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.

  My reason for this trip was to attend the special dinner Paul Bertolli was doing at his terrific Oliveto restaurant in Berkeley to celebrate 25 yrs of friendship with SteveEdmunds on Friday (8/22/03). Joining me for dinner this night was long-time friend Dave Jones. The restaurant was packed when we arrived at 8:00pm. Right there at the entrance to greet us was Bob Summers (BackRoadBob). Steve & Cornelia were already partly thru their meal. Shortly after we arrived, Steve's two daughters, Aaron and Heather, were seated nearby. It's clear they both picked up their Dad's good looks. Alas, they escaped afore I got to meet them. The menu (I had): Duck prosciutto w/ Summer Melon Swordfish Peperonata Spelt Pasta w/ Roast Pigeon Beef ShortRibs w/ Root Vegetables Artisan Cheeses There were specific wines suggested for each course, but Dave & I just sort of winged it. Across the board, Paul's food was simple, yet stunningly prepared. Some of the best ribs that I've had. 

The Wines:

1. Edmunds St. John Grand Heritage Viognier 1996: Bit reduced/stinky nose at first that clears to a pungent/smokey/toasty/oak some fragrant/pear/Viognier rather minerrally/stoney nose; tart rich/toasty/pungent/smokey/tobaccoy mouthfilling/glycerined minerally light pear/ Viognier flavor; very long/lingering smokey/pungent tart finish; low key on the Viognier character but a huge/powerful Rhonish white; lots of acid & still a young wine; needs age. From Alban grapes as I recall.
2. Edmunds St. John Knight's Valley Viognier 1992: Med.dark gold color; intense butterscotchy/pungent/ nutty/hazelnutty slight oxidized very perfumed very complex slight pear/Viognier nose; incredible honeyed/pungent/nutty/hazelnutty very lush/ripe light pear/perfumed very complex powerful flavor; very long/lingering nutty/hazelnutty rich/powerful/lush/ripe slight oxidized very complex/perfumey finish; an incredible/complex mature wine; maybe the best old Calif Viognier I've had ever.
3. Edmunds St. John Calif Syrah 2001: An old&dear friend; very dark color; beautiful pungent/smokey/ peppery very spicy/blackberry/Syrah classic EdStJ nose; rich/pungent/smokey/toasty big/ blackberry/peppery/Syrah flavor; very long pungent/peppery finish w/ some tannins; this wine is getting sooooo good; a steal at $18.
4. Hamel Sonoma Cnty Syrah 1994: Very dark color; huge/rich/blackberry/Syrah some toasty/Fr.oak bit complex nose; lush/rich very strong/blackberry/Syrah very spicy almost RussianRiver Zin-like some toasty/charred/oak flavor; long toasty/oak ripe/blackberry/Syrah finish w/ some tannins; this wine used to be fairly bretty on release but seems to have lost that; not a lot of complexity yet and still needs some time; seems a bit simple w/ the EdStJ Syrahs.
5. Edmunds St. John Durell Vnyd Sonoma Cnty Syrah 1994: Black color; incredible pungent/smokey very peppery/roasted some blackberry/Syrah complex classic EdStJ Syrah nose; tart rich/ripe/ very spicy/peppery smokey/pungent blackberry/blueberry/Syrah light roasted/charred powerful flavor; very long/lingering tart very spicy/peppery/pungent finish w/ fair tannins; still needs age; classic Edmunds St. John Syrah; killer wine.
6. Edmunds St. John Les Cotes Sauvage 1992: Very dark color; beautiful/complex forward/spicy/grapey light blackberry some earthy/dusty complex/smokey nose; soft/smooth ripe/grapey/blackberry some dusty/earthy forward/lush very spicy flavor; very long smooth/lush/grapey very spicy finish w/ light tannins; pretty near its peak I would guess but will last; terrific blend.
7. Edmunds St. John Durell Vnyd Sonoma Cnty Syrah 1991: Very dark color; beautiful/complex/pungent/ smokey rather roasted/Rhonish/charred slight blackberry very complex nose; soft/rich smokey/pungent/roasted/toasty light blackberry/Syrah very complex/pungent flavor; very long/lingering roasted/pungent finish w/ some tannins; a bit drying out but a stunning/ very Rhonish/pungent Syrah; dynamite wine.

1. SteveEdmunds is known, first & foremost, as a Syrah producer. But I think he is overlooked at what he has done w/ white varieties as well. His Viogniers, though a bit atypical of other Calif Viogniers, can be dynamite sometimes. His LosRobles blanc blend will, I feel, with age become equally wonderful. His ElDorado PinotGrigio is one of the better renditions of that variety around. The '92 Viognier was a stunning/amazing wine. I recall it being pretty big & powerful, very DollyParton, even a bit fat & porky when young. I was mightly impressed how the wine had aged. Dave doesn't care much for Viognier; this one made a believer out of him. I had brought along the '91 version of this wine, but Steve discouraged me from bringing it to Oliveto. I had it when I returned home and it was not in the class of the '92; showing much more blatent oxidative character, but nonetheless still pretty interesting. It would not have shamed me had I brought it.
2. LesCotesSauvages: This Rhone-blend of Steve's has been mightly impressive over the years, and they have generally matured as well as his Syrahs. This '92 was a pretty classic example of their capability. I don't see his Rocks&Gravel aging as well. The LosRobles rouge blend, from fairly young vines, I suspect will do equally well, but it's still a bit early to tell I think.
3. I bought two copies, one for Deborah Madison, of Paul's new book: Cooking By Hand. Has I've nearly completed reading it; I am mightly impressed with it. He's a fanatic about food. His fanaticism shows in the food served at Oliveto. Always one of my stops in the Bay area. All in all, a pretty amazing night of great food, great wines, a terrific comaradarie.