2016 Rhys "Alpine Hillside" Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir

“There are three monumental wines in the lineup and the 2016 Pinot Noir Alpine Hillside is one of them. Slightly deeper colored, it tastes like the straight Alpine release, but with the intensity turned all the way up. Thrilling notes of white flowers, forest floor, crushed rocks, and both red and black fruits give way to a medium to full-bodied Pinot Noir that has perfect balance and a layered, powerful, yet incredibly elegant style on the palate. It’s one of the finest Pinot Noir to come from these magical terroirs just south of San Francisco.” (02/2019)

“Rhys bottles the steepest, stoniest part of their Alpine Vineyard separately in years where the quality merits it and the quantity is sufficient to do so without depriving the regular Alpine bottling of its core, and when they do so, the results are invariably very special indeed. The 2016 Pinot Noir Alpine Hillside Vineyard is stunning, unfurling in the glass with a youthfully reticent but very deep bouquet of cherries, peonies and subtle forest floor. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, tight-knit and concentrated, with immense depth and dimensions and structured around tangy acids and an ample—even rich—chassis of tannin. The finish is long and penetrating. (WK) 97+” (05/2018)

“The 2016 Alpine Hillside bottling of pinot noir from Kevin Harvey and his very talented team is a whisper riper than the Horseshoe Hillside, coming in still at a very svelte 12.9 percent. The nose is stunning, offering up scents of sweet dark berries, black cherries, a touch of beetroot, complex minerality, espresso, gentle meatiness, woodsmoke, discreet savory elements, allspice, fresh nutmeg and a nice touch of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is focused, full-bodied and utterly refined, with outstanding mid-palate depth, great intensity of flavor, ripe, perfectly integrated tannins, bright acids and impeccable balance on the long, focused and complex finish. This is a bit more tightly-knit out of the blocks than the 2016 Horseshoe Hillside, but they both share the vintage’s imprimatur of elegant structure and this is going to be every bit as refined when it is truly ready to drink. A great wine in the making, and choosing between the two Hillside bottlings this year is not possible, as both are great and quintessential expressions of their respective terroirs! (JG) 96+” (07/2018)