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. Alexis Bailly Vineyard Minnesota SeyvalBlanc (11.5%) 2000: Pale yellow color; bit earthy slight metallic/plastic stoney/floral/perfumed talc rather spicy nose; very tart/lean/crisp light grapefruity/floral/lemony some stoney/earthy flavor; med. tart/lean/crisp light floral/ grapefruity/lemony some stoney/metallic/earthy finish; gift of JimVerlautz.
2. Tyrell'sWines Vat 1 Hunter Semillon (10.6%) 1996: Med.dark gold color; strong waxy/figgy/ Semillon light pungent/Fr.oak some complex bit low-key/supressed nose; very high acid/teeth- chattering-tart light figgy/grapefruity/waxy slight pungent/oak flavor; med.short very tart/ acid grapefruity/figgy/waxy/Semillon finish; badly needs much age; unimpressive wine NOW for $40.00.
3. Calif Shenandoah Vineyards Amador County SB (13.1%) 1982: Med.dark gold color; rather toasty/pungent/ smokey slight herbal slight old Sauternes perfumed/complex nose; tart/sour some bitter toasty/ pungent/smokey/oaked bit caramel/butterscotch slight herbal/figgy flavor; med.long toasty/ smokey/pungent/oak/tobaccoy slight herbal finish; obviously an old wine but still alive and quite interesting.
4. Babcock Vineyards 11 Oaks Ranch SantaYnez Valley SB (13%) 1990: Dark gold color; bit coconutty/ macaroon rather Kansas hay mow/Kansas feed store/herbal/OldSpiceAfterShave/fragrant some toasty/ oaked/butterscotchy perfumed/complex nose; soft/rich bit overripe toasty/oak Kansas hay mow/ herbal complex flavor; long fragrant toasty/oaked/caramel/toasted coconut some herbal/Kansas hay mow finish; still very much alive and rather interesting.
5. J.J.McHale ClearLake Dorn Vineyard Fume Blanc (13.0%) 2000: Med.gold color; slight reduced/pungent  rather smokey/peppery/pungent/SB light oaked nose; tart fairly rich pungent/smokey/fume some  figgy/gravelly/stoney interesting spicy/peppery flavor; med.long smokey/pungent/peppery some ripe/figgy finish; easily the best ClearLake SB I've yet had; one of the few SBs that deserve the fume name; quite likable white at a very good price. $16.00
6. J.J. McHale Mendocino Chard Lolonis Vineyard (14.5%) 2000: Med.gold color; some butterscotchy/smokey ripe/melony/Chard peppery/smokey/light oak attractive nose; soft/ripe some pungent/smokey ripe/melony/Chard slight Mendocino/earthy flavor; med.long smokey/peppery/pungent/oak ripe melony/spicy/Chard finish; attractive interesting Mendocino Chard w/ good balance of oak.
7. Carabella Willamette Valley OR PinotGris (14.6%) 2000: Med.gold color; lovely/lush/fragrant anise/piney/floral/very pear/apple ripe/aromatic fairly Alsatian-like nose; off-dry rich/ripe/ citrusy/piney/PineSol very spicy/pear/apple/cheap Christmas candy lovely flavor; long very ripe/citrusy/piney/floral spicy/PG/pear/apple lush finish; one of the best Oregon PGs I've yet had and rather Alsatian in style.
8. Pierre Sparr Alsace Riesling (12%) 2000: Med.gold color; med. strong pineapply/cheap R simple nose; soft/flabby rather simple flowery/pineapply/R dull flavor; med.short soft/fat light floral/pineapply finish; dullsville cheap Riesling more like Liebfraumilch.
9. Pierre Sparr Alsace GWT (13%) 2000: Med.dark gold color; very intense lychee/hair-oil/GWT/ Vitalis simple nose; soft/fat intense hair-oil/Vitalis/lychee/GWT flavor; med.long soft/fat lychee/hair-oil finish; soft & lacking structure but loads of GWT fruit; bit simple.
10. Domaine Weinbach Muscat Reserve (13%) 2000: Med.dark color; strong muscatty slight musty/corked bit spicy rather fragrant nose; soft/rich very spicy/muscatty slight bitter loads of fruit flavor; long strong muscatty/spicy lush/tart slight musty/corked finish; slightly corked but the intense Muscat overwhelms it.
11. J.J.McHale Mendocino Pinot Noir (14.5%) 2000: Med.light color; rather toasty/buttery/Fr.oaked/ buttered popcorn bit meaty/gamey stewed tomatoes/cherry/black cherry nose; tart bright cherry/ black cherry/Pinot some smokey/pungent bit toasty/oaked/Burgundian flavor; med.long tart chery/black cherry light toasty/Fr.oak/smokey/pungent slight earthy finish w/ light tannins; good Anderson Valley bright cherry character w/ nice touch og oak; well-made.
12. Alexis Bailly Vineyard Minnesota MarechalFoch (11.5%) 1999: Med.light color; very earthy/funky  rather pickle juice/volatile stewed fruit bit plastic/hybridy nose; hot/fumey/volatile buttery/diacetyl light earthy/plastic little fruit flavor; med.long hot/fumey/volatile finish w/ little tannins; a raging volatility to this wine and precious little fruit. Compliments of JimVerlautz.
