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. Ridge California Geyserville (50% Zin, 30% Carignan, 20% PS; 14.3%); 1991: Dark color; wonderful/complex black cherry very spicy dusty/old vines very complex perfumed/ aromatic bit black berry nose; soft very lush lovely/complex black cherry/blackberry  very spicy dusty/old vines flavor; very long/smooth/lush very spicy black cherry/ blackberry dusty/old vines complex finish w/ light tannins; fully mature w/ an  incredible spiciness and lots of complexity; a classic Geyserville Zin.
2. Terraces Napa Valley Zinfandel (13.2%); 1993: Med.dark color; strong pungent blackberry mountain Zin/dusty rather peppery bit bretty low fruit nose; rather toasty/pungent some blackberry dusty/mountain Zin rough rather tannic bit spicy blackberry flavor; med. long dusty/mtn Zin pungent/peppery rather tannic light blackberry finish w/ fair tannins; an interesting mtn Zin w/ a pungent/peppery character; seems to be drying out a bit.
3. Brophy Clark Paso Robles Zinfandel (14.8%); 1999: Med.dark color; very ripe very jammy/black berry/boysenberry lush loads of fruit Oz-style bit oaked nose; off-dry very ripe intense jammy/blackberry/boysenberry soft Dr.Pepper spicy loads of jammy fruit flavor; long very intense jammy/blackberry/boysenberry light Am.oak soft very lush finish w/ light tannins; a classic jammy Paso Zin loaded w/ fruit; very much the Oz style; much like the Peachy Canyons of old; a steal at $14.00 
4. Coyote Creek Vineyard Paso Robles Zinfandel (14.2%); 1999: Med.color; bit alcoholic light blackberry/ jammy bit earthy/chalky nose; soft bit washed out light blackberry/jammy slight bretty flavor; med.short light blackberry bit alcoholic bit washed out finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant/simple Paso Zin but not worth the $22.00 .
5. Turley California  Zinfandel Juvenille (15.2%); 1999: Black color; intense blackberry/plummy/ boysenberry bit earthy light oak nose; soft very intense jammy/ripe blackberry/ boysenberry/spicy bit alcoholic lots of fruit flavor; long soft/lush jammy/boysenberry/ blackberry bit licorice rather plummy finish w/ light tannins; very forward and loads of blackberry fruit and a great drinking Zin; forward for drinking on the short term, good value at $24.00.
6. Turley California Zinfandel Old Vines (15.3%); 1999: Very dark color; very strong plummy/raspberry some toasty oak bit pungent/dusty nose; bit leaner/harder more ripe/late harvesty raspberry/blackberry/plummy light pungent/toasty spicy/plummy bit alcoholic flavor; long very ripe/raspberry/blackberry/plummy light toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs a few yrs; not as lush and fruit-driven as the Juvenille & a bit more overripe and a bit more structure; one of the best Turley OldVines yet.
7. Turley Contra Costa County Zin Duarte Vineyard (15.8%); 1999: Very dark color; earthy/mushroomy plummy/CC dusty/old vines loads of plummy fruit nose; tart intense/plummy fruit/black- berry bit earthy/mushroomy spicy flavor; med.long dusty/plummy/blackberry/mushroomy finish w/ some tannins; a great drink Zin w/ lots of ContraCosta character; needs a yr or two.
8. Turley Napa Valley Zinfadel Turley Estate (15.4%); 1999: Black color; intense blackberry/ripe/ boysenberry some toasty/oak nose; soft/smooth bright raspberry/blackberry bit coffee/ mocha/toasty/oak ripe very spicy classic Zin flavor; med.long bright/spicy/raspberry/ blackberry light toasty/coffee/oaked finish w/ modest tannins; loads of bright/spicy Zin fruit w/ a nice touch of oak; very well made.
9. Neyers Zinfandel Napa Valley Tofanelli Vineyard (15.7%); 1999: Med.dark color; bright raspberry/ blackberry/very spicy some meaty/gamey slight volotail some smokey/toasty/oak nose; tart bright raspberry/blackberry bit alcoholic some toasty/oaked very spicy/bright  flavor; long bright/raspberry/blackberry slight dusty/old vines some toasty/oaked finish w/ fair tannins; a delicious bright Zin w/ no raisened character; we had this  two months ago & it seemed a big/huge deep brooding Zin, this one seems much brighter and loads of spicy character.
