Rhys, Alpine Vineyard Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains

Fantasticaly matured wine, that feels still somewhat youthful and full of energy.

2012 vintage

The wine displays a beautiful balance between ripe yellow fruit, subtle woody aromas, and buttery and nutty notes on the one hand, and ripe yet lively acidity that cuts cleanly across the palate on the other. The wine is currently at its peak drinking stage. A truly outstanding achievement!

2012 vintage

California Bordeaux Blends and Chardonnay at Bones Guy's Wine Night (Atlanta, GA) : Guy's Wine Night BYOB wine pairing dinner at Bones in Atlanta. Medium citrus nose. Fun light palate. Almost carbonation feel. Paired with bread and butter and Bones Fried Onion Rings with Bones sauce. Brad - heavypourwine.com

2012 vintage

Drinking great. Agree with @EhrlichDY that this is in its early maturity.

2012 vintage

Citrus and crunchy apple notes with marked acidity and a lingering tangy finish. Acidity will propel this further if muted fruit doesn't concern you. Excellent food wine.

2017 vintage

From a 375. Opens nicely, with notes of dark white fruit and a large mouth. Presented with dinner, it fades a bit into a back seat observer. Perhaps a bit over the hill?

2017 vintage

Best Rhys Chardonnay I’ve had and maybe the best domestic chard from anyone. Showing appropriate weight and roundness, fruit that has matured but not left the stage, and wonderful minerality. Medium everything and just right

2012 vintage

Outstanding bottle with loads of acidity and citrus fruit. Well balanced and drinking in early maturity. Beautiful bottle.

2012 vintage

Fresh and young from a magnum; drinking great with lots of life ahead. A fantastic bottle.

2012 vintage

Great apple and lemon curd on the nose. Maybe a touch of pineapple. The nicest kiss of French oak. Dry, nice acid. Medium finish. Blind I would have guessed a really high quality Chablis.

2017 vintage

Youthful and fresh, with rich but restrained fruit that is more Burgundian in style. Great tension and acidity -- this could easily match up against plenty of white burg's 2-3x the price.

2012 vintage

No notes taken at the time but this was a stunning bottle with no signs of falling off the edge

2012 vintage

This was just piercing with bright acids and strong citrus notes. Very much in a Chablis style and still quite young. It opened up with time in glass to some light pear and fennel but I recommend decanting if you drink it now. I will save my last few bottles.

2017 vintage

Sharp acidity, lots of green apple and citrus fruit, nicely balanced and just really tasty. Drinks much more like white Burgundy than California Chardonnay.

2017 vintage

Pnp, rich flavors of tropical fruits, pineapple, guava flower along with creamed citrus flavors and orange blossom honey notes. Seemed to get better with more time in the glass. Very much enjoyed and seemed to have a nice depth of flavor.

2017 vintage

slight VA on the nose that didn't distract the palate too much

2017 vintage

Still quite young.

2017 vintage

Decanted for 1h in morning, back into bottle and then opened at restaurant 12h after decant. Nice aromas of mild buttered popcorn, mild oak spice, ripe apples, and minerals. Palate is also very nice with tart and baked apples, lovely minerals, spices, herbs and a bit of butter popcorn. Medium+ body with nice acids that give the wine lift. Complex. Nice moderately long finish of tart apples, minerals, spices, and a touch of butter. A nice complex wine. I could …

2012 vintage

This is quite delicious. It's really in the mid-palate that this one shines. The only nit is that the nose is a little shy but boy does it shine once you drink it. Lovely finish as well. Can be enjoyed as a cocktail or with food I would imagine. Will see if any left by the time we get to some food....

2017 vintage

PnP. Wow, just a really enjoyable chardonnay if you want a crisp and clean style. This is not a buttery, over oaked style. Light to medium straw color. medium body. Aromas of lemon, tropical fruits, green apple, pineapple, light oak . Zippy flavors with lemon, green apple, orange, pineapple, and saline. Good acidity with a nice finish. Showing very well now. My last bottle, but appears to have years ahead of it.

