Sign In

2012 Rhys Skyline Vineyard Syrah

Light label condition issue

Removed from a subterranean wine cellar; Purchased upon release; Consignor is original owner

Ends Sunday, 7pm Pacific

RATINGS

94Vinous / IWC

...deep, powerful and intense, with serious resonance throughout. Inky blue and purplish fruit, lavender, menthol, violets and spices meld together in a pliant, exuberant Syrah built on structure. Serious tannins and beams of salinity push through to the intense finish.

93The Wine Advocate

...supple and layered...offers impeccable balance in its mulled red and black fruits, orange blossom, toasted spice, licorice and underbrush-styled bouquet. Possessing a solid core of sweet fruit, it has plenty of ripe tannin, good acidity and no hard edges.

PRODUCER

Rhys

Rhys Vineyards is a Santa Cruz maker of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The estate is owned by Kevin Harvey, who has vineyards in several sites in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Rhys Vineyards also makes a few wines under the Alesia label that come from grapes purchased in the Sonoma Coast and in the Santa Lucia Highlands. It is the Rhys Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays, however, that have made the small estate into something of a cult producer of California wines with Burgundian appeal. Both the Pinots and Chardonnays regularly earn high ratings from reviewers. The wines are generally available through mailing lists.

REGION

United States, California, Central Coast

Central Coast AVA is a huge wine producing area that extends from Santa Barbara County in the south to San Francisco in the north. With more than 100,000 vineyard acres, it includes parts of six counties near the Pacific Ocean. Nearly 20 smaller AVAs lie within the Central Coast AVA. Central Coast earned appellation status in 1985. Included in the appellation are parts of the counties of Contra Costa, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz. Nearly every grape varietal grown in California is grown somewhere in the Central Coast AVA, though Chardonnay accounts for nearly 50% of the entire wine grape crop.

TYPE

Red Wine, Syrah (Shiraz)

This grape is grown in milder climates and produces a medium-to full-bodied wine. It is also known as Shiraz, but should not be confused with Petit Sirah, which was developed by crossing Syrah with Peloursin.