I love the nose on the 2021 Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains, which feels lifted and briny with aromas of wildflowers, white peaches, honeycomb, and candle smoke. A blend of three vineyards, it’s medium-bodied to full-bodied and rounded through the midpalate, with a silky mouthfeel and a long, savory finish. As with the Anderson Valley Chard, this is going to drink well now or over the coming 6-7 years, and it’s a great value. (AF)

The 2021 Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains is a peek at the stellar produce of Rhys's 2021 single-vineyard white wines. The nose opens with fresh, racy aromas of sea spray, lemon curd and Granny Smith apple. The mid-palate displays a level of creamy richness that takes substantial cellaring to unlock in the rest of the lineup. The signature tension and angularity of the Rhys style are present, albeit with a welcomed softness and generosity of texture. Readers holding this admirable array of wines should start here and hold off on the single-site wines for at least a few more years. (ML)

The 2021 Santa Cruz Mountains bottling of chardonnay from Rhys Vineyards is nicely ripe this year, reporting in at 13.3 percent alcohol. The bouquet is young and vibrant, wafting from the glass in a beautifully floral mix of lemon, pear, white lilies, lemon blossoms, salty soil tones and a deft framing of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and complex, with lovely depth at the core, good soil signature and grip, bouncy acids and a long, seamlessly balanced and energetic finish. This is certainly quite tasty today, but will add another layer of complexity if allowed to blossom with some hibernation time in the cellar.