by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

 
1. St. Cosme Condrieu "Puyvert" (13.5%) '98: Med.gold color; very fragrant/floral/pear/peach/loads of Viognier fruit bit minerally/buttery light toasty/oak nose; tart spicy pear/peach/floral light metallic/minerally light oaked/buttery flavor; med. light floral/pear bit minerally slightly bitter finish; very nice/pleasant Viognier but little Condrieu character; very attractive nose but doesn't deliver much punch on the palate. Fairly priced. $26.00
2. Francois Villard Condrieu Les Terrasses du Palat (13.5%) '94: Med.dark gold color; bit oxidized rather minerally complex nose; dried-out little Viognier/fruit slight oxidized some minerally/ earthy flavor; med.long bit bitter/oxidized some minerally/earthy finish; not a bad wine with good minerally/Condrieu character but precious little fruit.
3. Rene Rostaing Condrieu La Bonnette Viognier (13%) '97: Med.gold color; rather charred/toasty/oaked little fruit some earthy nose; rich toasty/charred/oaked earthy little Viognier/fruit bit Chard-like flavor; med.long toasty/charred/pungent/oaked earthy/Chard little fruit finish; any Condrieu/Viognier character has been obliterated by the oak. Stupid price. $59.00
4. Domaine La Remejeanne Cotes du Rhone Les Chevrefeuilles (13.5%) '99: Med.light color; slight Beaujolais/carbonic maceration/noveau lots of bright strawberry/fruit slight earthy nose; tart some CM/Beaujolais bit earthy lots of bright fruit flavor; med. CM/noveau slightly bitter lots of bright/strawberry fruit finish w/ little tannins; seem to have a lot of carbonic maceration character; nice Beaujolais-style Rhone. $9.00
5. Domaine La Remejeanne Cotes du Rhone Les Arbousiers (14%) '99: Dark color; more Mourvedre/plummy/ earthy/Rhonish lots of fruit nose; fairly rich/rustic lots of plummy/Mourvedre/berry some earthy/ dusty flavor; long fairly lush/plummy/Mourvedre rustic/earthy/dusty some roasted finish w/ light tannins; much better than Guigal CdR '98; terrific CdR for the money. $10.00
6. Domaine La Remejeanne Cotes du Rhone-Villages Les Genevriers (14.5%) '99: Very dark color; strong Syrah/blackberry/lush some roasted/earthy nose; very strong blacknerry/Syrah/black cherry/framboise loads of Syrah flavor; very long blackberry/Syrah/framboise/black cherry soda slight roasted/earthy finish w/ some tannins; needs yr or two; loads of Syrah fruit; a steal at $12.50
7. Jaboulet Gigondas Pierre Alguille (14%) '98: Med.light color; dusty/bit roasted lots of strawberry/ Grenache forward/fruity nose; tart strawberry/Grenache bit SouthernRhone/dusty/roasted flavor; med. long forward bright/strawberry/Grenache light earthy finish w/ light tannins; nice forward easy- dringing Grenache/strawberry red at decent price. $16.00
8. De las Freres Gigondas Les Reinages (13.5%) '98: Med.color; earthy bit salt marsh slight roasted/ dusty light fruit nose; salt-marsh earthy bit bitter/tannic thin little fruit flavor; med. hard/tannic thin dusty/earthy light roasted finish w/ some tannins; rather lean/thin/hard red; overpriced. $22.50
9. Ch. de St. Cosme Gigondas Valbelle (14%) '98: Med.color; slight bretty/earthy/dusty slight roasted some plummy/fruity nose; fairly rich earthy/horsecollar spicy rather plummy/Mourvedre interesting flavor; long bit tannic plummy/Mourvedre/lots of fruit light earthy/roasted finish w/ some tannins; pretty nice Gigondas but too pricey. $35.00
10. Domaine Paul Autard Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee La Cote Ronde (13.5%) '98: Med.color; rather earthy/ horsecollar cranberry/spicy rather sour nose; rather oaked/earthy bit unclean/bretty cranberry low fruit hot-climate/overripe flavor; med/short cranberry/earthy low fruit bit overripe finish w/ light tannins; nice $20 CdP but priced at $32.00
11. Jaboulet Crozes-Hermitage Les Jalets (12.5%) '98: Med.color; rather peanutty/earthy slight green olive/ roasted lots of plummy/berry bit simple/fruity nose; pleasant light roasted/mocha rather plummy/fruity bit simple flavor; med.long light/pleasant plummy/fruity some mocha/green olive finish w/ light tannins; more simple/fruity & less NorthernRhone/pungent than the '97; nice but just that.
