2021 Rhys Vineyards Chardonnay Anderson Valley 750 ml

One of the greatest wineries in the world started modestly enough: Kevin Harvey’s love for Pinot Noir inspired him to plant 35 vines behind his home in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, which stand between Silicon Valley and the Pacific. The vines grew to become a quarter acre, producing enough Pinot to vinify in the garage. The idea got even bigger. 

Kevin was convinced his Santa Cruz Mountains home near the San Andreas fault—where colliding tectonic plates have surfaced an incredible range of soils—held unlimited Pinot Noir potential, so he sought out more sites. And although most of Rhys’s stunning, steep, and remote vineyards are in the Santa Cruz Mountains, they’ve long relied on Anderson Valley’s Bearwallow Vineyard to supply equally stellar Pinot and Chardonnay. 

The vines at Bearwallow include six acres planted in 2000—eight years before Rhys purchased it—and 25 more, planted shortly after the acquisition. The parcel is extremely steep, and rich in complex Bearwallow-Wolfey soils.  

Rhys’s methods are as remarkable as their sites. In their modern 30,000 foot facility dug into the hillside off of Alpine Road, the harvested fruit is unloaded into a 40-degree room. The Chardonnay is whole-cluster pressed, fermented in new Damy barriques on 100% indigenous yeast, and aged 12 months in barrel and 4–6 months in steel with no racking or battonage.

This level of care comes together with incomparable terroir to yield wines that have quickly become a phenomenon—and after just two decades, Rhys is just hitting its stride. It’s a winery without limits.