Pinot Noir, Horseshoe Vineyard, Santa Cruz Mountains, Rhys

Note:

Even better than it was from barrel, the 2016 Pinot Noir Horseshoe Vineyard is a flat-out stunner. Crazy, beautiful, deeply spiced aromatics literally explode from the glass. Broad and ample on the palate, with tremendous intensity, the Horseshoe has a lot to offer. Orange peel, mint and spice overtones add an exotic flair. This is an utterly captivating Pinot Noir from Rhys. / The 2016 Pinot Noir Horseshoe Hillside Vineyard is also exceptional, and if anything, even more youthfully coiled and reserved than the Alpine Hillside bottling, wafting from the glass with complex aromas of peony, raw cocoa, sweet wild berries and grilled meat, complemented by ineffably savory, umami-like bass notes. When I speculated that it was showing some very subtle reduction, Harvey and Brinkman suggested—persuasively—those savory qualities simply represented an amplification of the aromatic signatures found in the regular Horseshoe bottling. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, deep and multidimensional, with incredible concentration and purity, concluding with a focused and stony finish. Again, 5 or 6 years of cellaring will be required here, and a decade will be recommended.