2021 Rhys Vineyards Chardonnay Mt. Pajaro Vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains 750 ml

Vinous founder Antonio Galloni said it best: “With each passing vintage, the wines continue to improve to the point where comparisons to the best estates in California are increasingly less relevant. Rhys is world class. It's as simple as that.” Michelin three-star SingleThread Farms currently carries 24 Rhys bottlings, as a testament to their excellence.

Galloni called the 2021 Rhys wines “off the charts,” giving this bottle a 97-point score that stands alongside 2021 Kongsgaard Chardonnay ($160) and 2021 Aubert UV-SL Chardonnay ($160). You won’t find this bottling anywhere but at restaurants like Eleven Madison Park, the winery, and right here. 

Rhys started when Kevin Harvey became convinced his Santa Cruz Mountains home near the San Andreas fault—where colliding tectonic plates have surfaced an incredible range of soils—held unlimited potential, so he sought out more sites. In 2010 he planted Mt. Pajaro, an abandoned apple orchard on the southern end of the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA, just seven miles from the Pacific. The combination of well-draining shale soils, altitude, and proximity to the sea has proved perfect for Pinot and Chardonnay.

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. 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 Chardonnay spent 12 months in 15-20% new French oak, then six months in tank to come together before bottling.