Bearwallow has really improved by leaps and bounds since the first vintage. Plus it shares the same soil as Kiser En Haut which makes it doubly interesting.
FWIW, I’ve been following Rhys from the very beginning and I got no Skyline allocation either. I’m not offended.
i’m offended on your behalf
For those thinking about Bearwallow, Rhys does have all the professional reviews on their site:
Meadows - 91 (higher than Alpine and Family Farm)
Galloni - 90 (lowest of the estate wines, 1 point below FF, but above the Alesia)
Gillman - 91+(lowest of the estate wines, but above the Alesia)
Raynolds - 93 (tied with Alpine and Family Farm, and 1 point below the other estate wines)
So the critics have it on the lower tier of the estate wines, but certainly in the company of them and arguably in the same tier as FF and Alpine for this release).
I’m a little torn on it, but haven’t tried any vintages other than 2008. That said, if it was all i was offered i’d definitely buy the 4, wish list some others, and be in for later vintages. I suspect you will get offered Family Farm and probably also Horseshoe and Alpine in 2012 if you get in this time round.
Given the meager quantities of other Rhys bottlings, I suspect you are out of luck in terms of getting any of them to fill out the 4 bottle minimum, but it may be worth asking if your Alesia order can be credited toward the minimum since they plan to ship both at the same time.
They clearly communicated what would be allocated so there should be no surprise about the Bearwallow. Maybe the minimum is a surprise. But if you’re willing to pay for any four bottles, what’s the downside? If you’re going to be on the list, you ought to try one soon anyway. Then share one with some friends who might help you buy more when the 12/13 allocations are high. Now you have two bottles to age.
For my part I’m fairly happy about small allocations. They’re expensive wines and it makes it easy to manage the bill. I do hope to get a bottle of one or both Chardonnays as they are pretty special.
I tasted them 11 months ago and made a mental note to buy each of them. They’re all very high quality and the differences are more about the site(and I think the style of the 2011s makes them especially transparent to site). If I decided to only buy some of them, I’d probably pick a/some site(s) that I wanted to follow across the vintages. I typically favor Horseshoe and Skyline in most vintages, thought the Home was particularly good in 2011. But, I’d be happy with any of them.
Regarding Bearwallow, it’s quite nice and the grapes were picked before the rains (a big problem in Anderson Valley in 2011). If you’ve only tried the 2008, remember that they didn’t farm the 2008. Because it was about to be sold, I’m not sure how much attention the former owners gave to the vineyard before it was purchased by Rhys.
-Al
Took what I could afford, wishlisted some bottles I’d love to drink, not crying over events like this allocation. I do want my 2012 half-bottles though!
I’ve loved every Bearwallow I’ve tasted (only '09-'11, haven’t opened an '08 yet) and the bottling only seems to be getting better. In general terms, I find them to lean more toward the red fruit spectrum with less tannin than the SCM wines. They see very little or no new oak and usually have a lower % of whole cluster than the SCM wines (not true across the board in '11).
The other aspect that’s gone unmentioned is that wildly varying crop levels are one of the consequences of making uncompromising wines from sites that are marginal, climate-wise. If Rhys wanted to get to full ripeness every year, ferment whatever came from the vineyard, and slap a label on it, they would just go to the central valley and be done with it. I’m more impressed that they are financially willing to tolerate the bust and boom.
That said, I’ve never tasted a Rhys wine, I just read Michael Steinberger’s descriptions at slate.com and signed up. And, unfortunately, I didn’t realize they were as expensive as they are. I got my four bottles of Alesia this year, but that was already approaching my limit. CellarTracker says that well under 1% of my bottles have been $50 or more, so I’m not in the target market for a Rhys customer. I’ll taste at the release party coming up and see if the Rhys-branded wines blow my socks off, though.
You can search for Frank Murray and my notes for more details. If you are able to get them, I really enjoyed Bearwallow, Horseshoe, Home, and Skyline pinots in 2011. Bearwallow and Home seem to be a ready for business earlier than the others in the stable but they have the guts to also age. If you like the earliest vintages of Bearwallow, then you’ll like the Alesia Alder Springs pinot, as it’s a bit big and rough tannin wise. Future vintages of Alder Springs will improve much like Bearwallow did.
So people agree that there has been an improvement for Bearwallow. It’d still have to be very good to deserve the price tag listed. In my limited experience 2011 was certainly a very good year for CA PN, with the possible exception of Anderson Valley where I feel the wines have tasted a bit more diluted.
AG’s notes on the FF uses the descriptors “wild” and “game” which in my experience are often polite code words for brett.
When we tasted last year, Frank and I noted “smoky”/peaty notes that vaguely reminded me of a Lagavulin 16yrold, but not in the flawed sense of the 2008 smoke tainted Anderson Valleys. So AG’s notes of “tar” and “volcanic” ring true for me. I didn’t think they were bretty though.
I think Family Farm has richer soils, the wine tends to have an “earthy” quality. Not bretty, but reminiscent of rich, organic earth.
The Bearwallow has definitely improved from the first vintage as they changed the vineyard management (and, I presume, learned how to handle the vineyard in the winery). In 2011, there were a series of rain storms right around the time many Anderson Valley Pinot vineyards were getting ripe. That’s what led to some diluted character (also, issues with mold). Bearwallow was picked before the rain (I think it was just before).
-Al
First time on their list (and I am a relative newbie_, I believe I got only the Bearwallow, and bought four, the minimum. I just tried one this Xmas (their 2010’s) at a tasting in NYC Josh Kurek was kind enough to organize, and I, and everyone, was very impressed. In the meantime, this last go round, I got 1 Home and 2 Family Farm, along with the Bearwallow, which under the circumstances seemed pretty good. I think they’re doing the best can and a little patience, apparently, goes a long way.
Sounds like a good theme for an offline, Kiser En Haut and En Bas and a few vintages of Bearswallow
I grabbed the remaining 3 Bearwallows I had left on the table yesterday…hopefully that will bode well for my wishlist requests!
Submitted my order today- 15 bottles from my allocation and WL’d 4 more. Very grateful for each and every bottle in this vintage.
This was my allocation as well. Left the mag and 4 Bearwallows on the table.
Cheers
Thanks for the feedback Craig, I didn’t get any info on the size of allocations via the Alesia offer (that I recall) I wasn’t surprised really but 4 bottles of a vineyard I haven’t tried, my pocket book isn’t large enough to risk that, but I still might. I did contact them and they said they wouldn’t drop me from the list just would be stuck waiting until the fall to be allocated any other wines. Still up in the air what to do since I’ve not actually had any Rhys wines, hmm hmm. 
The Bearwallow should be an even better introduction to the Rhys style than Alesia, because all aspects of its elevage are controlled by Rhys. It has been reviewed comparably to the other Rhys wines, and we are told it is reasonably approachable. What’s the dilemma?
By the way, the dilemma will only get worse as you buy more, and your inventory increases while you wait for past vintages to age. If the thought of having cases of untried wines horrifies you, run away now. If you can handle it, I believe you will be rewarded.
Finally, a note on wine mailing lists. Choosing not to buy anything is not usually the best approach to get increased allocations in the future.
Be well!