10. Turley Napa Valley Zinfandel Tofanelli Vineyard (15.9%); 1999: Very dark near black color; deep intense blackberry/boysenberry light French oak some earthy/dusty/old vines fairly complex nose; soft big ripe lush/licorice/blackberry/boysenberry some toasty/oaked dusty/old vines flavor; very long big/rich/lush licorice/blackberry/boysenberry soft/round loads of fruit some toasty/oaked finish w/ ample tannins; needs 2-4 yrs; a big/rich/lush loads of blackberry Zin; great Zin.
11. Turley Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel Grist Vineyard (15.4%); 1999: Med.dark color; bright/effusive/spicy  loads of bright/raspberry fruit classic DCV some plummy/meaty light oaked lovely/bright nose; tart very bright/DCV/raspberry very spicy light Fr.oaked flavor; long bright/ effusive/raspberry very spicy light oak/pencilly finish w/ some tannins; needs a yr or two; a classic DCV loads of raspberry Zin.
12. Turley Napa Valley Charbono Tofanelli Vineyard (13.8%); 1999: Black color; very strong earthy/ perfumed talc some PS-like dusty/old vine bit clunky some toasty/oak nose; soft quite tannic earthy/perfumed talk pungent/clunky/mushroomy/truffly some toasty/oak flavor; big/hard/tannic earthy/mushroomy bit plummy some toasty/oak finish w/ ample tannins; lots like a PetiteSirah; needs some age; interesting/earthy red.
13. Turley Napa Valley Petite Sirah Turley Estate (14.6%); 1999: Black color; intense pungent/ licorice/meaty/gamey some Fr.oaked very interesting nose; hard/tannic earthy/light peppery some toasty/oak low fruit flavor; long hard/tannic some earthy/peppery bit clunky some toasty/oak finish w/ ample tannins; needs 4-10 yrs; hard to tell how it will develop; not a lot of fruit; typical Calif PS.
14. Turley Napa Valley Petite Sirah Rattlesnake Acres (14.5%); 1999: Black color; slight volatile intense licorice/peppery strong plummy/fruit slight toasty/oak nose; soft/fat  huge plummy/peppery/blackberry loads of fruit light toasty/oak flavor; very long ripe  plummy/earthy/peppery/blackberry light oaked finish w/ ample tannins; big/soft/fat PS w/ lots of fruit; needs 2-8 yrs; will be a great PS w/ age.
15. Le Salette Classico Pergola Vece Amarone della Valpolicella (15%); 1997: Dark color; strong Grenache/earthy/funky some bretty rather overripe/raisened bit EA/aromatic nose; dry/earthy very ripe/licorice/spicy LateHrvst Zin rather raisened bit unclean/bretty flavor; med.long hard/tannic dry earthy/licorice bit raisened/overripe some funky/unclean finish w/ some tannins; much like an earthy LateHrvst Zin, maybe from Lodi; not worth the price. $58.00
16. Fitz-Ritter Dornfelder Trocken in Barrique Gereift Rhein Pfalz (12%) 1997: Dark color; very intense very ripe beautiful fruit blackberry/boysenberry slight earthy loads of toasty/Fr.oak perfumed nose; soft/lush loads of boysenberry/fruit loads of toasty/Fr.oak slight earthy/dusty flavor; very long loads of toasty/Fr.oak lots of blackberry/ boysenberry fruit slight earthy/dusty finish w/ ample tannins; great example of a classic international/Parkerized red wine; easily the best German red I've ever tasted.

And a few dessert wines the celebrate special attendees:

1. Chateau d'Arche (MeBaC); 1983: Deep gold color; lovely botrytis/peachy/earthy rather volatile/EA rather complex nose; tart bit hot/alcoholic rather peachy/botrytis earthy  slight butterscotchy/oak bit hard/harsh somewhat sweet flavor; med.long bit hot/ alcoholic very peachy/botrytis slight earthy finish. Loads of botrytis but a bit hot & alcoholic & drying out on the palate.
2. Ridge Calif Zin Essence PasoRobles (SaH: 39%; 13.9%; RS: 9.2%); 1991: Dark color; intense raisened/pruney/blackberry/boysenberry/PR jammy dusty/old vine bit hot some complex nose; very sweet bit hot very blackberry/boysenberry/PR jammy/loads of fruit bit raisened dusty/old vine flavor; very long intense blackberry/PR jammy/licorice/ boysenberry/loads of fruit slight hot/volatile slightly sweet finish; still loads of fruit but starting to show the raisened/pruney side of an Essence w/ age.

