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. Domaine des Aspes Viognier Vin de Pays d'Oc (13.6%) Vignobles Roger Pierrerue '98: Light gold color; bit earthy/steely/minerally slight floral/Riesling-like nose; soft very metallic light minerally/stoney rather thin/austere flavor; short metallic/lean/ austere/hard finish; pleasant enough nose but hurts on the palate.
2. Chateau du Trignon CotesDuRhone Viognier (14%) '98: Med.light gold color; lovely perfumed/ pear/Viognier/spicy very attractive nose; tart bit minerally/fragrant/pear/Viognier light/ spicy flavor; med.long bit metallic/minerally attractive pear/Viognier finish; nicely done mainstream Viognier.
3. Acacia Napa Valley/Carneros District Viognier (13.5%) '98: Med.gold color; bit toasty/oaked light fragrant/pear/Viognier slight earthy nose; tart/hard some toasty/oaked low key/ pear/pineapply/Viognier bit earthy flavor; med.long some toasty/oak light pineapply/pear/ Viognier slight bitter finish; more like an Alsatian Muscat than Viognier; nice touch of oak but not much fragrance. Overpriced at $30.00
4. Guigal Condrieu (13.5%) '97: Med.gold color; lovely/fragrant/minerally/Viognier/Condrieu light/spicy/perfumed nose; spicy/fragrant/pear/peach/Viognier Condrieu-minerally light flavor; med.long minerally-Condrieu/spich/fragrant/peach/Viognier finish; very nice Condrieu character but a bit light & diffuse & tastes older than a '97; fair price. $25.00
5. Domaine Gourt de Mautens Rasteau Cotes Du RhoneVillages (14%) Jerome Bressy '97: Med.dark color; rather earthy/SouthernRhone/dusty slight roasted some candied/strawberries/Grenache nose; bit thin lots of candied/Grenache/strawberry some earthy/dusty/toasted flavor; med.short bit thin candied/strawberry/Grenache finish w/ little tannins; a simple little CdR but not worth $16.00
6. Rosenblum Cellars Solano Cnty Syrah England Shaw Vnyd (13.9%) '97: Dark color; strong buttery/ buttered popcorn/dyacetyl/Am.oaked bit licorice/gamey/Syrah nose; soft very buttery/ buttered popcorn/oaked some earthy/licorice/pungent slight horsey flavor; med. very buttery/ buttered popcorn slight licorice/pungent finish w/ little tannins; more like Zin than Syrah & not an exciting Zin at that; a bit on the coarse side & loaded w/ buttery/oak.
7. Jaboulet Crozes-Hermitage '85: Med.color; pleasant tobaccoy/roasted/ espresso somewhat NorthernRhone/pungent nose; light fragrant roasted/espresso/Northern Rhone some dried out flavor; med.short roasted/espresso/pungent bit dried out finish w/ little tannins; rather pleasant NorthernRhone character but on the downside; in very good condition for a rather simple wine.
8. Bruno Thierry Gigondas '85: Med.light some brown color; foul oxidized wet dog fur nose; undrinkable much too oxidized; another btl a few days later was somewhat better but still on the oxidized side.
9. Chapoutier St.Joseph Deschants (12.5%) '97: Med.color; attractive fragrant/Syrah/blackberry very strawberry/cherry bit gamey nose; tart bit thin spicy/roasted/Syrah/blackberry/cherry flavor; med.long bit thin/light/lean attractive roasted/Syrah cherry/berry finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant Syrah if on the light side. $20.00, but worth only that.
10. Young'sVnyd Shenandoah Valley Calif Syrah (14.0%) '97: Very dark color; rather strong Am. oaked blackberry/Amador/briary spicy/Syrah nose; soft strong Am.oaked spicy/blackberry Amador/briary/chocolaty/licorice flavor; med.long very strong Am.oaked licorice/blackberry/ Syrah Amador/briary/chocolaty finish w/ some tannins; needs yr or two; lots of Am.oak but a very nice Amador Syrah/Zin underneath. Good price. $14.95
11. J.Vidal-Fleury Hermitage '85: Med.light color some browning color; foul/oxidized/sherry/ maderized nose; offensive/maderized flavor.
12. Chapoutier Hermitage La Sizeranne (13%) '97: Med.dark color; lovely some gamey bit herbal/ blackberry/Syrah light roasted rather shy nose; tart bit light/lean some tannic pleasant gamey/Syrah/blackberry bit herbal/dusty flavor; med.long some gamey/herbal/blackberry/Syrah slight roasted/pungent finish w/ some tannins; the herbal character makes it see much like a (lighter) Qupe Hillside; a pleasant Hermitage but not much roasted/espresso character and a bit on the light side. Not worth $50.00
13. Jamet Cote-Rotie '85: Med.light color; attractive coffee/roasted bit earthy somewhat tired nose; rather funky/fecal/barnyard slight roasted/espresso rather tired flavor; med.short slight roasted no fruit tired finish w/ light tannins; some interesting things therein but pretty tired wine.
14. Chapoutier Cote-Rotie (12.5) '97: Med.dark color; rather blackberry/Syrah/licorice light roasted/complex nose; soft blackberry/licorice/Syrah/fruity slight roasted/earthy/dusty bit spicy flavor; long licorice/blackberry/Syrah slight pungent/roasted/herbal finish w/ some tannins; little roasted/C-R character & more like an Hermitage than C-R. Nice attractive wine but not worth $47.00
15. H. Sorrel Hermitage La Greal '88: Dark color; rather earthy/dusty/wet cement very slight musty/corked some roasted/CdP-like complex nose; tart earthy/gamey bit funky/wet basement/ wet concrete light herbal/roasted/pungent flavor; med.long bit tart/lean funky/wet basement/dusty light herbal/roasted/pungent finish w/ some tannins; intereting if a bit strange Hermitage. Howard's mystery wine.
16. Frey Mendocino County Syrah (organic grown/organic made) '98: Med.dark color; fairly strong dusty/earthy some blackberry/black cherry rather Am.oaked nose; soft black cherry/ blackberry/strawberry rather funky/bretty slight gamey rather Am.oaked/dusty/earthy flavor; med. some tannic rather earthy/dusty some black cherry/strawberry/cola Am.oaked rather funky/bretty bit wet dog fur finish; needs yr or two; a bit funky/unclean & not a lot of Syrah character but a decent red at $12.49

1. The Gigondas was sadly over-the-hill by a large margin. When it was first poured, it was a rather washed out/old color w/ a slight browning. When I went back to try it again at the end of the evening, it was a very murky/brown color; a remarkable change in color in a very short period. That is, browning is a well-known oxidation effect in wine so this (highly reduced) wine was oxidizing fast. Why is it then when we pour a young red & slosh it around in a decanter to oxidize all the young tannins and make it softer, allowing it to breathe, we never see any browning or precipitate form as the polyphenolics are oxidized?? A semi-rethorical question; food for thought.
2. My first exposure to a Young's wine was a '94 Zin that was really foul, very fecal/dirty diaper pail. Dreadful stuff. Although I've heard some good reports on their wines, I was reluctant to revisit their wines. This Syrah was very clean & had none of those problems at all. Not TerreRouge quality, but pretty good, especially if you like Am.oak.
3. The Chapoutier '97's were all pleasant/attractive Rhones; more on the elegant/light side. Not a particularly strong showing; not worth the prices.
4. The three '85 were particularly disappointing. In their youth, they were pretty impressive Rhones. They all came from Argonaut up in Denver in a torrid summer of '87. Hmmmmm??