2015 Home Vineyard Pinot Noir 0,75l Rhys Vineyards
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Tasting notes
A notably ripe nose features notes of poached plum, spice, violet and whiffs of menthol and mocha. There is excellent volume to the velvety and suave medium weight flavors that are currently shaped by somewhat raspy tannins that are borderline inelegant yet the depth is first-rate on the ever-so-mildly warm finale. While this bold effort won't win any awards for elegance, it certainly can't be faulted for a lack of character. *Outstanding*
Critic scores
Allen Meadows, Burghound
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
Offering up aromas of ripe cherries, cassis, potpourri and spices, the 2015 Pinot Noir Home Vineyard is full-bodied, ample and layered, with a deep core of ripe fruit and juicy balancing acids, framed by fine-grained but firm, youthfully chewy tannins that make it one of the most overtly structural wines in the range this year. The story is the same in the 2016 vintage, but if anything, the 2015 is even more in need of bottle age. Forget it for a minimum of 5 or 6 years. At full maturity, I suspect it will reveal a textural plushness that will surprise anyone who tastes it today.
The 2015 Pinot Noir Home Vineyard comes from a site in San Mateo County and it’s a pretty, forward, charming Pinot Noir made with 100% whole clusters and neutral oak. It offers textbook notes of mulled red fruits, underbrush, dried flowers and dried earth, with lots of savoriness and minerality (I’m sure from the stems) coming through with time in the glass. It’s polished and nicely textured on the palate, with good density and savory tannin that could use a touch more ripeness. It will benefit from short term cellaring and keep through 2027. 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.
A wine of gravitas and pure power, the 2015 Pinot Noir Home Vineyard is a real stunner. The 100% whole clusters are pretty much buried by the sheer intensity of the fruit. This is an absolutely captivating wine in every way. Like so many of these 2015s, the Home is going to require many years to be at its very best. Even so, its potential is amply evident today. (AG)