2015 Bearwallow Vineyard Pinot Noir

From bottle, the 2015 Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard is showing very well, unwinding in the glass with incipiently complex aromas of ripe plums, sweet soil, spices and subtle rose hip. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, with an ample, generous attack that segues into a firmer, tauter mid-palate. With a good core of fruit framed by fine-grained, stony tannins, it concludes with a saline finish. It's more tight-knit than the 2016 rendition and will need more time.

There are two wines from the Bearwallow Vineyard in Anderson Valley, which is in the northern part of California, in Mendocino County, roughly 15 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The larger production 2015 Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard offers a classic bouquet of ripe red fruits and dried cherries, loads of spice and earth, medium-bodied richness, and a terrific savoriness that keeps you coming back to the glass. It’s another wine from this estate that blossoms with time in the glass, is impeccably balanced and will impressive for 10-15 years. This was a terrific lineup of 2015s from the team at Rhys. Across the board, these are tight and structured, with terrific concentration. Give them a few years of bottle age. Unfortunately, due to the devastating yields, there’s no Skyline Vineyard or Hillside releases in 2015s. In addition, they have a new estate vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains (bringing their total to seven estate vineyards) that will be coming on line over the next couple of years. Named Mount Pajaro Vineyard, the site was planted in 2010 and covers 18 acres in the southern part of the Santa Cruz Mountains, planted all with high density, 3.5 feet row spacing. Harvey commented that they’ve learned a lot over the past decade planting their other estate properties and they’re excited about the quality of this site.

The 2015 Pinot Noir Bearwallow Vineyard is a total knock-out. Rich, explosive and forward, the 2015 possesses striking fruit intensity and purity in every dimension. Dark red and bluish-hued fruits and ripe, silky tannins add to the wine's immediacy. This is an especially plush style for Rhys, but it works beautifully. The 2015 will be even better in another few years, but it will prove virtually impossible to resist young. (AG)