2009 Rhys plus outliers

J

Jay Miller

Jay Miller
The annual Rhys release dinner for mislaid New Yorkers took place in Washington DC this year with Maureen hosting.

Bear in mind that this is a snapshot and wines might be shut down, etc. but as a generalization I thought that 2009 was not nearly as strong a vintage for Rhys as 2008 (of course I say the same thing about Burgundy). I expect them to improve in the future and probably be ready earlier but 2008 seems superior.

2008 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Kabinett
Not terribly complex but lovely, light and lilting

2002 Fritz haag Brauneberger Juffer Sonnehuhr Auction bottling
Much more expressive nose. Lusher and more layered. Very nice.

2009 Rhys Alpine Chardonnay
wonderful depth of flavor, long finish, a faint caramel note more on the texture than the flavor. Loved this wine.

2009 Rhys Santa Cruz Chardonnay
what's interesting is that while the flavor profile is extremely similar I find this rather dull while I love the Alpine. I totally don't get the Chablis comparison but someone at the dinner makes that exact observation, thereby flummoxing me. But I'm easily flummoxed.

1994 Mt. Eden Chardonnay
This wine is obviously on its last legs. But just for the first 10-15 minutes after which it revives and just keeps getting better and better. Fully mature and a fantastic match with the food.

2009 Rhys Family Farm Pinot Noir
2 votes for best pinot of the night (including mine).
An infinitesimal touch of brett, nice depth of dark fruit. The underlying structure is showing much more than it did when I tried a bottle back in the Autumn. By far my favorite and I kept returning to it over the course of the dinner.

2009 Rhys Skyline Pinot Noir
2 votes for best pinot of the night.
Once again the Skyline has my favorite nose but the fruit is a bit soft and I wouldn't mind some more acidity.

2009 Rhys Swan Pinot Noir
No votes for best pinot of the night.
My least favorite, a bit lactic, a bit watery.

2009 Rhys Alpine Pinot Noir
1 vote for best pinot of the night
This is showing ripe and rather dull. Shut down?

1991 Mt. Eden Pinot Noir
A bottle that Keith opened a few years ago still ranks as my all time favorite CA pinot noir. This one is in no danger of replacing it. Not sure what's wrong but there's nothing much of interest here. Storage issues?

2002 Bachelet Gevrey Chambertin Corbeaux
My palate was dying but this is enough to wake the dead

2000 Maculan Acininobili Veneto
Never been a Maculan fan, this doesn't change things.

At around this point I begin softly singing "Bad, bad Leroy Vosne. Baddest Vosne in the whole damn town." It made sense at the time but my note taking stopped. Some people thought more wine was a good idea but I stopped drinking so I don't have any notes on the other sweeties.
 
I liked both the Rhys chardonnays.

The Family Farm showed the best early, but I thought the Skyline caught up and passed it.

The Swan was disappointing.

The Mount Eden chardonnay was interesting in an old chardonnay, caramel sort of way. The pinot noir was shot.

The Bachelet was very good and had an interesting menthol type streak in it. I think we chugged it too quickly, it could have used some air, but the texture was wonderful.

I liked the Maculan.

As far as getting a read on the Rhys, Keith said the wines tend to move around a lot, and i believe that. My own personal take is that the wines are being dialed in and it will take me at least a few more years of tasting them at different stages to get a grip on what's going on. Like I said, I really want this project, and others like it, to succeed. I want to drink American wine. The 2008s that I tried at the winery a couple years back left me breathless and full of hope. While this tasting didn't have the same resonance, the early showing of the Family Farm and the emergence of the Skyline were positive signs.

Thanks to Maureen for being a gracious host. Nice to meet Keith.
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:

2008 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Kabinett
Not terribly complex but lovely, light and lilting
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Completely shut down, as are all his 2008 Spaetlesen. One of the greatest Kabs I have ever come across, on release, right up there with 1997 Von Schubert Abstberg, 2001 Schaefer GH, 2001 Egon and something else I can't remember right now. And the reason it comes across as "lovely" and "light" is because it is so freaking balanced.
 
originally posted by .sasha:

One of the greatest Kabs I have ever come across, on release, right up there with 1997 Von Schubert Abstberg.
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Have one more bottle of this. It's in the "Drink this Summer" queue.
 
Like you Jay, I get no 'Chablis' feel to Rhys chardonnay. It's very good California chard, but the people who use the Chablis comparison are barking at the wrong paradigm (a complaint I feel whenever I here the overused "Burgundian" by wine marketers to describe everything from chardonanny to pinot noir to grenache to Chateauneuf-du-Pape (yes, today) to nebbiolo...I just cannot understand why these things cannot stand on their own merits without invoking the Wine spirit god of the Cote d'Or?)
 
???

(Although admittedly CA is closer than France to where he lives)

But neither are really local. And while I understand wanting to have a local wine culture, once you get past several thousand miles I don't distinguish on that basis.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
originally posted by VLM: I want to drink American wine.
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Why?

California isn't all that much closer than France to where you live.
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Distinction by distance is no less arbitrary than a distinction by continent.

Though my similar stance is due largely to the many years where anyone who tried to make a wine in the US that wasn't oaky and extracted had very hard going. I want to do my little bit to help out those people who are part of the backlash (or, of course, those like Steve who never bowed to the zeitgeist).

Though given their huge popularity it is sometimes hard for me to remember that I originally signed up for Rhys to support them in what I thought was likely to be a difficult endeavor. Now I just like many of the wines.

It should be noted that other than the chardonnay my favorites are usually the Horseshoe and Home pinot noirs neither of which were in these releases.
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:

Distinction by distance is no less arbitrary than a distinction by continent.
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I wouldn't say either is arbitrary. Just different value systems. I guess I can understand why some people would want to support their home nation's wines, I just didn't know how high the level of patriotism was on here.
 
originally posted by .sasha:
originally posted by Jay Miller:

2008 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Kabinett
Not terribly complex but lovely, light and lilting
Click to expand...

Completely shut down, as are all his 2008 Spaetlesen. One of the greatest Kabs I have ever come across, on release, right up there with 1997 Von Schubert Abstberg, 2001 Schaefer GH, 2001 Egon and something else I can't remember right now. And the reason it comes across as "lovely" and "light" is because it is so freaking balanced.
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Wow, seriously? I can't think of any 2008 Germans that I'd describe as a "greatest" anything. Admittedly I don't remember having this one on release but the only producer I really dug that year was Schaefer-Frohlich.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
originally posted by VLM: I want to drink American wine.
Click to expand...

Why?

California isn't all that much closer than France to where you live.
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Aren't American vignerons as worthy of your attention (and your $$$) as European ones? Should we not want to support a local wine culture (as in one within our own country) as well as one based in Europe? I too want there to be American wines being made that command for my attention and inspire me to buy them. Between the desire and the dream falls the shadow, though.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
???

(Although admittedly CA is closer than France to where he lives)

But neither are really local. And while I understand wanting to have a local wine culture, once you get past several thousand miles I don't distinguish on that basis.
Click to expand...
California is in America and France is not. The mileage only matters if you're interested in wine for the locavore appeal. I imagine that French citizens in Paris are able to take some patriotic pride in Latour and Lafite, even though Kentish pinot noir country is much closer as the crow flies.
 
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