Rhys Vineyards Tour

I had the good fortune to tag along on a tour of the Rhys Vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  Here are my notes on the wines, with some extra notes on the soils (since that is partly why I was there).

2007 Alpine Chardonnay (13.5% alcohol)  A touch of sulfur on the nose, with a rich citrus character on the palate, with an underlying chalky and saline note that might suggest Chablis, although I did not find quite the weightlessness I look for in a Chablis proper.  A very bright and energetic Chardonnay, however…

2007 Alesia Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir  Apparently a blend of the Freestone and Chileno Valley vineyards, this 60% whole cluster wine showed the greenest, stemmiest profiles of the wines sampled.  The palate is medium bodied, dominated by red fruit, with an intense, mineral-driven finish that sweeps those green notes away.

2007 Alesia Green Valley Pinot Noir  The green stemmy notes are gone here, replaced by an intense sour cherry flavors and red rose and high-toned red cherry notes on the nose.  A step up from the Sonoma Coast…

2007 Alesia Falstaff Pinot Noir  This shows a pure floral nose of roses with an undercurrent of mineral dust and an even fainter whiff of green stems.  The medium-bodied fruit here is very pure, and the finish is the longest yet, with fine tannins emerging with a touch of dry extract.  My favorite of the Alesia lineup…

2007 Rhys Family Farm Pinot Noir (13.3% alcohol)  This is grown on clay-rich alluvial material developed on a gently sloping surface, within a stones throw of the San Andreas Fault.  The green stemmy nose reappears here, although not quite at the same level as in the Alesia Sonoma Coast.  This lacks the richness and intensity of fruit of the best Alesia examples, although the acidity and red raspberry/cherry notes emerge more clearly on the finish.

2007 Rhys Home Pinot Noir  (13.8% alcohol, 100% whole cluster, only 1.5 barrels made)  This is grown on decomposed Whiskey Hill sandstone, on the other side of the San Andreas Fault.  An interesting contrast with the Family Farm wine, this shows a much brighter cherry character with an intensely spicy finish.  The delineation here is markedly better than the slightly fuzzy Family Farm.  Best length yet of any of the wines tasted, the finish goes on for half a minute at least.

2007 Rhys Skyline Pinot Noir (12.8% alcohol)  Grown on Lambert Shale within the San Lorenzo Formation, with pebbly soil apparently giving way to fractured shale at very shallow depth.  This shows a beautifully spicy palate with an intense red fruit finish.  The nose here is spicy rather than floral, with a sneaky length on the building finish.  With the weightless initial attack, one doesn’t quite expect the intensity of flavors and minerality that emerge.

2007 Rhys Alpine Pinot Noir  (13.3% alcohol)  Grown on crumbly Purisma Formation shale situated below about 20 inches of soil.  Here there is a touch of green stems of the nose, with red fruit tinged with some chalky, dusty notes.  The entry is silky, but again the length is sneaky here, with the impression that the dusty crumbly shale is buffering the fruit, making for a smoother less aggressive profile than we find in the Horseshoe that follows.  Again, this is another weightless wine with almost surprising intensity of flavor, especially on the impressive finish.

2007 Rhys Horseshoe Pinot Noir (12.2% alcohol)  Grown on the fractured but otherwise compact Monterey Formation, the soil here is a mixture of almost hand sized rocks and finer material.  Silky initial attack, almost unprepossessing, but then the great purity of fruit and intense flavors gradually emerge on the finish.  The nose here is probably the most reserved of those in the lineup, although a red cherry note emerges with vigorous swirling.

2006 Rhys Alpine Swan Terrace Pinot Noir (13.9% alcohol)  Grown across the hill from the “regular” Alpine on a very steep slope, this lacks a little bit of the depth of the 2007, but is showing quite well due to the floral red fruit nose and the intense red cherries on the mid-palate.  The spiciness of this wine emerges strongly on the back end, with the impressive finish lasting close to 30 seconds.  This will be an interesting one to check on in 2007.

2007 Rhys Skyline Syrah (13.8-13.9% alcohol)  The first year of this new wine, this was described as less floral than the Horseshoe Syrah, but you wouldn’t know it tasting it by itself.  To me, this showed a floral violet nose of exceptional purity, with a mid-palate showing notes of licorice presented with a very silky mouthfeel.  This is a beautifully balanced wine all around and should really improve with age.