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 Calif Zin Sonoma Station (75% Zin, 16% PS, 9% Carignane; Sonoma County; 14.7%; Drk: 11/01-11/06) 2000: Med.color; pleasant raspberry/Zin very light oak bit dusty simple nose; tart rather simple raspberry/Zin light milky/Am.oak pleasant flavor; med. simple/ raspberry/Zin finish w/ light oak finish; seems to have put on some weight from a yr ago but a bit too simple for my taste.
2. Ridge Calif Zin Sonoma Station Sonoma County (84% Zin, 8% PS, 8% Carignane; 14.5%; Drk: 12/02-12/07) 2001: Med.color; bigger more dusty some raspberry/Zinberry/Zin slight funky/ mushroomy/band-aid/not-corked nose; deeper raspberry/blackberry/Zin/Zinberry bit dusty/chalky slight mushroomy/funky/pungent flavor; med. blackberry/raspberry/Zin bit dusty finish w/ some tannins; bit bigger/riper/more alcoholic than the 2000; pleasant/drinkable Zin.
3. Green & Red Vineyard Calif Zin (14.5%; 25% LakeCnty, 39% Lodi, 26% Paso Robles, 10% Napa)  2001: Med.color; pleasant simple/raspberry/Zin noticible Lodi/mushroomy slight oak nose; tart simple/earthy rather mushroomy/LodiZin pleasant raspberry/Zin flavor; med.short raspberry/Zin mushroomy/earthy/Lodi finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant/simple mostly Lodi Zin.
4. Wild Horse Paso Robles Zin (13.8%) 1990: Med.color w/ slight browning; bit tired some  pencilly/charred/toasty/tobaccoy/oak no fruit slight herbal/sewage nose; tart/lean rather dried-out/tired some chalky/cherry/Cheracol pencilly/charred/tobaccoy old Zin flavor; med.long tored/dried-out light cherry/cola/Cheracol chalky/dusty/astringent finish; was once a really ripe/jammy Pasdo Zin but w/ structure, but has not stood the test of time.
5. Ridge Calif Zin Paso Robles (Dusi Ranch; 14.5%; Drk: 10/02-10/07) 2001: Med.dark color;  ripe blackberry/jammy/boysenberry some vanilla/Am.oak fairly rich slight dusty nose; soft/ ripe/jammy/blackberry fairly spicy slight earthy/dusty light Am.oak flavor; med.long ripe/ jammy/blackberry spicy finish w/ some tannins; plenty of spicy/blackberry/jammy character but not the intensity or extract of the DusiRanch; lovely Paso Zin.
6. Ridge Calif Zin Dusi Ranch Paso Robles (15.2%; 54 brls; Railroad&SouthEast Corner; Drk:  10/7-10/9) 2001: Dark color; much deeper blackberry/boysenberry/jammy/ripe slight dusty very perfumed/fragrant/intense nose; soft very ripe blackberry/boysenberry/jammy/framboise/ loads of fruit/blach cherry cough syrup some tannic flavor; very long/lingering intense blackberry/boysenberry/framboise very ripe/chocolaty some milky/Am.oak bit tannic finish; huge fruit almost like an Oz Shiraz, almost an Essence-like character w/o the sugar; one of the best Paso Zins ever from Ridge.
7. EOS Paso Robles Reserve Petite Sirah (EB; www.EOSVintage.com) 2000: Med.dark color; rather jammy/blackberry/very grapey little PS some buttery/Am.oak nose; soft very jammy/PR/ blackberry bit tannic/rough some oaked flavor; med.long rather rough/tannic quite jammy/ blackberry finish; needs several yrs; a bit on the soft & soupy side; more PR/jammy Zin  than PS; bit pricey for what it is.
8. Bogle Vineyards Calif PetiteSirah (13.5%) V&B by Bogle Vineyards, Clarksburg 2001: Very dark/black color; some peppery/blackberry/spicy ripe Am.oak/vanilla nose; soft/fat black cherry/ blackberry/peppery/spicy some oak/vanilla/bourbon rather tannic/grapey/soupy flavor; med. lon ripe/blackberry/peppery finish w/ some tannins; needs a yr or two; quite a mouthful of wine for a good price..."gobs of hedonistic fruit" maybe, with good PS varietal character.
9. Rosenblum Cellars Napa Valley Zin Michael Marston Vineyard (13.7%) 1991: Med.color; rather dusty/old  vines some pencilly/oak/toasty bit tobaccoy slight feed store slight black cherry/fruit/ cola some complex nose; tart rather cherry/black cherry/cola some pencilly/oaked still a bit of the classic Rosenblum lushness bit dried-out/tired flavor; med.long cherry/black cherry/cola rather tobaccoy/pencilly/oak rather tannic/hard flavor; lots much of its fruit and barely holding on. Drink up soon.