13. Martella Hammer Calif Syrah (14.6%; 71% Syrah from WattsFamily Vineyard/Clements, 7% Syrah from Ventana Vineyard/Monterey, 10% Napa Valley CabFranc; 950cs) 2000: Med.dark color; strong plummy/blackberry bit earthy very ripe attractive nose; soft/fat lush/plummy/blackberry/Syrah slight earthy/mushroomy slight herbal flavor; med. soft lush/plummy/ripe/blackberry/Syrah slight herbal/earthy finish w/ light tannins; a lush/drinkable/attractive Syrah more like ContraCosta Zin than Lodi Syrah; fairly priced at $23.50.
14. Martella Vineyards Fiddletown Zin (10% CabFranc, 4% Syrah; 14.6%; 300 cs) 1999: Med.dark color;  lovely black cherry/cola/licorice very spicy/fragrant Zin bit tobaccoy/pungent nose; tart very ripe black cherry/blackberry/Zin/cola light pungent/tobaccoy/oak flavor; med.long cherry/black cherry/blackberry/cola/Zin light pungent finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs of age; much like an Eschen Zin w/o the hard tannins; very nice Zin for $23.50.
15. Calif Shenandoah Vineyards Amador County Zin Late Harvest (15.4%; 70 yr old Lubenko Vineyard/ Fiddletown; SaH: 46%; RS: 16%) 1981: Very dark color; very intense blackberry/black cherry/ boysenberry/black cherry cola/licorice pungent/toasty/oak some raisened/alcoholic complex very Priorat/Grenache-like nose; sweet strong Am.oaked/pungent/smokey incredible/intense blackberry/framboise/black cherry/cola very grapey flavor; very long very sweet bit alcoholic very intense framboise/blackberry/cola finish w/ some tannins; a terrific Late Harvest that's still loaded w/ blackberry/framboise fruit.
16. Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1985: Med.color; bit musty/bretty slight volatile bit tobbacoy/ old Zin complex nose; soft tobaccoy/pungent/cedary slight bretty cigar box/old Zin flavor; long tobaccoy/pungent/cigar box finish w/ light tannins; lots of cedary/old Zin character; fully mature or a bit beyond. James' mystery wine.
17. Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1992: Med.dark color; strong fruity/ blackcurranty/ strawberry/ bit jammy dusty some vanilla/ Am.oaked nose; soft/round some cigar box/cedary bit herbal very ripe blackcurranty flavor; very long ripe/blackcurranty/strawberry/loads of fruit some cedary/ cigar box finish w/ light tannins; fully ready to drink; lots of ripe fruit. Andrew's mystery wine.

1. AlexisBailly: These were a gift to us from JimVerlautz when he visited SantaFe from St.Paul about a month ago. I had one of the AlexisBailly reds way back when and thought it was pretty decent hybrid wine. The Seyval (a Villard & Seibel crossing) was fairly attractive in the nose and had a verey tart/lean palate; but a likable wine a bit like a Southern Rhone on acids. The Marechal Foch had a raging volatility to it that pretty much obliterated any other character in the wine. One of the character I often find in wines from hybrid varieties is a plastic-like component, a plasticizer from newly formed plastics. Go to any HomeDepot, take the lid off of a new plastic trash can and stick your head inside; that's the smell I'm talking about. But it is usually, for me, the identifier of a hybrid wine. In this Seyval, I only found a hint of that component.
2. ShenandoahSauvignonBlanc: I've followed LeeSobon's SBs from the very start, the '8That wine was a stunny wine in it's youth; loaded w/ an intense Semillon-like fruit and a strong charred/toasty/oak component; and lived a long life afore expiring. This '82 version was a much lighter wine in its youth and much less impressive. I was expecting this wine to be DOA. In fact, it was still very much alive and not at all unpleasant. It even had a bit of the character I've found in old HautBrion Blancs. Pretty interesting wine.
3. TyrellSemillon: This wine I got from Darrell Corti on his recommendation. It is a pretty  underwhelming wine right now. It took some Best of Show in 2001 in Sydney I believe. It has a very schreechy acidity to it that feels like it's scouring your teeth. It is, however, a wine that promises a lot down the road w/ age, if my experience with Oz Semillons means anything. This is a wine that needs at least 10 yrs and will probably last for 40-50 yrs, and evolve into a stunning wine I suspect/guarantee.  What's interesting is that I found a distinct pungent/oaked character in both the nose and the taste. Yet the wine is totally unoaked. I'm just as clueless as certain famous Monktown attourneys, I guess. I've found this, particularly, in older Oz Semillons, a distinct oaky character, when they had never seen a splinter of oak in their life. Go figure.
4. J.J.McHale wines: These wines were given to us to try by Dave Crippen, winemaker. The Chard and Pinot, made from Mendocino grapes, were very attractive/well-made wines; better than most of the Mendocino wines I try. But I was most taken by his ClearLake SB. Most of the ClearLake SBs I've tried have been rather boring/simple little wines. This one had much more character than any I've had and a lovely peppery/smokey quality to it. The winery is located in Clear Lake/Lake County. He has a Syrah coming upon a Sept release that I'm particularly looking forward to trying. Don't think I've yet had a Syrah from Lake County, so interested in what that area can produce.
5. Carabella PinotGris: We had their Pinot last week and was not impressed at the $36 price point. OTOH, this PinotGris is a terrific PG and well-priced to boot. Most OR PG tend to be a bit on the hard/lean/austere side for me. This one had the richness and lushness that I olnly find in Alsatian versions. Much better than any Calif ones I've had, thus far.