Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/833814
{ SOMMjournal.com } 67 Two Rhys Vineyards bottlings illustrat- ing this obsessive focus on vineyards: Rhys 2014 Pinot Noir, Alpine Vineyard, Santa Cruz Mountains (SRP $79) Located just ten miles from the Pacific on chalky shale slopes of up to 40 percent, this vineyard yields a slightly more acid-driven wine, silken sleek in texture, with perfumes veering more towards black tea and Asian spices (star anise/ cardamom), enveloping a black fruit concentration. The intrinsic structure of this growth has been necessitating closer to 50 percent whole-cluster fermentation and about a third new oak. Rhys 2014 Pinot Noir, Skyline Vineyard, Santa Cruz Mountains (SPR $99) At 2,360 feet, one of the region's loftiest sites, densely planted small vines in shallow, rocky soil yielding, in Brinkman's words, "tiny, beady, scraggly clusters." The sensory result is a wine with an opulent nose yet lean, sleek, slender structure. There is also a distinct Christmas tree-like spice emanating from front to back—some - thing, says Brinkman, "we always smell in the Skyline, starting in the fermenter." Skyline also receives a third new oak and 100 percent whole-cluster fermen - tation, a decision Brinkman tells us is "determined by the wine . . . counter- intuitively: New oak does not necessarily make Pinot Noirs taste oakier, and increased whole-cluster does not auto - matically equate to increased tannin or phenols—in fact, the result can be the opposite, at least from our experience with Skyline." Jeff Brinkman Rhys Vineyards Winemaker Jeff Brinkman at Rhys Vineyards' Skyline Vineyard:" We have taken everything to a logical extreme." Since the first of their six separate Santa Cruz Mountains estate vineyards were planted in 1995, Rhys Vineyards Pinot Noirs have soared into the realm of "cult" on the basis of sheer quality, not simply 100-point magazine hype or the economy of miniscule scale associated with most California wines attaining elite status. Rhys Vineyards winemaker Jeff Brinkman tells us, "I think what resonates with som - meliers is our basic approach to vineyard development. You can start with a site and then ask, 'What do I do with this?' Or you can do what Kevin [Rhys owner Kevin Harvey] did and start with the premise, 'I want to make the best Pinot' and then go out and look for the sites where it can be done." Pointing at a detailed topographical map of Burgundy, Brinkman continues, "If you look at where the Grand Cru Côte d'Or vineyards are located, you can see that they're in the 'Goldilocks' locations, at the mid-points of slopes with an ideal mix of shallow soil. "So we asked the question, where are California's sweet spots? Rhys began with a search for the ideal mixes of limestone, shale, sandstone and clay. We found it here in Santa Cruz Mountains, particularly in the exposed stratas of geological material running close to the San Andreas Fault, where the Pacific Plate has been rubbing up against the North American Plate—giving us a number of virgin sites to plant. "Elevation and a perfect, cool maritime climate, of course, are also key factors. I should say that coming to Santa Cruz Mountains was not just an intellectual decision. Kevin also did the tastings—finding a distinct sense of minerality, evocative of sites, in existing Santa Cruz Mountains wines. He wasn't looking for the exact same taste as Burgundy, but he felt that Pinot Noirs from this area at least share the same aesthetic. "From this starting point, focusing strictly on vineyards, we have taken everything to a logical extreme: tight spacing (up to 7,000 vines per acre), organic and biodynamic practices, exclusively small-tank fermentation, and four-year air-dried François Frères bar - rels—continuous trials that have helped us to decide what percent of whole-cluster or what percent of new oak are best for each site, every decision made around the idea that we are bottling vineyards, not wines."