10. Ravenswood Old Hill Ranch Sonoma County Zin 1985: Med.color w/ slight browning; rather minty/ menthol some tobaccoy/earthy/pungent old Zin/tobaccoy some complex rather dried-out bit fragrant/rose petal nose; tart dried-out/tired little fruit some tobaccoy/menthol slight cherry/spicy some complex flavor; med.long astringent/dried-out/tired slight cherry/minty/ pencilly/tobaccoy finish; pretty tired & dried out w/ only glimpses of what it once was. Blair's mystery wine.
11. Gary Farrell Sonoma County Russian River Valley Zin TW 1992: Med.light color; attractive bright  cherry some toasty/pencilly/Fr.oak fragrant fairly spicy bit complex nose; soft some toasty/ pencilly rather cherry/spicy some Pinotish flavor; med.long toasty/pencilly/oak light cherry/spicy slight minty/menthol finish; rather pretty Pinotish Zin; starting to lose some fruit & needs to be drunk up.
12. Limmerick Lane Russian River Valley Zin Collins Vineyard (13.5%) 1993: Med.light color; some licorice/ blackberry/Zin ripe bit toasty/tobaccoy some complex nose; tart very spicy blackberry/licorice some toasty/pungent/tobaccoy/oak bit dusty/old vines/earthy flavor; med.long ripe/licorice/ blackberry finish w/ some tannins; drying out a bit but still very much alive; lots of RRV Zin character left.
13. Ridge Calif Zin Lytton Springs Dry Creek Valley (76% Zin, 17% PS, 7% Carignane; 14.7%; Drk: 12/07-12/12; 40th Anniversary 1962-2001) 2001: Med.dark color; strong blackberry/boysenberry/ very spicy some menthol/oakquite dusty/old vines some pungent/smokey some complex nose; tart some milky/Am.oak very spicy/blackberry/licorice/boysenberry some minty/oak/pungent very dusty/old vines almost Geyserville-like in flavor; very long/lingering complex pungent/toasty/smokey/bit menthol/oak rather blackberry/cola finish w/ fair tannins; pretty big & extracted then most recent LSZins; needs some age, one to lay down; terrific LS.
14. Marietta Cellars Alexander Valley RW Angeli Cuvee (15.6%; Zin/PS/Carignane) 1999: Dark color;  lovely blackberry/boysenberry very spicy/fragrant strong toasty/oak bit volatile/alcoholic very ripe some complex nose; rich alcoholic bit fumey/hot very spicy intense blackberry/ boysenberry some menthol/toasty/oak flavor; long ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Zin very ripe/ spicy some toasty/charred finish w/ some tannins; big ripe & spicy w/ a touch of alcoholic heat; fairly priced at $25.00 .
15. Hart Winery Temecula Late Harvest Zin (16.4%; SaH: 30.0%; RS: 2.0%; 326 cs) 1982: Med.color w/ some browning; rather complex essence/raisened/prunish nushroomy/decayed vegetation very ripe/late harvesty some tobaccoy/toasty/oak nose; off-dry very raisened/pruney bit herbal/ feed store dried-out/tired rather tobaccoy/charred/pencilly flavor; med.long strange/ herbal/feed store very raisened/pruney finish w/ little tannins; bit too much raisened/ pruney character to my taste.
16. Vose Vineyards Special Sweet Hrvst Napa Valley Zin (15.2%; EB; SaH: 33.6%; TA: 1.20 gm/100ml; RS: 1.90 gm/100ml; TA: 0.99 gm/100ml; 700 cs) 1982: Dark slight browning color; rather wet dog fur/oxidized very pruney/raisened some tobaccoy/oak nose; slightly sweet very raisened/pruney tobaccoy/charred/oak very ripe bit oxidized/wet dog fur flavor; med.long very overripe/raisened/pruney finish; on its last legs.
17. Robert Biale Aldo's Vineyard Zin (14.6%) 1994:Med.light color; some Am.oak cherry/spicy/perfumed talc some tobaccoy/old Zin bit complex nose; light cherry/Zin/perfumed talc rather pencilly/ tobaccoy/old Zin bit dried out flavor; med.long tobaccoy/old Zin slight cherry finish w/ light tannins; barely clinging to life; drink up.
