2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard, USA, California, Santa Cruz, Wine Review

This is in a great place. Garnet in color, mostly clear and bright. The nose has cherries, slight sour cherries and spice. Medium bodied with light spice. On the palate, this is starting to show a nice complexity. On the young size, this is getting close to maturity but has plenty of time left. Cherries, char, sour cherries, and spice. Nice finish. This should drink well over the next ten to fifteen years. A nice match to roasted chicken.

Grade:

Score:

Vintage:

2009

Current Price:

$110.00USD

2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard, USA, California, Santa Cruz, Wine Review

Vintage:

2009

Score:

Grade:

Current Price:

$75.00USD

This was really special. One of the best Pinot Noir's I have had in a long time. Purple in color with some ruby hues, mostly clear and a bit on the flat side. The nose has sour cherries, cherries, spice with loads of minerality. Medium to full bodied. Light tannins. On the palate, this has layers of complexity. Black cherries, sour cherries, minerals and earthiness. Delicious. Lively acidity. Long finish. At age 15, it still has some youth but starting to show good development. This would be great with a bean casserole. Drink over the next ten years. This bottle was bought on

Top California Pinot Noir: Which California Wine Producers Make the Best Pinot Noir?

California has actually been making outstanding wines from the Pinot Noir grape for a long time. Sure, not long in the Burgundian sense but going back at least to the middle of the last century there were good bottles of Pinot Noir being produced in California. Not many to be sure, but there were some. Starting slowly, in the 1990’s, and then exploding when the movie Sideways came out, there are now more and more offerings of good to excellent Pinot Noir being produced in California.

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2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard, USA, California, Santa Cruz - Wine Review

Vintage:

2008

Score:

Grade:

This is in a great place. Rubyt/purple in color. The nose is great with cherries, macerated cherries, a bit earthy, some sandalwood and slight cranberries. Full bodied. Sikly texture. Layers of complexity unwind in the glass. Cherries and dark cherries, wet forest floor and spice. Great balance. Long finish. Seems like it is getting close to peak but not quite there with a long life left. Great wine!

2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains, USA, California, Wine Review

Vintage:

2009

Score:

Grade:

A-

Current Price:

$55.00USD

This is the base Pinot from Rhys. Ruby in color, clear and bright. The nose is nice with cherries, slight black cherries, and slight sour cherries. Medium bodied. Some depth and complexity. Still youthful. On the palate, sour cherries and cherries with slight char and spice. Nice finish. This is chugging along nicely. It won't get better but should mature and continue to drink well for another ten to twelve years. It drinks well on its own but will work better food. Roasted chicken or duck is a nice choice.

2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Skyline Vineyard, USA, California, Santa Cruz, Wine Review

Vintage:

2009

Score:

Grade:

Current Price:

$130.00USD

Rhys makes some of the best Pinot Noir's in California. This is bigger in fruit but with a Burgundy styling. Garnet in color, clear and bright. The nose has cherries, slight black cherries, spice and just a hint of pine. Medium bodied. Light tannins. On the palate, this is delicious. Cherries and some black cherries with an underlying char and forest floor. Great balance. Long finish. This is still drinking youthfully. It should continue to so do for another ten to fifteen years. Nice on its own, this works well with poultry or meats, but would be nice with Salmon as well.

2009 Rhys Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard, USA, California, Santa Cruz, Wine Review

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