If the date works for me, I’d love to come up.
My prejudices going into this dinner about the wines and about the perfectionist tweaking Rhys does year after year:
The early Brett in some wines-- OK Family Farm – was just a minor side product. But the early seeming clumsiness across the board with stems was not. It was real, and it wasn’t Dujac. That issue is gone in recent wines, and even the old stemminess might integrate over time. Maybe. Bearwallow, for me, was initially very much an outlier, a basic clean full balanced rich very California pinot , people raved about it but I thought, and think, that was merely because it was rich and balanced, and I can get that elsewhere, many elsewheres, and I’d prefer Lutum/Chanin or Young Hagen Riddle. It was different from and my least favorite of the other Rhys pinots. Then with the 2011 for me the blast of chalky minerality on the finish suddenly arrived and here we go. Exciting in its own right.
The crew tweaks and tweaks and tweaks and that’s why I’m excited to try some old ones next to some recent ones.
Horseshoe sexy exotic complexity from the 2008 on. My comments are about Pinot but it applies to the white also.
Home: same but more soupy and indistinct. The most complete on release but not as much upside. But I have not tried one lately .
The agers. Alpine (again applies also to the white, very different from white Horseshoe). And Alpine the old Hillside, before the Reserve Hillsides. And especially Skyline. Like a great Burgundy…wait. Please. Ten years minimum. Probably true for the new Hillside Reserves but I have not opened one yet, for that reason.
Family Farm. Because they were initially priced lower, underrated. Different every year. The most interesting to learn about stem choices. Loaminess is addicting. Could have been treated from the start price wise as a top wine.
Swan Terrace. Oh. Swan Terrace. Nothing like it anywhere . Perhaps for me the most beautiful Pinot on this continent. Don’t analyze it. Just put on good music and feel it.
2009 pinots. So far, not for me.
I’ll learn more from this dinner than anyone else there. Might change my mind about all of the above.
Los Gatos is a little far for me, but this dinner seems too good to pass on… Count me in!
We could share an Uber/Lyft back to San Mateo/Burlingame if somebody goes in that direction.
If this happens in September, color me interested.
(Pssst! Bearwallow is in Anderson Valley.)
And?
I’d like to attend! Please count me in!
As God is my witness, I swear I read that as David Dennison. I need to stop with the Politics forum.
Just tasted a bunch of Rhys wines yesterday, including a couple of “moderately older” Pinots (2012 and 2013). Conclusion: they are still very, very young, and need time to develop. I would be careful about opening too many of the Pinots right now, particularly those that had higher percentages of whole cluster inclusion.
Yes I am bringing the oldest I have and probably no Skyline for that reason. I’m going to change the dinner theme now to add Older to Rhys Pinots. I’m fine with being the only attendee who has older ones.
Are we still shooting for September 17th?
I’m coming from SSF, I can probably pick you up.
Monitoring the thread…in Los Gatos for work almost every week and could swing by.
I’m told that women find Matt attractive. So I’m reluctant to add him, and have him make all of use look bad. OTOH, he’s a good guy, and has good wine, so maybe we should consider it…
I’ll announce the 17th now and see if there’s pushback
I’m out of the country from 7-21 September, so I may miss this one…
You can Skype
I’m in.
Can we divert a stream to supply water for this event?
Paul B is available too.
In with 06 Alpine