2018 Rhys Pinot Noir Skyline Vineyard
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Tasting notes
At nearly 2,400 feet in elevation and planted with extremely high density, the Skyline Vineyard often produces the most singular and extravagant Pinot Noir in the Rhys lineup. The 2018 Pinot Noir Skyline Vineyard opens with an intense and ever-evolving nose of red plum, black cherry, fresh mint, violets and baking spices. The palate has a floating, weightless quality, which maneuvers between supple dark fruits, tense, linear structure and a spherical richness that coats the palate. The finish is explosive and multidimensional but still very tight and tannic, suggesting this is at least another few years away from approachability. This incredible wine is built for the long haul and will reward cellaring over the next two decades.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
This 3-acre (1.2-ha) vineyard sits high on top of the Santa Cruz Mountains at an elevation of 2,280 to 2,375 ft (695 to 725 m) and is a steep rolling knoll that exposes vines from the south-east to the south-west. Extremely shallow soils with a depth of only two to four inches sit on top of a combination of sandstone, shale and limestone. Highly perfumed aromas of cranberry and pomegranate with hints of flowers. Anise and thyme add spice to flavours of cranberry and raspberry jam that are also shot through with pine duff and dry soil. Beautiful powdery tannins give the wine some muscle as excellent acidity keeps the fruit fresh. There's just the faintest vanilla note of sweetness in the finish that floats, dreamlike, above what is a decidedly stony minerality to the wine. The tannins gain strength over time. Incredible intensity and complex individuality being expressed here. Phenomenal. (AY)
From a steep vineyard located just off the Skyline Road, in the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the 2018 Pinot Noir Skyline Vineyard is pure class, offering a complex, layered bouquet of redcurrants, black raspberries, orange blossom, forest floor, exotic flowers, and spice. Showing more minerality as well as a touch of iodine character, on the palate, this puppy is rich, full-bodied, and powerful, with lots of underlying structure. It's one of the bigger, richer examples of this cuvée I can remember, yet it says flawlessly balanced and has an expansive mouthfeel along with a gorgeous finish.
The 2018 Pinot Noir Skyline Vineyard is magnificent. Dark, powerful and brooding, the 2018 possesses tremendous fruit depth, with swaths of tannin that add a real feeling of drive. Black pepper, exotic spice, mocha, game, sage, menthol and licorice give the 2018 a Syrah-like sense of darkness that is impossible to miss. The Skyline is one of the wines that sees a healthy amount of whole clusters, an approach that works beautifully here.