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2018 Rhys Horseshoe Vineyard Ungrafted Vines Pinot Noir

Removed from a professional wine storage facility; Purchased at retail

Ends Sunday, 7pm Pacific

RATINGS

99Vinous / IWC

Exquisitely perfumed and deep...totally mesmerizing in every way. Bright red fruit, blood orange, cinnamon, mint and pine all lift from the glass, but it is the wine’s silkiness that elevates it into the realm of the truly sublime.

97The Wine Advocate

...nose is beaming, red-fruited and floral, with a seductive, refined intensity. A textural openness and weightlessness on the palate leads seamlessly to a fine-grained, expansive finish... I enjoyed this wine immensely...

96Jeb Dunnuck

...offers a purer bouquet of darker fruits (black cherries, fresh plums, and raspberries) as well as ample violets, baking spice, and earthy nuances. Beautiful on the palate as well...seamless and medium to full-bodied, with building tannins and flawless balance....gorgeous, elegant, yet still powerful...

19Jancis Robinson

A phenomenally aromatic wine, with enchanting scents of exotic flowers and black-raspberry fruit...electric with acidity and juicy with raspberry and cherry fruit flavours that are expansive and ethereal. Almost weightless on the palate... Faint gauzy tannins and this gorgeous aromatic sweetness.

94Burghound.com

...perfumed and cooler red and dark cherry aromas are laced with plenty of spice and markedly more floral nuances that include rose petal and violet. There is excellent richness to the velvet-textured middle weight plus flavors that are at once seductive yet powerful...firm tannins...I like this stylish effort very much as it manages to be at once focused yet generous.

PRODUCER

Rhys

Rhys Vineyards is a Santa Cruz maker of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The estate is owned by Kevin Harvey, who has vineyards in several sites in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Rhys Vineyards also makes a few wines under the Alesia label that come from grapes purchased in the Sonoma Coast and in the Santa Lucia Highlands. It is the Rhys Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays, however, that have made the small estate into something of a cult producer of California wines with Burgundian appeal. Both the Pinots and Chardonnays regularly earn high ratings from reviewers. The wines are generally available through mailing lists.

REGION

United States, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

Santa Cruz Mountains AVA includes high elevation territory in the counties of Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Mateo. The AVA follows the coast line from San Francisco to Monterey with elevations from 400 feet to 3,000 feet above sea level. There are 1,500 vineyard acres and the AVA was established in 1981. Despite the challenging terrain in these rugged mountains and hills, highly esteemed wineries have been located here since the early 20th century, when Paul Masson, a Frenchman by birth, started making sparkling wine in the area. By the 1970s vineyards were growing Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Numerous microclimates within the AVA offer viticulturists diverse growing conditions, and many varietals are grown successfully.

TYPE

Red Wine, Pinot Noir

This red wine is relatively light and can pair with a wide variety of foods. The grape prefers cooler climates and the wine is most often associated with Burgundy, Champagne and the U.S. west coast. Regional differences make it nearly as fickle as it is flexible.

VINTAGE

2018 Rhys Horseshoe Vineyard Ungrafted Vines Pinot Noir