Revisiting Rhys Chardonnay 2006 - 2011

After reading some concerning notes in another thread about Rhys Chardonnays, I decided to grab all in cellar, line them up and see what I have and go thru them over the next couple weeks.

Turns out there is 2006 - 2010 Alpines, a 2011 Horseshoe and a single 2009 Santa Cruz. Why not start at the beginning so 2006 and 2007 Alpine tonight with folks in town. Added 2009 and a flawed 2010. Newly added 2008. So far very high quality Chardonnays, but vintage dependent for my tastes. Will revisit 2010 after corked bottle.

2006 Rhys Alpine Vineyard Chardonnay
Cork was a bit of a bugger to get out, but the ah-so managed it cleanly. Color pours as light straw, no hint at 12 years of age. Nose is white flowers, spice, lemons, guava, hint of pineapple. Palate is surprisingly rich with almond skin, lemon, green and yellow apple and bright acidity. Finish is long. No problem putting this in a lineup with any California Chardonnay. Awesome wine.

2007 Rhys Alpine Vineyard Chardonnay
Cork a little more fragile than 2006. Color pours a medium straw. Nose has yellow apple, marzipan, yellow flowers, spice and lemon, definitely more mature than the 2006. Palate mirrors the nose, more mature with bruised apple, lemon, spice and bright acidity. Less balanced than 2006 as the acidity is a bit more than the fruit leaving it a tad off balance. Solid, if unspectacular bottle of Chardonnay, but far prefer the 2006 by a wide margin, of course I only had 1 of those…

2009 Rhys Alpine Vineyard Chardonnay
Color pours a tad darker than the 2007. Yellow apple, lemon, orange zest and pineapple with a touch of spice, less than previous two wines. Palate is ripe and shows medium minus acidity. Yellow fruits and missing a bit of zip to really balance and flesh out the palate. So far my preference is 06, 07, 09 in that order.

2010 Rhys Alpine Vineyard Chardonnay
Boo. Corked. Have one more I’ll have to revisit.
Oh well.

2008 Rhys Alpine Vineyard Chardonnay
What a great nose of apple, honeysuckle, spice, almond skin and meyer lemon. Palate shows a menagerie of yellow and green fruits giving it balance, with a floral element, cardomom and a touch of residual oak. Really well balanced and my second favorite revisiting these to the 2006.

Popped a 2015 Alpine tonight. First sip was, “Damn. This wine is flippin’ good!!!”

I opened a 2009 Alpine Chardonnay on Wednesday: Drinking younger than the last bottle I tried, well integrated oak, pure Chardonnay fruit with a twist of tangerine, and refreshing acidity on the finish, very good.

Had a bottle of the 2014 Bearwallow Chard last night and it was lovely. Beautiful nose, a great balance between fruit and acidity on the palate.

Added 2009. 2010 was corked, will try last 2010 soon.

2009 Rhys Alpine Vineyard Chardonnay
Color pours a tad darker than the 2007. Yellow apple, lemon, orange zest and pineapple with a touch of spice, less than previous two wines. Palate is ripe and shows medium minus acidity. Yellow fruits and missing a bit of zip to really balance and flesh out the palate. So far my preference is 06, 07, 09 in that order.

2010 Rhys Alpine Vineyard Chardonnay
Boo. Corked. Have one more I’ll have to revisit.
Oh well.

2008 Rhys Alpine Vineyard Chardonnay
What a great nose of apple, honeysuckle, spice, almond skin and meyer lemon. Palate shows a menagerie of yellow and green fruits giving it balance, with a floral element, cardomom and a touch of residual oak. Really well balanced and my second favorite revisiting these to the 2006.

Tried to get a couple more vintages in, but a troublesome duo of 2010 Alpine and a corked 2009 Santa Cruz made another trip to cellar for 2009 and 2011 Horseshoe a necessity.

I won’t grade the other Alpines, but Horseshoe’s were both winners. Both had a great nose of spice, almonds, yellow apple, underripe pineapple and green banana. Palate has good acidity and balance to help the softer fruit side of palate with spice and flowers. Both are well aged CA Chards.

Nice exercise here, Kris. I’ve been a fanboy of the Chardonnays from the start and have been really going through these vintages over the past 18 months. I’ve nearly drunk through the supply. I drink a lot of Chardonnay and am really happy to have Rhys/Alesia as a regular on the table.

It was interesting to say the least. My takeaway is they make very good to excellent Chardonnay, and are one of the top in California, if not in the US.

As a side note they also offered to replace the 2 corked bottles and 2 oxidized bottles, so their customer service hasn’t slipped a bit. Very good team of people at Rhys.

Great to have these touchpoint notes to look at, thanks so much Kris, glad most of the wines showed well for you.

Mike

At a recent Blind Dinner, the host double blinded us on a flight of 08, 12 and 10 Alpine Chards. My call was a flight of Chardonnay, from 3 different countries. I could not identify The 08 as itappeared way too light to me, and I thought it was from an unusual origin. The '12 I was sure was a French White Burg, and I took a stab in calling it a Chassagne. The '10 I called American Chardonnay… it was a very nice flight. I really liked the '12 the most.

The horseshoe 2012 is unbelievable.

Thanks for the data point. You made me check CT to see how many I have, and Wow, its the ONLY Rhys Chardonnay I bought in OWC. I have yet to crack one …

I have loved the Rhys ‘08 Alpine chard, although I think it’s time to drink up. The ‘07 and ‘09 chard’s have not performed at the same level.

I also agree with the poster who is impressed with the ‘12. Maybe it will surpass earlier efforts?

More generally, I think the Rhys chard winemaking has improved. In fact, a recent Alesia ‘13 Chardonnay Alder Springs was really good, better than many of Rhys early efforts (and I liked the early efforts!).
Regards
Peter

Um, I know it’s tacky to dredge up an old thread just to quote (and contradict) oneself, but here goes…
Just opened our last Rhys 2009 Alpine chardonnay and it showed incredibly well, exceeding expectations. Mid-weight – really light on its feet but still compelling body; unobtrusive oak; minerally. I liked that there was no lemon, no nuttiness, just in-between chard goodness. Almost as good as the 2008! YMMV.
Regards,
Peter

Funny, I have my last bottle of '06 Alpine lined up, probably for next week. I will report.

Dan Kravitz

I had my two bottles of 09 Alpine Chardonnay earlier this year, maybe within a few months of each other. One was excellent, the other was okay but seemed to be on the downslope a bit. So it sounds like my experience tracks with yours – some bottles going along very well, some getting tired and losing their edge.

I had an 2009 Alpine Chardonnay a month ago and it was on the downward slope also. Last year, the same wine, stored the same was stellar. Can’t figure it?

I have no idea what makes you think that. IMO, the exact opposite is true.