The release just opened today. Alpine and Horseshoe vineyards. Prices at least stayed the same at $179 per including shipping.
I’ve loved every one that I have opened and luckily still have quite a few in my cellar… But passed last year at this price and another pass this year.
I stuck with it through 2018, and now I am just hoping to live long enough for them to develop some degree of maturity.
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I got three hillside. 2021 is a great year for cali Pinot so I jumped on a few.
I love these wines, but I’ve noticed auctions often have been selling these below release price now 
. Not sure if getting them at $180 direct is worthwhile anymore.
Yeh, Im on the fence as well at those price. Lots of great pinot out there and I still have a lot of hillside from the 07,08 and 09 vintages to drink.
There was no Hillside in 2008/2009.
Unless the auction discount is really significant and on 6-12+ bottles, on a sub $200 bottle of wine, is it really worth the hassle and risk (however small, assuming the auction house is legit) vs just getting it direct?
should have checked what i had before posting. ooops. yeh, 06, 07 and 13. thanks for catching my mistake. all my wine is in transport. normally i would have checked first.
I know the feeling even without transport. I have two bottles of the 2006 Hillside. Can’t find them.
Yes. There is a metric ton of Rhys available on WineBid at any given moment, at significant discounts to release pricing.
Hope you find them. Have had several bottles of the 2006 and they have all been stunning.
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I will. I just need a backhoe. 
$115-140 for horseshoe hillside of various vintages on winebid right now … before vig. The upper end comes to $177/b after vig and CA tax (shipping not included). My out the door (shipped) price was $1089 on 6 bottles yesterday or $181.5/b. And I’m 100% sure this wasn’t forgotten about in somebody’s garage for a month and that’s why they’re selling*. What am I missing?
*Is that why most sellers are selling wine? No. Does it happen? Absolutely.
If selling wasn’t a PITA I would sell maybe 2000 bottles tomorrow. None of them have been forgotten in the garage - just forgotten in the wine cellar because I bought way too freaking much wine.
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Slight aside, what benefits are there to buying list other than control of provenance. I find it disappointing that Rhys is now charging for visits. I understand its a business, there’s inflation, etc., but I miss the days where, as a mailing list member, I could arrange for a tour/visit on a goodwill basis. Given their location, its not like they get that much traffic? But I don’t know…
The benefit to being on a list depends where you live. Every wine that I purchase direct from the winery is not available through any wine store in our state. Also K&L, Wine Club, etc quit shipping to many states some years ago (although, it now appears they have found a work around). In the past, it also was a way to support the small wineries directly rather than the 3 tier system. That’s still true for some of the small wineries, but many have been purchased by large conglomerates.
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On the fence and struggling with this purchase decision. The wines are spectacular I’m sure, but the price THE PRICE…
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I joined the Rhys list for the 06 vintage and was along for the ride through the 2016 vintage, but have really cut back to only buying Horseshoe since then. Prices have just crept up too much.
Yep I believe in supporting the smaller wineries directly, but that made more sense when I felt the wineries were also rewarding the list members. With the tasting fee, and the surcharge for magnums, and the price creep to the point where it’s uneconomical by a not-small degree (vs winebid as others in this forum have pointed out), it doesn’t feel like they’re really acting like a ‘small winery’ anymore.
I get that its a business, etc., but I can’t help feeling the original winery I joined the list for is disappearing.