Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The star of the whites was the 2013 Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard. Tasting like a Grand Cru Chablis with its incredibly pure lemon curd, flinty minerality, brioche and white flowers, it's medium to full-bodied, laser focused, crisp and crystalline on the palate. It's a stunning Chardonnay that will compete with the creme de la creme of Chardonnays. (JD)

(10/2015)

John Gilman

The 2013 Alpine Vineyard chardonnay is another beautiful, young wine from this great vintage at Rhys, and in the fullness of time, this may well take its place at the top of the hierarchy of all the chardonnays yet produced at this Santa Cruz Mountain icon. The bouquet is deep, pure and still quite youthful, as it wafts from the glass in a classy blend of pear, passion fruit, a touch of hazelnut, complex soil tones, a hint of iodine and a topnote of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, complex and impeccably balanced, with a fine core, great focus and grip, bright acids and outstanding length and grip on the very Meursault-like finish. This is showing more of its latent complexity out of the blocks than the Horseshoe bottling, but it too is a very young wine and it would be fool-hardy to be opening bottles in the next few years, as there is so much more complexity to come with bottle age here! Great juice. 94+

(08/2015)

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)

Vinous

The 2013 Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard is gorgeous from the very first taste. Chiseled and finely cut, the 2013 boasts considerable energy, tension and focus. Lemon oil, white flowers, mint and white pepper are all given an extra kick of brightness. (AG)

(07/2015)