Tasting Notes
Vinous 93
The 2013 Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard is quite opulent and open for this wine. Hints of tropical fruit, butter, white truffle, pastry and apricot jam fill out the wine’s ample, broad-shouldered frame with ease. This is an unusually open, young Chardonnay from Rhys, where the Chards often need at least a few years in bottle to truly blossom.
Anticipated maturity: 2017-2023
Robert Parker 94+
My favorite of the latest release Chardonnays, the 2013 Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard is a screaming effort that got a few wows in the notes. More ripe and rounded than the Alpine Vineyard (at the moment anyways, as Kevin commented that this cuvee continues to pick up more and more focus with bottle age), its light/medium gold color is followed by tons of ripe white peach and orchard fruits, toasted nuts, crushed rock and white flowers. Rounded, concentrated and rich on the palate, yet with vibrant underlying acidity that cuts through the finish, give it a year or two in the cellar and enjoy bottles through 2025+. Kevin Harvey and his team at Rhys have hit homeruns in 2013 and these latest releases are some of the top Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays coming out of California today. For more in-depth vineyard information, readers should look at the 2011 and 2012 retrospective article published earlier this year. Tel. (866) 511-1520; www.rhysvineyards.com
Anticipated maturity: 2017-2023
JancisRobinson.com 17/20
Pale medium gold, with some struck match, almond nut oak and floral white peach. Some apple-skin oxidation? Crisp palate, with white peach and citrus, mealy oak tones and a long, nutty finish. Just a question mark on that oxidative touch, but otherwise plenty of ambition here. (TJ)
Anticipated maturity: 2019-2025