1. Brophy-Clark Zin: A terrific fruit-bomb of a Zin the likes of which I've not seen from Paso since the early Peachy Canyons and some of the Tobin James Zins. Very much in the style of Aussie fruit-bombs. And a steal at $14 from WineClub. Not much structure and probably won't age well but worth buying.
2. Turley '99's: The prices above include the (expensive) shipping to NM.  I have followed the Turley wines from the very start, back when Larry Turley was making Zin at Frog's Leap. Although it is often seen on these wine boards a lot of criticism for their extracted/oaky/alcoholic/over-the-top character; they represent a style that I happen to like quite a lot. I wouldn't want to make a steady diet of this style of Zin, but in their place and with the right food; I think they are great wines. Despite their usually high alcohol levels, I seldom get a hint of any overripe/pruney/raisened character that you would expect in these high of alcohol wines. Furthermore, I seldom find the alcohol levels in them off-putting; I feel they carry the alcohol well and seldom find an alcoholic burn or hotness to them. These '99 versions, to me, represent, perhaps, the best, overall, release yet from Turley. They seem to have less toasty/French oak than in the past and seem much better blalanced, less extracted and over-the-top, than previous releases. Furthermore, the seem to display much more terroir of each individual vnyd than they have in the past. In previous releases, the Turley style seemed to be the dominant theme on all the wines. This batch seems to show more individual vnyd differences. Despite some claims in the press of the '99 vintage being less-than-successful for Zinfandel, I think Ehren Jordan has done a marvelous job with these wines. I'm looking forward to what he does down in Paso with the Pesenti grapes, probably the best Zin in the entire county.
3. Demise of Hoot-Smalley White Zin: Alas, the three vines, hard by the famed Sutter Home WhiteZin vnyd down in St.Helena, and producer of the even-more-famed Turley Smoot-Hawley WhiteZin, which British author Stephen Brooke labeled as the world's most expensive WhiteZin in his definitive tome on Calif wines; succumbed to phyloxera in '99, and is no longer in production. It was a great 5-year run for this wine, however. 
4. German Reds: The Dornfelder was a mystery wine brought by Howard & Rhoda. Absolutely amazing wine. Howard was gloating mightly in that he knew I wouldn't have a clue as to what the wine was. I guessed a Syrah from the NapaVlly because of the heavy French oak. I have never had a German red wine that I thought was worth drinking. Mostly they have been Spatburgunders, but I've probably had 3-4 Dornfelders over the yrs. Granted, this was not a "traditional" German red wine and very much in the international/RP style of red; but I loved the stuff. So.... the conundrum. Do you go for a Parkerized/ international style of wine that you really like or do you you go for the lean/thin/ eviscerated but TRADITIONAL style of German red wine??? Good question!!
5. Charbono: This is sort of Calif's mystery grape; nobody knows for sure what it is.  A classic candidate for DNA testing if there ever were one. But probably noone cares. Inglenook and Chateau Souverain made some pretty good wines from this variety over the years. But nothing compares, even remotely, to the Turley versions. 
6. PetiteSirah: Not one of my favorite Calif grapes. They seem to mostly have an earthy character and rather lacking in fruit. Hard to believe that they've planted this variety on the Turley estate unless they were already there; with so much old-vine PS around in Calif. I find the variety rather quirky in the way it evolves in the  bottle; very hard to predict. Some of them, like the Ridges, develop very well. But many of them never seem to shed their tannins nor develop much in the way of complexity. When I first got interested in Calif wines, I used to buy lots of PSs, certain that bacause of all their tannins and color; they would eventually develop into marevelous old red wines. It seldom happened. Maybe you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear!!
7. This was a very special tasting honoring the return of Carl & Sigie Stewart from Buffalo, NY; who had been long time members of my group from some 15 yrs ago. Also, it was the first visit of my son, Joshua, and his bride; from Secaucus, NJ in some 5-6 yrs; and his first participation in one of my wine tastings. His wife, Meryl, was dead tired from  their long trip, but hung in there like a trooper to the very end. And the evening marked the BD of James Lamb, who gave up any BD celebration to taste wines w/ us. The dessert was in invention: a pears & gorgonzola bread pudding w/ a Zabiglone sauce made w/ pear liquer rather than the traditional Marsala. Came out pretty good, actually.

TomHill