This wine demands several hours in the decanter or a few more years in the cellar. It starts to open after 2+ hours of decanting and only then shows the amazing potential.
Very Northern Rhone in character with scents of black fruits, charcoal and stems florals after being reticent during the initial phase.
Full bodied without heaviness the flavors of black fruits and chalky minerals linger for a long time with good trailing acidity. Very well balanced with upside potential.
Needless to say I am very impressed and this is the best non Northern Rhone Syrah I have tasted. Bravo.
Sounds great. I just checked CT and see that I have a couple in the cellar. Its now the #1 candidate for 12/25.
Paul, you must decant and there is plenty of sediment to boot.
Appreciate the note, Glenn. Sounds great. Doubtful that I’ll be able to hold out a few years before popping my first one. I’ll make sure that the decanter is at the ready.
This is a beautiful Syrah, no doubt. Rhys does fantastic things with the grape, and I’m a bit sad to see the skyline version go.
Related, I had a Reynvaan this weekend that blew my mind. I was down on them my first go, but I found a straggler in the cellar. With a little rest, these turn into one of the most fantastic expressions of non-Northern Rhone Syrah I have tasted. A serious contender / compliment to what Rhys is doing with the grape.
Which Reynvaan? Their pricing, ouch.
I am moving into the camp that my favorite Rhys wines are their Syrahs.
Glenn - 2012 Hills. Agree pricing hurts. I picked up all of them because Cayuse was showing me no love on the Syrah front. Not sure what I’ll do going forward, but these Reynvaans are something unique.
I still love the Rhys Pinots but can certainly see why their Syrahs could be anyone’s favorite. It really is too bad they budded over the Skyline.
Jody,
I miss Skyline Syrah as well. Meanwhile we will soon have Syrah coming online from Bearwallow as well as more Skyline Pinot. It was a very tough decision but I think still the right one…
Completely understand Kevin, even more so if I still get my bottle of Pinot after missing the fall offer. Looking forward to the Bearwallow, didn’t know you had Syrah there - that site is coming along nicely!
Yes! Extremely disappointing as I’ve been buying those wines for years and thought they were a great value back when they were $40ish. I just got an offer last week and passed because I was amazed at how expensive they’ve become. I’m on the Cayuse list and the price difference was basically negligible.
Very nice note on the Rhys. Think I have some '08 Horseshoe in the cellar.