2017 vintage

Medium hay in color, lightiy savory crushed fruit nose; quite rich on the palate, but nothing overripe or sweet, with the now quintessential Rhys wild honey note, excellent acidity, touch of saline, but the richness cuts through everything, fading slowly on the long finish. Maybe could use a skosh more complexity, but a delicious wine.

2017 vintage

Lovely vibrant nose of fresh orchard fruits, some reduction, melon, lemon; super well balanced, the most acidity of the 3 ('10, 12, 14), lots of spirit, really well-balanced and still youthful. this could go another 4-5 years (or more?) but I'd drink it now with pleasure. EWG chard/cabs dinner Glendora CC.

2012 vintage

Drinking fantastic right now. Beautiful gold color in the glass with not a bit of cloudiness. Really vibrant when it first hits the mouth exploding with acid on the mid-palate. Beautiful finish. I did save about 1/3 of the bottle for day 2 and not nearly as good as day 1. The acid has faded significantly. i would therefore say drink up!! Enjoy! No use in waiting further.

2012 vintage

-- decanted 2 hrs before initial taste -- -- tasted non-blind over 1 hr. -- -- 375 mL -- NOSE: very butter, with a green/vegetal twinge. BODY: medium-dark golden yellow color; medium-full to full bodied. TASTE: medium+ acidity; rich; buttery; hint of back-end mineral; big, with no verve; 12.7% alc. is hidden; it's really Big!; Drink Now.

2017 vintage

Fragrant nose and lively bright palate with citrus, mineral, and a hint of vanilla which carries to a long finish with lovely acidity. Drinking well!

2017 vintage

A revelation. Nuts, almond skins, salt, stone, gunpowder. Fantastic integration. A wine for pleasure and a wine to contemplate. The only downside is that it's basically impossible to find in Europe.

2012 vintage

I agree with the other recent notes that this is showing very well right now. The nose was wide open with spiced apples and flowers. The fruit character on the palate has evolved away from the primary concentrated tropical character of young Alpine (e.g., pineapple) to a more relaxed expression, with pear and peach predominant, livened by harmoniously integrated but still snappy acidity. The finish grips the middle palate impressively as its flavors echo the aromas.

2012 vintage

Crisp pear, apple and minerality

2017 vintage

PnP. Crisp and clean with a purity of fruit and tension, very enjoyable. Light to medium straw color. medium body. Opens with lemon, tropical fruits, green apple, . Zippy flavors with lemon, green apple, orange , saline. Good acidity with a nice finish. Showing very well now.

2017 vintage

Matchstick, chamomile, baked lemon, orchard fruit

2012 vintage

PnP. Medium light greenish-gold. Nose of orchard fruits, a hint of coconut/oak with a touch of herbs. Good intensity and density of fruit on the palate with excellent acidity and a long finish. The fruit is really in the background which makes this seem more old world and in my experience is often characteristic of St. Cruz mountain Chards. This might develop more complexity with age but not sure. Lovely wine.

2012 vintage

First of my 375s and this one feels a touch tired. I recently had a 2012 alpine chard that was singing, and this just doesn’t have the same pop. so my guess is off bottle

2017 vintage

Sampled from a pristinely cellared bottle that was popped and poured, this medium golden Chardonnay is immediately aromatically expressive of clementines, pit fruits, wet stones, jasmine, honey and chervil. Medium-bodied, crisply acidic, judiciously oaked and without noticeable alcohol (13.3%), it delivers flavors in line with the aromas and stays solid on the mid-palate. Long and energetic on the back end, this is an impressive New World Chardonnay that could easily be confused with something from Puligny-Montrachet. Comparably cellared bottles should …

2012 vintage

Very enjoyable. Drink up.