18. Bogle Calif Petite Sirah (12.5%) 1995: Dark color; rather pungent/herbal/smokey bit earthy/ dusty Am.oaked/vanilla slight licorice/peppery/grapey nose; soft/fat bit soupy light licorice/blackberry/peppery earthy/dusty slight herbal flavor; med.short soft/fat light herbal/blackberry toasty/vanilla/Am.oak finish w/ some tannins; bit on the soft/soupy side but still alive.

1. Ridge pricing: It's been a fair number of yrs since Ridge has raised any of their prices. Sure is a good way to keep us Ridge fans coming back for more. Their pricing and high  level of customer service is something you don't often see at a lot of wineries.
2. Ridge 2001 Zins: Heard a number of reports from ZAP that the 2001 Ridges were pretty unthrilling wines. I couldn't agree less. ALL of the Ridge 2001's I've thus far have had have struck me as some of the best Zins they've made in a number of yrs; with more  complexity and intensity and structure then I've seen from them in some time. And have I've gone back and revisited many of the 2000's, most of them have seemed to have gained weight & complexity of the past year. That said, they still reflect the 2000 vintage and are more forward and drinkable sooner, rather than later.
3. Ridge Paso Robles: I've followed the Ridge Paso Zins from the very start; in the mid-'70's. They used to have a hard/chalky/sour streak to them that I didn't care a lot for. But over  the yrs, they tweaked it into one of my favorite Ridges, consistently year in and year out. It has a lot of that Paso jammy/blackberry/framboise character but they manage to avoid the high alcohol of some Paso Zins. Although not as long lived as other Ridge Zins, they do have the structure for modest aging. I think it would be fascinating to do a vertical, side-by-side, of Ridge Dusi and Rosenblum Sauret Zins sometime. Bree???? Last year, afore Hospices du Rhone, David Gates (Ridge Vineyard manager), Eric Baugher (Ridge winemaker) and Paul Draper took me by to meet Benito Dusi. Really neat guy in his early 80's, still active at his farming, with a great sense of humor and this charming/ puckish twinkle in his eye. The Vineyard is impeccably maintained, as if Beni goes out there daily and stacks all the gravel and rocks in their correct places.  Over the yrs, Ridge has made a few Dusi Ranch Essences; sweet late harvest Zins.  Killer killer wines that are loaded w/ that jammy/blackberry/boysenberry/framboise character. Most are still great drinking w/ a long life ahead of them; showing none of that raisened/prunish character those wines often develop when the fruit starts to go. But growing those grapes for an Essence just goes against Beni's grain for good grape farming practices and, so, alas, there will be no more of those wines. So sad, too bad. The Dusi Vineyard is easy to spot. Driving up Hwy 101 on the south edge of Paso, just afore you hit the commercial/industrial bldgs there on the East side of the hwy, Beni's large Vineyard of old/head-pruned vines sits w/ his home right there in the middle. If there's this elfish/leprecaun out there in the Vineyard putting the rocks in order.... that's Beni!!
4. Bogle PetiteSirah: This wine has been cited by certain Monktown attourneys as one of the QPRs of the year. Well..... yes and no. For a $10 wine, it certainly delivers the goods. A very good flavorful pizza wine. But I find it just a tad towards the simple/boring side and wouldn't want to have a whole lot of it; it would become a little tiring I think.
5. RidgeZins: One of the things Paul Draper strives to achieve in his Zins is to attain the greatest complexity he can that the grapes can deliver. He seems to do a remarkable job at this. It was particularly evident as we were tasting this yr's edition of the Lytton. Everybody was finding all sorts of different things in the wine and we wern't able to achieve much of a consensus on how to describe the wine. That ol' "Draper perfume" thing is about as close as you can come. I often have that problem w/ the Ridge Zins.... I  struggle to find the right words to describe them. And after 10 minutes in the glass, those words wouldn't fit the wine that at evolved anyway. It's a toughh job... but someone's gotta do it.
6. LyttonSprings '01: From the blend, it appears that all the LS Grenache was held out of this yr's version. The wine came across to me a more RussianRiver Zin than DryCreek Zin; more pungency and depth than the last few vintages has shown in this wine. It has a big/ hard structure that bodes well for its aging. More Geyserville in character than most of the recent one. One of the best LyttonSprings in terms of a serious wine that I've seen in some time.
7. Chemical changes/polyphenolics: The two '82 LateHrvsts had dark color w/ only a hint of browning; presumably in a rather reduced state. The next morning, after they had set out overnight in decanters on the counter (I don't HAVE a sideboard... nor even know what one is), they were a very murky brown color w/ little hints of purple and more sediment than I recall in the decanter.. Since we all "know" that we decant youn/tannic red wines in order  to allow the the wine to oxidize and "soften" the tannins, I wonder why we don't see the equivalent visual changes in these young wines??