2012 Rhys "Alpine Vineyard" Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay
96RP
94JG
94VN
93DC
$79.99
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96
Wine Advocate
Reviewed April 2015The 2012 Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard is absolutely stunning! Giving up incredible notes of flinty minerality, green citrus, lemon curd and exotic flowers, this beautiful Chardonnay builds on the palate, with medium to full-bodied richness, vibrant acidity and a clean, laser-focused finish that just keeps going. It continues to gain in richness with time in the glass, yet never loses its classy, pure and elegant demeanor. (JD)
Professional Reviews
94
John Gilman
The 2012 Alpine Vineyard chardonnay is nicely ripe for this parcel, tipping the scales at 13.3 percent in this vintage. At ten years of age, the wine is drinking splendidly, with beautiful layers of bottle age complexity coupled with a core of still vibrant young fruit. The bouquet jumps from the glass in a refined, mature blend of apple, hazelnut, a complex base of salty, stony soil tones, bee pollen, lemon peel and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and still shows off excellent mid-palate depth, with lovely focus and grip, zesty acids and a very long, complex and impeccably balanced finish. This is aging flawlessly! 94+
94
Vinous
The 2012 Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard opens with attractive scents of lemon peel, apricot, slate and chamomile. Slightly reductive in its aromatics and persistent on the finish, the 2012 offers exceptional finesse in a brilliant style long on focus and tension. This is pure class. (AG)
93
Decanter
All four Chardonnays made at owner Kevin Harvey’s spare-no-expense winery are terrific. This one comes from a steep, chalky vineyard at 365m to 454m elevation, only 16km from the Pacific. I love its bright, racy, super-pure flavours, its coiled power, precision and focus, and its crushed rock complexity. Deep and full-bodied, it has the lean elegance and long finish of a top Meursault. (EM)
Notes
94 points, Stephen Tanzer for Vinous: "Green-tinged yellow. An intense, mineral-dominated bouquet evokes fresh orchard and citrus fruits, iodine, anise and white flowers. Stains the palate with densely packed pear and Meyer lemon flavors; picks up a smokiness with air. Chalky, penetrating and pure on the finish, which refuses to let up." (5/2014)
Details
| Type | White Wine |
|---|---|
| Varietal | Chardonnay |
| Origin | Santa Cruz Mountains, California, United States |
| Bottle Size | 750 mL |
| SKU | 1201448 |