Rhys Vineyards
Today I would like to offer you a large new selection of Pinot Noir (and a little Syrah) from Rhys Vineyards in the Santa Cruz mountains, that was given to us by a gentleman who bought them all directly from the winery. Rhys Vineyards was set up by Kevin Harvey when he caught the wine bug and decided to plant some Pinot vines in his backyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1995; his passion was ignited by a bottle of Russian River Pinot which led him to his backyard experiment, and this site is now the Home Vineyard. Astounded by the raw potential, this soon blossomed into the hunt for a very particular type of vineyard site. Inspired by the Grand Crus of Burgundy, Kevin went in search of some of the coolest hillside sites in the region, with shallow topsoils and plenty of rocks; his aim was to push Pinot Noir to its Californian limits, forcing grapes to ripen fully while retaining a natural tension and minerality, all the while at remarkably low levels of alcohol (generally the wines fall between 12% and 13.5% abv).
Everything about these wines speaks of attention to detail and a deep commitment to making great wine. From purchasing uncoopered staves of the finest French oak a full four years prior to cooperage, to the vast underground purpose-built winemaking cellar, no detail is left to chance. In the often-steep vineyards, vine density is extremely high and as a result farming is entirely manual and very labor intensive. In the winery, vinification is carried out at a micro-level in tiny 4ft square vats: fermentations are made using native yeats, and everything is gravity-fed without pumping, fining or filtration. In essence, the wines are given kid gloves treatment, and then aged in almost neutral French barrels, so better to promote the site-specific characters of the vineyards in the portfolio.
To my mind, Rhys is producing some of the most thrilling, exciting wines in California today – and some of the best outside Burgundy – and I would urge you to gra