2022 Rhys Vineyards Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains 750 ml

Legendary critic Jancis Robinson says Rhys makes “some of the most ambitious Pinot Noir being made anywhere in the world.” Bloomberg’s Elin McCoy called Rhys Pinots “the closest yet to a California version of great Burgundy.” Antonio Galloni of Vinous added to Rhys’s honors by naming them his 2023 Winery of the Year. 

Though every Pinot Rhys makes is world-class, none is more important, more sought-after, and more celebrated than their bottling from the Alpine Vineyard. 

We’ve had a great relationship with Rhys, but we’ve never been able to offer the Alpine Vineyard Pinot…until now. There’s no doubt that this is an all-time great. With 97 points from Wine Advocate, 96 each from Galloni and Jeb Dunnuck, it stands with the finest Pinots on the globe, from Grand Cru Burgundy—including $20,000+ DRC—to the $200+ blue-chips of the Sonoma Coast, like Aubert and Wayfarer.

Rhys, before it earned critical consensus as the apex of global Pinot Noir, started modestly enough: Proprietor Kevin Harvey’s love for the grape 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. 

Sitting at 1,200 to 1,490 feet of elevation, near the San Andreas fault, Alpine sits just 10 miles from the Pacific. It boasts shallow and rocky Purisima Formation soils, and steep slopes up to 40%. It’s cool and foggy at Alpine, but there is very little wind—a rarity for vineyards that share the first two conditions. There are about 10 acres of Pinot at Alpine, divided into half-acre blocks planted in tight rows. 

In Rhys’s modern 30,000 foot facility dug into the hillside off of Alpine Road, the harvested fruit is unloaded into a 40-degree room. All grapes are hand-sorted and gravity-fed into small tanks in a painstaking process that ensures that only the very best fruit makes the cut, then is handled as gently as possible. This Pinot spent 18 months in French oak barrels, about 1/3 of it new. 

The result is one of the finest Pinot Noirs made anywhere on Earth. We’re thrilled to share this rarity with you.