Rhys
About Rhys
Perched almost entirely on the steep Santa Cruz Mountains, Rhys Vineyards has long been something of an insiders’ secret. Owner Kevin Harvey has been a champion of the Burgundian terroir-focused approach to viticulture in the region, crafting an extensive range of single-vineyard and single-plot cuvées, most of which we are delighted to present below.
Having made wine casually since 1995, Rhys itself was founded in 2001 to almost immediate critical acclaim with a careful selection of individual plots on the mountainside and very high-density plantings. Since the very beginning, Harvey’s focus has been Pinot Noir, but Chardonnay is a close second love and his passion for these varietals has garnered ardent praise from many, including one of the world’s most influential Burgundy-focused critics, Allen Meadows (Burghound).
“Owner Kevin Harvey and winemaker Jeff Brinkman have once again created some genuinely remarkable wines and in particular the Swan Terrance is nothing short of brilliant! Readers should be aware that the Rhys wines are clearly fashioned in a built-to-age style and thus are most assuredly not intended to show their best young. Thus I would suggest that if you're going to buy them do so with the intent to allow for at least a few years of bottle age”
Allen Meadows (Burghound)
-
Vinous (95+)
The 2018 Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard opens with striking, floral-infused aromatics that give the wine presence and structure. Savory and finely cut, with superb delineation, and tons of depth, the Alpine is positively stellar today. Layers of fruit enshroud the tannins, making them barely perceptible. The 2018 is a stunning Pinot from Alpine, a site originally planted with 17 heritage clones.HK$8,115.00 -
Wine Advocate (96+)
The 2019 Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard trades places with its Horseshoe neighbor in this vintage, beginning with a reticent, dark-fruited nose of fresh herbs, black tea, black pepper and allspice that steadily gains momentum. It is superbly elegant and restrained on the palate, with a pleasing undercurrent of sumptuous dark fruits and finessed but persistent tannins. The length and persistence of the finish are spectacular and, in this vintage, is what narrowly edges out the Horseshoe bottling. I find it endlessly fascinating to compare the two as they are consistently neck-in-neck and impressive shapeshifters in the glass.HK$5,420.00 -
Vinous (96+)
The 2019 Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard is a powerful, searing wine. I am not sure I have tasted a Bearwallow with this much sheer intensity. Black cherry, mocha, gravel, cloves and licorice imbue this somber, backward Pinot with quite a bit of complexity. Readers should be in no rush here. The 2019 is an exceptional Bearwallow.HK$3,890.00 -
HK$7,015.00 -
Vinous (97)
The 2018 Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard is dense and brooding. Black cherry, licorice, spice, leather, herbs and mineral accents shape this ample, beautifully resonant Pinot Noir. Diatomaceous Monterey soils estimated to be 11-15 million years old yield a Pinot of notable breadth, texture and complexity.HK$8,115.00 -
Wine Advocate (96)
The 2019 Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard is unusually wide open from the first pour, offering an immediately dazzling nose of perfectly ripe red fruits, cherry blossoms, cured meat, river rocks and petrichor. The palate is silky, suave and precise with less weight than usual, seemingly sacrificing none of the power, complexity and refreshing momentum generated with aeration. Echoing the palate, the finish is initially more subtle than explosive, nevertheless ending up at the same amazingly complex, expansive destination. As always, this does nothing but morph and gain dimension with time, as I have no doubt it will do over the next two decades.HK$5,420.00 -
Wine Advocate (94)
A stunner, the 2012 Syrah Horseshoe Vineyard sports an inky ruby/purple color to go with loads of back raspberry, cassis, licorice, toasted spice and sappy flowers. Deep, rich, full-bodied and textured, with good acidity keeping it honest, this bares more than a passing resemblance to a top-flight Cornas. It needs 2-3 years of cellaring and will keep for over a decade.HK$5,790.00 -
Vinous (96)
The 2019 Pinot Noir Mt. Pajaro Vineyard emerges from a site in the southern part of the Santa Cruz Mountains and therefore has a completely different personality than the rest of the other SCM wines in the range. Here the flavors are darker while the tannins are more incisive. Black cherry, plum, licorice, cloves and gravel infuse this brooding, muscular Pinot with tons of complexity.HK$4,140.00 -
Vinous (97)
The 2019 Pinot Noir Porcupine Hill is a beautifully translucent, nuanced Pinot that shows the heights of finesse that are possible in Anderson Valley. A wine of unreal subtlety and nuance, the Porcupine Hill hits so many high notes. Crushed red berry, mint, spice, tobacco, cedar, rose petal and espresso build over time. As always, the Porcupine Hill Pinot is sourced from high-density blocks on the property and is done with minimal whole clusters.HK$9,475.00 -
Wine Advocate (96)
The 2019 Pinot Noir Swan Terrace bounds from the glass with a blue-fruited, floral aromatic intensity that initially feels more composed and collected than the exuberant Alpine bottling. The palate is exquisite and lifted, with a suave, silky polish that unfolds into a layered but inward finish laden with sturdy, chalky tannins and delicious dark fruits. The most in need of integration and softening of the non-Hillside 2019s, this will be a fun wine to track, especially next to the Alpine bottling from which it derives.HK$6,895.00