12. Cuilleron St. Joseph L'Amarybelle Cuvee Prestige (12.5%) '98: Very dark color; beautiful meaty/Syrah/ gamey rather blackberry/Syrah coffee/mocha classic NorthernRhone nose; tart bit lean/thin lovely/ complex/Rhonish/roasted mocha dusty meaty/blackberry/Syrah flavor; long bit thin/hard dusty/roasted/ Rhonish/pungent some blackberry/Syrah finish w/ fair tannins; needs several yrs age; lots of NorthernRhone character but a bit thin/austere; should be a good one.
13. Cuilleron St Joseph Les Serines (12.5%) '98: Black color; much deeper/pungent/dusty some lush/Syrah/ blackberry/gamey/raw meat some toasty/Fr.oak complex nose; big intense blackberry/Syrah/black cherry/ gamey/meaty some charred/oak peppery/spicy flavor; huge/intense blackberry/Syrah/meaty roasted/dusty/ pungent rather tannic some charred/toasty/Fr.oaked finish; needs 4-8 yrs; very Calif in style like an EdmundsStJohn or Lagier-Meredith; killer Syrah.
14. Cuilleron Cote-Rotie Bassenon (12.5%) '98: Very dark color; loads of meaty/Syrah/blackberry/fruity bit roasted/coffee/mocha pungent/smokey complex nose; big/extracted blackberry/boysenberry/gamey loads of Syrah fruit some roasted/coffee/mocha/espresso complex flavor; very long/tannic/extracted blackberry/boysenberry pungent/smokey light roasted/espresso finish w/ ample tannins; needs 4-8 yrs; very Calif in style & dead-ringer for a JohnAlban Reva; killer Syrah.
15. Rene Rostaing Cote-Rotie La Viallere (13%) '96: Med.light color; very strong reduced/H2S/fecal pungent/stinky unattractive nose; thin little fruit rather fecal/H2S/stinky no Rhonish flavor; long unpleasant fecal/H2S finish w/ ample tannins; this wine has got big problems and seems to have some bacterial problem; baaaad tuff. Way overpriced at $60.00
16. Rene Rostaing Cote-Rotie Cote Blonde (13%) '96: Med.color; rather toasty/charred oak coffee/espresso NorthernRhone some complex bit stinky/funky nose; tart/lean some charred/toasty/oak/pungent/smokey some coffee/roasted/espresso little fruit bit thin/lean flavor; med.long bit tannic/hard some roasted/espresso bit charred/burnt/toasty finish w/ fair tannins; rather thin w/ lots of charred/ burnt character and precious little fruit; way overpriced at $75.00
17. Konsgaard Hudson Vnyd Napa Valley/ Carneros Syrah (14%) '96: Black color; strong toasty/smokey/pencilly/ oaked/pungent/Fr.oaked boysenberry/blackberry/cranberry/licorice complex bit roasted nose; hard/tannic strong toasty/pencilly/Fr.oaked bit blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry bit jammy/ripe flavor; very long toasty/pencilly/Fr.oaked some blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/licorice slight pungent/roasted finish w/ fair tannins; needs 4-8 yrs of age; getting better but still not worth $100.

1. Rostaing: All three of the Rostaing wines were very disappointing, especially for the price. I've generally liked his wines in the past, but these were real clunkers. The #14 wine especially seemed to have some bacterial problem beyond mere reduced character. Can't believe they were this bad.
2. YvesCuilleron: The three Cuilleron reds were absolutely killer Syrahs, some of the best I've had of late. Methinks Yves has been hanging out around JohnAlban too much as they all three had a distinctly Calif character to them (probably the new oak) but without sacrificing their Northern Rhone character. Dynamite wines.
3. KongsgaardSyrah: This was Howard&Rhoda's mystery wine. Howard decanted it into a more conventional bottle, a slimey trick if'n I'd ever see'd one. I thought it resembled Koongsaard Syrah but knew it was in too light a bottle. I did not care much for the wine the first time I had it nearly two yrs ago; thought it much too over-oaked w/ too little fruit. The oak has toned down somewhat and the fruit is coming out; so it may eventually turn into a pretty good Calif Syrah. But still hard to stomach the $100/btl price.
4. Domaine La Remejeannes: First time I'd ever had wines from this estate. They were mightly impressive for the price. The CdR-Villages (#6) is a steal at that price and easily the equivalent of most $18-$20 Calif Syrahs.