectly stored at cellar temps. I think the notes on flawed or advanced bottles are probably from less-than-optimal storage.
April 21, 2023 - This bottle was sound, though I was worried when the cork spun in the bottle as I put the worm in. Light gold color. Pleasant lemon and butterscotch nose. There is some acid in there but the palate overall feels flat and flabby, with little flavor impact. Simple, short finish.
Update: after a couple of hours of air, this gets a lot more interesting, heading towards the Coche style. Lots more length, compelling match stick reduction.
August 22, 2022 - Advanced
August 9, 2022 - 2nd bottle down the drain. Oxidized by not quite as badly oxidized as the first, and marginally drinkable if I didn't have anything else. Fortunately, I did have something else.
April 24, 2022 - Very dark, sherried appearance. Badly oxidized. Have another bottle, so afraid of more money poured down the drain. Oddly, cork was pristine whereas many of my other aged Rhys chards have bubbled capsules and leaking corks. The few I've tried in that condition have not been sherried, but maybe didn't wow as much as expected. I bought these after being burned by prematurely oxidized white burgundies thinking they would give a similar profile and aging potential without that risk. Guess I was wrong. Time to drink up the Rhys chard to cull the cellar of what's gone bad and enjoy what's good while it lasts. It's not a storage condition issue because the bubbled capsules/leaking corks are unique to the Rhys chards and a couple Rhys pinots.
December 4, 2021 - Light gold color. Very reduced on opening, with pungent matchstick that really obscured the rest of the nose. The flavors were round and appealing though. Vigorous swirling didn't do much, but after 1.5-2 hours of air, the reduction began to blow off and a splash decant of the final third of the bottle resolved it. The nose finally began to show a briny mineral note over a base of peach fruit. Very interesting and quite nice. The palate was round and rich with fruit without any sense of viscosity or heaviness, just maturing fruit flavors. The finish carries on for a bit but isn't especially complex. This was more of an interesting experience than a pleasurable one, but I learned something. If you're opening this, I would recommend an aggressive decant to get some air into the wine and then some time in the decanter before serving. I think you'll see more of what the wine has to show. To me, this bottle is likely at or near plateau, and I'll probably open my other bottle within the next couple of years.
October 3, 2021 - This was amazing. And….my wife opened it last night when I wasn’t home so, after a day of being in the fridge, it’s still singing. Wow
April 25, 2021 - Rich and fully mature apple with baked apple notes. Enough brightness to remain interesting, but not perfectly harmonious with some protruding new oak and slightly lacking acidity. Much better than another bottle tasted two years.
February 28, 2021 - On day one this was very, very reduced. I tried decanting, but that didn't help. I couldn't get past it, so put it back in the fridge after we had poured about a quarter of the bottle. Day two was a completely different story. Lovely aromas centered on perfectly ripe pear. Flavors of white and yellow fruit, with some citrus and a mineral component. Good acidity. Turned out to be a very nice wine. Drank from Zalto Universals.