2021 Rhys Vineyards Pinot Noir Anderson Valley

About Rhys

Rhys Vineyards aspires to make compelling, soil-driven Pinot Noir and other wines from some of California's most unique and expressive vineyards. This pursuit has lead them to search the state for exciting rocky soils that exist within the cool, mountainous Coastal climate zone.

Rhys' winemaking philosophy starts in the vineyard, where they take an organic/biodynamic approach to viticulture and strive for low yields. In the cellar, their hands-off winemaking process is based around native yeast fermentations and a gentle gravity system, which means their wines are never pumped, fined, or filtered. This gentle approach is intended to increase complexity and enhance vineyard expression.

Kevin Harvey, owner of Rhys Vineyards, never imagined as a beer-swilling youth that he would someday become a vineyard owner. But after moving to California at age 23 for a job in the tech industry and experiencing the wines for himself (along with a wine-filled honeymoon in France), Harvey knew it was the right path for him. Harvey's obsession - in particular, with Pinot Noir - deepened, and he spent the next 15 years studying Pinot Noir while visiting vineyards in New Zealand, Oregon, and California. He was intent on proving that the New World can create just as many site-expressive wines as the Old World. Today, Harvey, along with Rhys' talented winemaker Jeff Brinkman and vineyard manager Javier Meza, is producing what critics are calling "the best New World pinot noirs ever encountered... shockingly close in quality to the finest red Burgundies." (Mike Steinberger, Slate)

This tiny jewel of a label in an under heralded appellation... seems to prompt nearly spontaneous gushing by any critic within sniffing distance... the full scope of their power and eloquence is recognizable primarily to those who have sampled the very best of Burgundy’s grands crus. The wines aren’t just great; they’re significant.- "The wonders of Rhys Vineyards" by Jon Bonné, SF Chronicle