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. Midi Dry Creek Valley Syrah (13.3%) 2000: Med.color; bit smokey/toasty/oak/tobaccoy some gamey/meaty bit spicy/blackberry/Syrah/plummy nose; tart bit metallic light slight gamey/meaty/raspberry/plummy some smokey/oak flavor; med.short bright raspberry/spicy slight gamey light smokey/oak finish w/ light tannins; pleasant simple rather Zin-like Syrah; nice nose but lacks on the palate.
2. Dehlinger Russian River Valley Syrah (EB; 14.2%) 1999: Med.dark color; lovely pencilly/Fr.oak fragrant/ spicy/blackberry/Syrah/black cherry bit Pinotish nose; tart very perfumed/aromatic black cherry/Pinot- like light pencilly/Fr.oak flavor; very long bright/aromatic/cherry/black cherry/cola/spicy light pencilly/oak finish w/ light tannins; a lovely/perfumed balanced/elegant classic Dehlinger Syrah.
3. The Kangaroo Island Trading Company The barque Mars KangarooIsland Shiraz (14%) 1999: Dark color; very spicy/ peppery/blackberry some raspberry/Zin-like slight eucalyptus/minty nose; tart bit minty/eucalyptus peppery/raspberry/spicy flavor; med. peppery/spicy fragrant/raspberry slight minty finish w/ light tannins; mosre like DryCreek Zin than Syrah; interesting wine but a bit overpriced at $26.00
4. Columbia Crest Reserve Columbia Valley Reserve Syrah (13.0%) 1999: Dark color; slight bretty/earthy plummy/blackberry some charred/oak bit cherry/cola nose; very tart cherry/black cherry/ cola some bretty/funky lean some charred/burnt/oak flavor; med. tart/lean cherry/black cherry some unclean/bretty finish w/ some tannins; interesting Syrah that needs some age; a bit on the tart & lean & bretty side. Bit pricey at $26.00
5. Columbia Crest Reserve Columbia Valley Reserve Syrah (13.5%) 2000: Very dark color; light charred/oak/ vanilla/Bourbon bit smokey/pungent some black cherry cola nose; softer bit pungent/smokey plummy/black cherry cola some vanilla/bourbon/oak flavor; med. black cherry cola/plummy some vanilla finish w/ light tannins; interesting Syrah but a bit pricey for what it is. $26.00
6. Jussila Syrah Jussila Vnyd The Topanga Estate (13.5%) 2000: Med.dark color; rather smokey/ charred/toasty/ Fr.oak some pungent/blackberry bit minerally perfumed/eucalyptus nose; bit thin/tart light eucalyptus pungent/toasty light blackberry/Syrah flavor; med.short bit thin eucalyptus/toasty light blackberry/ Syrah finish w/ light tannins; rather interesting/unusual nose but doesn't deliver enough flavor on the palate; fairly priced at $22.50.
7. Drew Syrah Santa Barbara Cnty Cuvee Nicholas (13.5%) 2000: Dark color; attractive strawberry/spicy/minty light blackberry/raspberry slight cinammon nose; tart bright/cherry/strawberry/soda pop spicy light cinammon/oak flavor; med.long tart bright cherry/strawberry/soda pop rather spicy/cinammon finish w/ light tannins; interesting/unusual rather bright Syrah.
8. Carhartt Syrah Santa Ynez Valley (EG; 14.5%) 2000: Very dark color; lovely blackberry/ Syrah/chocolaty pungent/toasty /oak quite spicy/fragrant nose; softer very spicy/perfumed pungent/toasty/Fr.oak rather chocolaty/ripe/blackberry/Syrah/meaty flavor; long spicy meaty/Syrah/blackberry/chocolaty some pungent/ smokey/Fr.oak finish w/ some tannins; needs a yr or two; very attractive spicy/meaty Syrah at a fair price. $30.00
9. Babcock SBCnty Syrah Syrah Black Label Cuvee (13.7%; Optimum Quad Possum; www.BabcockWinery.com) 2000: Near black color; rather walnutty/perfumed very spicy fragrant/pencilly/Fr.oak ripe blackberry/cola nose; tart spicy bit lean/hard bright blackberry/Syrah/cola/Dr.Pepper some pungent/walnutty flavor; med.long lean spicy blackberry/Syrah finish w/ some tannins; lots of perfume & fragrant oak w/ nice Syrah character.
10. Bernat Vnyd & Wnry Santa Ynez Valley Syrah Marmorstein Vnyd (15.4%) 1999: Very dark color; very ripe blackberry/ licorice/boysenberry/chocolaty/Dr.Pepper quite spicy nose; soft very ripe chocolaty/licorice/boysenberry rich flavor; long very ripe boysenberry/chocolaty/licorice/cola finish w/ some tannins; a bit on the ripe side & loads of ripe fruit but not over the top.
11. Turnbull Oakville/Napa Valley Syrah (EG; 14.9%; www.TurnbullWines.com) 1999: Dark color; deep pungent/ toasty/toasted coconut some peppery/spicy strong blackberry/Syrah nose; tart strong toasty/smokey/Fr.oak toasted coconut/ZagNut bar strong blackberry/Syrah/peppery bit gamey flavor; very long toasty/pungent/ smokey/toasted coconut strong blackberry/peppery/Syrah finish w/ fair tannins; needs a few yrs; lots of toasty oak and structure for aging; very good value at $22.80

1. 1. ColumbiaCrest Syrahs: I had the first one Doug Gore released ('94?) and was mightly impressed by it. These '99 and '00 versions were interesting, but not nearly as impressive as the inagural version.
   2. Drew Family Vnyds: This is made by the winemaker at BabcockVnyds striking out on his own. I thought it was quite a nicely-done first effort. It seemed to me to have a lot of whole-berry fermentation character.
   3. Carhartt: Not sure if this vnyd/wnry has anything to do w/ the Carhartt company that makes heavy-duty work clothes and outgear gear or not. The label is certainly...utilitarian... in its feel, so guess that they must be releated. Foxen also make a Syrah from these grapes, but haven't tried it yet.
   4. Babcock Syrahs:I've been pretty impressed by Brian Babcock's Black Label Syrahs. I thought the first one ('97) was his best, though. The "Optimum Quad Possum" on the label refers to Brian's unique (as best I can tell) practice of tossing four dead possums into each fermenting vat to increase the protein content of the must for a more optimal and extractive fermentation. Not quite sure how he figured out four was optimal, but it seems to work.
   5. Turnbull Syrah: The oroginal name for this operation was Johnson-Turnbull. Reverdy Johnson departed and is now a SantaFe resident. I tried their first Syrah ('94 or '92?) and was quite impressed with it, but it seemed overpriced at $40 in that era. This '99 is a great price for a Syrah.
   TomHill