TN: 2014 Rhys Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard

2014 Rhys Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (2/3/2018)
Without actually planning it, I have been consuming a 375 ml of this wine every six months since it was released. The first two, opened 12 and 6 months ago respectively, did not show all that much. This bottle started to deliver a much more open and interesting expression of Pinot Noir. Red fruit, touches of baking spice, and a little bit of fresh herb gave way to finely structured, but notable tannins. Neither of my prior bottles really showed the tannic backbone of the wine, probably meaning there was just so much new fruit that it could not come through. This was a welcome change, since I have always been searching for some tannin to offset the copious fruit in California Pinot Noir. The fruit/tannin balance seems to be correct. My remaining 375ml bottles may be opened at the same pace, but I have some confidence in letting the two 750ml bottles settle down for a nap, and hopefully develop some additional complexity.

Posted from CellarTracker

1 Like

Buek, here is a refresh to your TN from last year. The wine continues to age well and this does contain the structure you wanted, enough too for helping it continue to age. I do like the terroir that comes through, too.

  • 2014 Rhys Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (11/3/2019)
    Haven’t opened one of these for about 3 years so was eager to see how it was evolving. I opened the bottle yesterday, with a few ounces remaining in the bottle stored in the fridge overnight. The aroma on this is distinct, what reminds me of a savory cherry, with a piercing kind of spice and some rose petal. The flavors ring true for what I often find in Bearwallow, which is a loamy/soil note, even a little gamy, with bright, delineated cherry, tangy red apple, mushroom and some lingering tannin. The finish has good length, allowing the cherry and soily quality to linger. Some years I really like Bear, and others I don’t find it up to the standards I have for Alpine and Shoe, but in 2014 the Bear really shows well and this should continue to age well, too.

Posted from CellarTracker

Thanks for the update.

1 Like

Kind of in your mindset, David. From April of this year from full:

"2014 Rhys Bearwallow Pinot Noir

Opened day of and slow-oxed. Somewhat earthy but also ripe aromatics give way to a still-young palate but also with a hint or richness of fruit and some sappiness to it too. While I’ll keep my other 2 bottles to see how they evolve, I’m wondering whether or not I like Bearwallow as a vineyard that expresses AV to me (I do think I prefer e.g. Ferrington, Valenti, Cerise, Savoy)."

Thanks for the check-in on this.

Mike

2014 Rhys Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (7/13/2021)
– decanted approx. 90 min. before initial taste –
– tasted non-blind over approx. 90 min. –
– 375 mL –

NOSE: red-fruited: warm red fruits, slightly baked; bitter orange peel; medium+ expressiveness; not obviously tertiary, funky, or stemmy.

BODY: medium-light to medium bodied.

TASTE: open; red-fruited and straightforward; kind of RRV-esque; acidity is medium to medium+; not tight; not funky; lacks drive/energy; Drink Now. Gut impression score: 88.

2014 Rhys Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley (12/30/2022)
This wine continues on a strange and often unappealing path. Tonight’s bottle was lightweight and tart, as if it had been diluted with 10% tap water.

1 Like

My most recent tasting note. Short of the Family Farm and Home wines, still seems to be one of my less intersting SV Pinots that they do.,
PnP, would have benefitted with a short decant as it took about 30 minutes to open well. Nice aromatics with strawberries, spice, black cherries. Similar flavors with some earth added. More complex and showing better than previous years. good acidity in a medium finish. Slightly tart in the finish.

1 Like

Prior to even beginning our Bearwallow project Kevin sent us bottlings of the 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 wines. I realize none of these are the 2014. However, what we discovered was the 15-17 were good if not great wines with one of them (can’t remember but I think it was the 15) having an odd funkiness to it. The 19 however was outstanding. A thrilling wine. Apparently the 19 was the first year that they began making that wine in their Ukiah location as opposed to Santa Cruz (not sure if I have that location correct) and I think that showed. Far be it for me to say that distance matters since we tricked the fruit hundreds of miles but I think having a facility that was doing a limited part of overall production helped significantly in upping the direction of this bottling. This is literally 2 cents, at most, worth of information drawn from an unreasonably small sample size and tiny amount of information.

The 28 barrels of 2022 remain some of the most fascinating wines in our cellar.

2 Likes

Well I have a couple of bottles of the 2019 (part of their 500 ml bottle futures sampler pack), so I will grab one soon and report back!