2012 vintage

From magnum- this seemed not at all like an 11 year old Cali chardonnay. Has it aged at all?! Crisp, pure, some tart acidity, with minerally lemon coming through somewhat creamy. No sense of oak that I could tell, this did well on its own, with appetizers, and even with dinner of scallops and swordfish. A subtle wine on day one - wish I’d had some leftover for day two.

2012 vintage

Double blind - the nose has a bit of coconut and new world-y oak that led most everyone to say California, but the palate has apples, minerals, excellent acidity, dense but not overripe, spoke more to Burgundy or perhaps a clean/non-oxidative Jura like Pelican. The reveal was a fun one!

2012 vintage

PnP. Medium light greenish gold. Intriguing nose of salt air, sage, and citrus. Quite light on the palate but with some roundness of the fruit to balance the high acidity. Not sure this will get better. Nice but not better than that.

2012 vintage

70th birthday wine with a private chef and my family. This had some minerals. A semi-golden color. The wine had a fruit nose. I was able to taste butterscotch. This was my last bottle.

2012 vintage

very nice

2012 vintage

This is exceedingly delicious! It has this cool lemony limestone saline mineral thing going on, with some dried grass and coriander. It’s delicious and robust but it’s not big it’s rather weightless it’s just a very intense for a young Chardonnay. Been pretty blessed to be drinking some amazing American chardonnays Rhys, Kutch, Walter Scott, Goodfellow to name a couple of the top ones and this one is every bit as good as those guys!

2017 vintage

I'm most of the way through this terrific stony, chalky, citrus, concrete Chardonnay and just now noticing my prior note from election night 2016. Well, I don't know if this is a 'redemption' level wine, having picked it out of the cellar on a whim, but the release of the 1/6 report this week, and the defeat of election conspiracists this past November have provided some solace about the future of free government in our nation. Upon first whiff, the …

2012 vintage

Hey! It didn’t change over the last 18 months.

2012 vintage

Hazelnut, lemon, basil, orange blossoms. Brisk acidity and burst of salinity. Lemon peel notes lean a bit bitter and austere right now.

2017 vintage

No detailed notes, but quite good, if still a baby. Has some surprising weight to it. Surprising to me, but I thought it could use a bit more acidity. Still, top notch.

2017 vintage

Corked

2017 vintage

-- popped and poured -- -- tasted non-blind over approx. 1.5 hrs. -- -- 375 mL -- NOSE: high-toned and expressive; tart apple and tangerine. BODY: medium maize color; medium-light bodied. TASTE: fuji apple; mineral; 12.8% alc. not noticeable; medium+ acidity; slightly creamy; bright butterscotch note; excellent. Drink Now or Hold. gut impression score: 92.

2017 vintage

Tropical fruits, lemons and apples. Medium acidity. Quite nice, but not quite as expressive for me as the Horseshoe.

2017 vintage

This is not my typical Chardonnay, but it has a purity and tension that are hard not to enjoy. Light yellow in color and medium in body, the wine offers aromas of lemon rind, quince, and shaved praline. The flavors are similarly energetic, with notes of orange curd, green apple, and saline, with a zippy and layered (but not harsh) finish. 12.8% alcohol. This held its own with a 2017 Latour Corton-Charlemagne, which was more expansive but not as lifted. …

2017 vintage

Fabulous. Tropical and orchard notes along with the citrus, but so we’ll balanced with very crisp acidity and minerality. Killer Chardonnay. So fresh & clean. Love this.

2017 vintage

Just a stellar new world Chardonnay that could easily stand up to old world burgundian style Chards. Crisp, bright, and fruit forward but still delicate with a mineral finish. Somehow possesses the crispness of a cool climate Chardonnay while the palate shows some signs of tropical fruit, typical of a warm climate Chardonnay. While the price tag is up there with some premier Cru White Burgundies, this is something I would love to keep in my cellar by the case. …

2017 vintage

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Rhys, Alpine Vineyard Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains

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