2010 Rhys Pinot Noir Home Vineyard

The more powerful side of the Santa Cruz Mountains comes through in the 2010 Pinot Noir Home Vineyard. Massive, incisive tannins frame black fruit, savory herbs and licorice, in a sort of California version of Bonnes-Mares, with vertical tannins and great overall balance. I suppose the 2010 Home might lack just a touch of finesse, but it makes up for that with its compelling and deeply expressive personality. This is the first vintage that includes predominantly young vines from a recent replanting. It will be interesting to see how this site responds in future vintages, but I have to think the direction is pretty clear.

The more powerful side of the Santa Cruz Mountains comes through in the 2010 Pinot Noir Home Vineyard. Massive, incisive tannins frame black fruit, savory herbs and tar, in a sort of California version of Bonnes-Mares, with vertical tannins and great overall balance. I suppose the 2010 Home might lack just a touch of finesse, but it makes up for that with its compelling and deeply expressive personality. This is the first vintage that includes predominantly young vines from a recent replanting. It will be interesting to see how this site responds in future vintages, but I have to think the direction is pretty clear. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2025. Proprietor Kevin Harvey and his team, led by winemaker Jeff Brinkman, have received quite a bit of attention of late. They deserve every bit of it, if not more. Harvey has spared no expense in building a state of the art facility, which includes 100 one-ton fermenters that allow for multiple small lot fermentations. In the vineyard, Harvey has taken the type of risks only someone with a background in early stage technology investing could stomach. The result is a series of breathtaking wines, Pinots especially, that are among the finest being made in the United States. I am quite sure Harvey’s goals are much more ambitious than that, though. It will be interesting to see how things play out at Rhys over the coming years, but there is no question these are exciting, compelling wines of the highest level. My experience with the Rhys Pinots is that they develop very slowly in bottle, so readers need to exercise a bit more patience than is typically required with California Pinot Noir. Like most estates in 2010, Rhys grappled with the September heat spikes, which took place during the harvest. The Home and Family Farm were brought in before the spikes, as was 80% of Alpine, Horseshoe and Bearwallow. Rhys had a harder time with Skyline, which came in after the spikes. Ultimately, only 25% of that fruit made it into the fermentation tanks. Tel. (866) 511-1520; www.rhysvineyards.com

Bright ruby. Seductive aromas of black raspberry, minerals and potpourri. Silky and focused, with sweet dark berry flavors buffered by zesty acidity. Impressively dense and quite concentrated but comes off lithe and fat-free. Finishes long and sappy, with resonating floral and Asian spice qualities.