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. Nalle Mendocino County Dry Riesling (12.8%); 1999: Med.light gold color; fragrant/floral/R  clean/spicy nose; very tart lean/floral/R/spicy hard/Mosel-like flavor; long floral/R/ very spicy/bit pineapply hard/austere finish; very fragrant but hard on the palate; needs age; will be a good one.
2. Nalle Mendocino County Dry Riesling ColeRanch (13.0%); 1997: Med.gold color; slightly corked/ musty bit Mosel/valve oil/spicy fragrant/aromatic nose; tart some corked/musty light minerally/floral perfumed flavor; med.long corked some petrol/valve oil finish; some really nice aromatics but the corkiness is a distraction.
3. Nalle Mendocino County Anderson Valley GWT (13.5%); 1997: Med.gold color; beautiful/fragrant very spicy/lychee/floral/GWT slight earthy nose; bit softer very spicy/lychee elegant/ delicate lean floral flavor; long rather lychee/GWT/floral austere/tart finish; needs  age; very much in the Trimbach/old-style Alsace mold; will be a good one.
4. Nalle Mendocino County Anderson Valley GWT (13.7%); 1996: Med.dark gold color; slight nutty/ complex/earthy low key/spicy/lychee/GWT nose; tart bit nutty/oxidized low key/spicy/ lychee bit earthy flavor; med.short nutty/earthy light lychee/spicy finish; some ullage & seems a bit aged for its youth.
5. Nalle Mendocino County Anderson Valley GWT (13.7%); 1995: Med.gold color; very lovely/floral/ lychee/GWT piney/coconutty perfumed complex/spicy nose; softer quite spicy/floral/aromatic/ lychee/GWT some minerally flavor; long aromatic/perfumed spicy/lychee/GWT/cinammon complex finish; very lovely aromatics but still a young wine.
6. Morgan Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Gris R&D Franscioni Vnyd TW; 2000: Light yellow some cloudy color; pleasant appley/very Italian PinotGrigio-like light spicy nose; soft weak low-key light appley/simple flavor; med.short weak/watery appley finish; very dull & boring, exactly in the Italian PG mold.
7. Tablas Creek Vnyd Rose (50% Mourvedre, 35% GrenacheNoir, 14% Counoise; 14%); 1999: Light salmon color; very fragrant/cranberry/spicy bit earthy/dusty nose; tart earthy bit cranberry stoney flavor; med.long tart/austere light cranberry/fragrant finish; nice cranberry character but hard & austere on the palate; much like a Tavel rose. Bit pricey at $25.00.
8. Nalle Sonoma Cnty Russian River Vlly Pinot Noir (13.7%); 1999: Med.light color; very lovely toasty/pungent/Fr.oaked/smokey some bright cherry/PN nose; tart bright cherry/PN/spicy pungent/toasty/Fr.oaked/smoked hot dog elegant flavor; very long smokey/pungent/charred/ Fr.oaked bright cherry/spicy/cherry pie finish w/ light tannins; very nicely made elegant/ complex Burgundian-style Pinot.
9. Nalle Sonoma Cnty Dry Creek Vlly Zin (13.5%); 1999: Med.dark color; lovely bright Zinberry/ raspberry very spicy classic DCV Zin light Fr.oaked nose; spicy clean bright Zinberry/raspberry very spicy clean light toasty/oak flavor; long elegant bright Zinberry/raspberry light smokey/ oaked finish w/ some tannins; classic elegant/balanced Nalle Zin; this '99 seems a bit leaner and harder and closed compared to earlier versions of his Zin; should be much better in a year I would think.
10. Newlan Vnyds & Wnry Napa Vlly Zin (14.5%); 1999: Very dark color; strong Am.oaked/vanilla deep blackberry/boysenberry/mountain Zin pungent/smokey some dusty nose; strong vanilla/Am.oaked pungent/smokey/toasted bit hot blackberry/boysenberry rather tannic/hard flavor; long hard/ tannic strong pungent/vanilla/Am.oak blackberry/boysenberry finish; needs several yrs; lots of mountain Zin character; great buy at $17.00. 
11. Zahtila Vnyds Sonoma Cnty Zin Monte Rosso Vnyd Old Vines (13.9%); 1997: Dark color; some Am.oaked pungent/smokey/spicy blackberry/Zin interesting nose; hard/tannic pungent/smokey dusty/old vine blackberry/raspberry flavor; long hard/tannic/lean/austere pungent blackberry some Am.oaked finish; needs several yrs; a classic MonteRosso Zin in that it has a great fragrance but that hard/lean/austere character on the palate.
12. Sineann Columbia Vlly Zin (15.2%; 90 yr old vines; 2 tons/acre); 1999: Dark color; intense pungent/smokey/charred/toasty/Fr.oak earthy/dusty old vine some blackberry complex nose; soft very strong toasty/smokey/charred/Fr.oaked earthy/blackberry flavor; med.long strong toasty/ pungent/charred/Fr.oak earthy/dusty some blackberry finish w/ some tannins; a big/complex almost Languedoc-style of Zin; very interesting wine.
13. Wynn's Coonawarra Estate Coonawarra Shiraz Michael Lmtd Release (13.0%); 1996: Black color;  very intense minty/menthol/Am.oaked intense boysenberry/blueberry classic Oz/fruit-bomb nose; soft/fat intense vanilla/Am.oak/minty/menthol intense Syrah/blackberry flavor; long intense blackberry/Syrah/blueberry/jammy/ripe very Am.oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; classic Oz Shiraz w/ loads of fruit & loads of oak.

And the usual detritus from the bloody pulpit:

1. Nalle Whites: Good Alsatian-style R & GWT from Calif a very few and far between. Those that are labeled "dry" very seldom are; they often have 0.5%-1% r.s. Doug Nalle's versions are one of the very few Calif R&GWT that I truly like. They always have wonderful aromatics but a real hardness and leanness on the palate that really makes them more food wines than tasting or socializing wines. Because of this austerity, they remind me less of Alsatian versions more than they do of Oz Rieslings. The few that I have aged for several yrs were maturing very nicely. I suspect that, like the Oz ones, they can age 10-20 yrs. Alas, Doug doesn't make a lot of it, but they're worth buying a few btls & laying away if you come across them.
2. Nalle Pinot: I've always described Doug's Zins as being a very Pinot-style of Calif Zin; with the emphasis more on balance & elegance rather than sheer ZinPower. So I was very much looking forward to finally trying one of his Pinots. And it was pretty much exactly what I expected from him.... elegant & balanced and very well-made. Very nice Calif Pinot.
3. Nalle Zins: I've followed Doug's Zins..... from the very start.... never missed a one. This is one wine my group buys consistently, year in and year out, sight unseen. We've never been disappointed yet. When I want to show someone what classic DryCreek Zin is all about; it's invariably the Nalle that I pull out. His Zins have been amazingly consistent in style over the years. They're one Zin that I know I can open up and just sit back and enjoy; without having to pontificate or contemplate over. They're a no-brainer to buy when you occasionally see them at retail.

1. TomHill