2015 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (11/17/2018)
– popped and poured –
– tasted non-blind over a couple hours –
NOSE: ripe, medium-light typical Chardonnay aromas; fennel bulb; papaya; light orange; medium to medium+ expressiveness; air exposure brings-out fruit aromas.
BODY: clear; medium-rich pale yellow color; medium-light bodied.
TASTE: Wow! This is really flippin’ good! high acidity; tangy/metallic mineral; lots of mineral; tight with the fruit (some starting peeking out at the 1 hour mark); hint of oak spice (nutmeg); 13% alc. not noticeable. Another remarkable Chardonnay from Rhys! I’m starting to wonder if Chardonnay is what Rhys does best; I think we’re going to need another 15 to 20 years to see how everything takes to age before we start making those calls, but it will certainly be interesting to watch these wines age to maturity. Assuming no rapid decline, as noted by others for a few other Rhys Chardonnay bottlings, this one’s legit. Drink Now and over the foreseeable mid-term (if not long-term) future. I recommend a decant if drinking now.
Ashley’s gut impression score: 92
My score: 50, 5, 12, 18, 9 = (94 pts.)
The 16 is as good or better, Bri. Out of 495 wines on my July California trip, it finished 7th and #2 of the winery-based wines and is on my WOTY list.
"2016 Rhys Alpine Chard
Grabs the nose and throttles it with the saline and rocks & toast. Apple underneath and grapefruit. An already-classic example, mouthwatering (as in must-have-more) lemon, minerality but it slides along with the rest of the wine. This is really fabulous stuff, beautiful gingerbread finish at the back. One of the best winery wines I’ve had on the whole trip."
Graf, thanks for the note. It reminds me of when I poured it for Frenchie and Wetrock over this past summer, and I served it to them blind. My TN is below, to go with yours and Sweater Man’s TN. I recall how impressed Frenchie was with the wine and it really surprised him when we revealed it, as he thought it was Chablis. And even Wetrock, who over the years I have knows as a tough critic and grader of wines, was also impressed by it (his TN is in CT on the same bottle, as well).
Sweater Man, LOVE the new avatar. Dig it, pal.
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2015 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (6/15/2018)
Blind Wines with Indian Food (Basanti in San Juan Capistrano, CA (South OC)): Poured blind for the table, but in disclosure this wine was from my cellar and I knew the bag #. However, I worked hard to not influence the rest of the table, and I too wanted to give the wine a fair read, as it had been a year since I last tasted one. Opened about 3 hours before we drank it, served during the meal with a chill that we allowed to warm in the glass so we could assess it across temperature. Citrus blossom aromatic, with a palate impression of bright citrus, pippin apple, slate and a sexy, creamy note. The balance and weight on this wine is dialed in perfectly, finishing with some river rock and medium structure. This is drinking spot on good and is a fine example for me of when the Rhys Chardonnay is top of the class. Excellent.
Posted from CellarTracker
Well, I won’t personally be doing any aging of this wine, as Ashley grabbed our remaining bottle for dinner last night. Looking forward to the '16, from the sounds of it!