2018 Rhys "Horseshoe Vineyard" Santa Cruz Mountains Syrah

“Clearly a Northern Rhône-inspired wine, the saturated purple-colored 2018 Syrah Horseshoe Vineyard is expressive and unfolds to aromas of kalamata olives, black plum, lavender oils, and turned earth. In contrast to its sappy aromas, though, it's light on its feet, with medium to full body, and floats across the palate with plush tannins and a long, even finish. It is a beautiful wine that's going to only improve with a couple years and provide a solid drinking window over the following 12-15 years. (AF)” (06/2024)

“The 2018 Syrah Horseshoe Vineyard is going to need at least a few years to emerge, as it is pretty tight today. Inky dark fruit, gravel, spice, menthol, espresso, sage and chocolate infuse the 2018 with tons of complexity. The Rhys Syrahs typically blossom only with time in bottle. I imagine that will be the case here as well. The 100% whole clusters approach works so well here. The 2018 spent 24-28 months in 25HL casks. (AG)” (08/2021)

“The 2018 Syrah from the Horseshoe Vineyard is another absolutely stellar bottle in the making from Rhys Vineyards. The wine tips the scales at an even thirteen percent alcohol and delivers a beautifully precise and complex nose of black raspberries, blackberries, pepper, black olive, smoked meats, stony soil tones, black tea, just a whisper of new oak and a topnote of bonfire. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, focused and peppery, with an excellent core of fruit, superb mineral drive and grip, ripe, firm and well-integrated tannins and a long, youthful and chewy finish. This is a long distance runner that will not be happy to be disturbed from its hibernation in the cellar for at least the next dozen years or so, but it is going to be a great bottle when it is ready to drink.” (06/2021)