2017 Rhys Vineyards Chardonnay 'Alesia'

Santa Cruz Mountains, California

This is the "Second Label" of RHYS Vineyards. 100% Chardonnay. All estate fruit from the six Santa Cruz Mountains estate vineyards. Wente, Hyde and Mt Eden clones. Whole cluster pressed. Fermented in barrique for about a year, 6 months in stainless steel, 20% new French oak. The wine is deep and nascently complex on the nose, offering up scents of pineapple, lime, complex, salty minerality, citrus peel, orange blossoms and a whisper of new wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and beautifully balanced, with a youthful personality, lovely depth at the core, great mineral drive, snappy acids and a long, complex and very promising finish. This deserves a year or two in the cellar to start to blossom before it is unleashed at the table! 

94 points, Jeb Dunnuck. "The 2017 Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains Alesia has a touch more depth in its aromas and flavors, offering a ripe bouquet of citrus blossom, honeysuckle, peach, and orange blossoms. Medium-bodied, rounded, and layered, with a terrific mid-palate, it packs plenty of muscle while staying beautifully balanced. Drink it over the coming 7-8 years."