2006 Rhys Alpine "Hillside" PN

2006 Rhys Alpine “Hillside” PN - 13.9% alcohol
A rare duck, to be sure!
Youthful deep purple/red, right to the edge.
Rich nose of black cherry, blood, clove and salt.
Powerful, ultra-minerally, ferrous black fruits, anise entry led to a long finish with fine acid and ripe tannins.
Definitely improved with time in the decanter, but this pup isn’t a baby, it’s a fetus!
IMO, this could be a 30 yr wine. I wouldn’t touch another one for 5-15 more years.
For now: [94 pts] with a significant likely upgrade given several more years aging.
Alas. this wine will likely outlive me…

TTT

Nice. Sounds like it is developing well. My note from 2010 says to re-visit in 2015 but I have yet to try again. Might dig one out for Turkey Day or something.

Cheers,
Jason

Paul,
Thanks for the post; I had been thinking of opening one of mine soon.
I just looked up the wine in CT, and it lists a drinking window of 2009-2012 based on James Laube’s review in WS. I hadn’t opened that page in years, and there are a lot of CT TN’s posted now. Many also suggest it needs time.
Thanks for opening one and posting, and stopping me from opening mine!
Cheers,
Warren

Jason.
Seriously.
Wait at least five more years. AT LEAST!

TTT

Thanks for this. I was planning on digging out my 2 bottles of this soon, but I guess I can put off that archaeological dig.

Coincidentally, my tasting group had 6 Rhys Pinots (and 2 Alesia Sonoma Coast) from 2004-8 on Thursday. '06 Alpine Hillside was one of them. It was by far my favorite of the group. Great texture and balance. Just delicious. It was also the one wine that wasn’t overwhelmed by stem inclusion. I don’t mind stems in Pinot Noir, but the other 5 were too tart and green for their own good because of them.

Yeah, I wouldn’t touch another bottle for at least 5 years.

If you have '04 Family Farm, watch out. It’s a real brett bomb. I think the running of the Kentucky Derby passed through that wine. I don’t mind some brett in Rhone varieties, but I dislike any in Pinot.

Hadn’t heard of that problem in 2004, although I only go back to 2006. 2009 is a well known issue. 4 of 5 have been dumped due to brett. Rhys has said they will cover the cost of those wines because of the brett issue.

The 2004 issues were discussed in another recent thread that is best left for dead (not because of the info, but because it was quite contentious for other reasons). 2009 FF issues are also very well known.

Yes, I can vouch for both. Though the good bottles of each are very good.

2004 Family Farm might be my favorite Rhys pinot to date. I’ve also had good luck with my 2009 Family Farm, but the bottles have always stayed nice and cold.

As I’m sure you know, cellar storage has nothing to do with whether a bottle is bretty or not. Like a wine that’s corked, it’s there from the start.

Before Thursday’s tasting, I had never tasted a Rhys Pinot (lots of Alesia) so I came in with no preconceptions on how they should be.

“Brett” usually refers to the compounds (4-EP and 4-EG) produced by the yeast genus brettanomyces, but some people confusingly use it to refer to the yeast itself, too. The yeast thrives in barrels, so if brett is produced there it’s just in the wine (then, any control to prevent any further activity would just keep it at that level). But, if the living yeast makes it into bottle, brett certainly can be produced in bottle as a factor of nutrient availability, temperature and time. Happens all the time. A wine seems fine at bottling, then brett develops later, or does in some bottles and not in others, or to varying degrees from one bottle to another.

I’ve grown somewhat brett averse, but didn’t mind it in that bottle. Seemed pretty mild to me. To be fair, our group voted the '04 FF 4th of the 9 wines, with the most first place votes (4 of 15, including mine). The '06 Alpine Hillside was our group’s 3rd place wine.

Wes,
Did you write that tasting up somewhere?

TTT

Just scribbles in a notebook.

Opened one yesterday with Zach Mancini. Slow oxed for 6 hours. Each glass got better and better.

Still dark in color, verging on full bodied but not in any way heavy. Excellent acid to keep things in check. Still has fruit up front with some tertiary notes emerging. Nice rose notes from whole cluster. Builds in intensity in the mouth with a long finish. Zach said it was his favorite Rhys to date, yeah it could be mine too.

This wine will easily hold for 5-10 more years.

Definitely my favorite rhys to date! It tasted so young! The freshness and acidity in the wine was outstanding. The fruit was so clear and concise yet you still got the tertiary flavors you were looking for. Definitely can go another 10 years imo. Great bottle glenn!