2012 Pinot Noir (San Mateo County)

Once again, I tasted a large number of wines with proprietor Kevin Harvey and winemaker Jeff Brinkman. The Rhys 2012 Pinots are just as gorgeous from bottle as they were from barrel. As fabulous as the 2012s are, the 2013 are at least as good, if not better. While the 2012s are open and supple, the 2013s have a touch more energy, power and minerality. Readers who can find the wines should not hesitate, as these are quite possibly the best back-to-back vintages in Rhys's short history thus far. It is impossible not to marvel at what Harvey and his team have achieved in just a few years. The Rhys Pinots aren't just modern-day reference points for California, they are now among the greatest Pinot Noirs being made anywhere in the world.

Kevin Harvey and his winemakerJeff Brinkman, who aren't exactly prone to overstatement, told me that 2012 was "a godsend after 2011, in a yield sense," but they're not writing off '11. Harvey describes his '11s as wines that show their place while 2012 was an example of Mother Nature at her benign best, "and definitely too generous if you wanted to go that way." Harvey's investment in the Bearwallow vineyard up north, in the Anderson Valley, is a big focus here right now. Brinkman said that moving outside their home zone of the Santa Cruz Mountains has given the team the chance to further expand the game of "soil plus exposure plus climate plus rootstock plus clone" and what comes from it (he compared it to 3-D chess) by getting to understand a place that's completely removed from their home base. The 2012 vintage brought Rhys the highest acidity levels in its fruit to date, by the way.

Kevin Harvey and his winemakerJeff Brinkman, who aren't exactly prone to overstatement, told me that 2012 was "a godsend after 2011, in a yield sense," but they're not writing off '11. Harvey describes his '11s as wines that show their place while 2012 was an example of Mother Nature at her benign best, "and definitely too generous if you wanted to go that way." Harvey's investment in the Bearwallow vineyard up north, in the Anderson Valley, is a big focus here right now. Brinkman said that moving outside their home zone of the Santa Cruz Mountains has given the team the chance to further expand the game of "soil plus exposure plus climate plus rootstock plus clone" and what comes from it (he compared it to 3-D chess) by getting to understand a place that's completely removed from their home base.The 2012 vintage brought Rhys the highest acidity levels in its fruit to date, by the way.