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.

We tasted this week (2/8/06) some New French Rhones:

1. Cave de Chante-Perdrix Condrieu (13.5%) 2003: Med.gold color; lovely/ fragrant/ floral/ perfumed/Viognier some peachy/minerally slight oak/butterscotch complex nose; very soft/fat some caramel/butterscotch rather minerally/floral/Viognier lush flavor; long soft/lush butterscotch/ cream soda some floral/minerally finish; rather soft/fat/Calif-style/porky Viognier w/ only a small amount of the classic Condrieu minerality. $30.00
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2. Domaine GeorgesVernay LesTerrasses de l'Empire Condrieu (13.5%) 2004: Med.gold color;
somewhat dusty/earthy slight oaked low-key/floral/Viognier slight mineral nose; more acid bit lean/thin somewhat dusty/earthy light floral/Viognier flavor; med. dusty/earthy light floral/ peach/ Viognier finish; no minerality and not very Condrieu in character; pretty underwhelming for $49.00
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3. LesVinsDeVienne Cuilleron-Gaillard-Villard Cotes du Rhone LesLaurelles (13%) 2004: Med.
gold color; lovely/fragrant/floral/Roussanne/honeysuckle slight mineral nose; soft/lightmineral/ stoney light floral bit dull/washed-out flavor; med. light floral/stoney finish; very attractive nose but doesn't deliver on the palate; no bargin at $17.00
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4. RobertEden ChateauMaris Minervois LaLiviniere LaTougeMaris Syrah (14%) 2000: Very dark
color; rather tired/oxidized/wet dog fur very little fruit nose; tired earthy/funky/wet dog fur/wet Army blanket quite sour flavor; seems pretty dead & tired. $17.00
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5. Chateau Dupere-Barrera CdP (U; 14.5%) 2003: Med.dark quite murky/cloudy color; very funky some volatile/EA some grapey/strawberry/Grenache light earthy/dusty very weird nose; tart/ metallic earthy rather sour funky bit grapey/strawberry flavor; med.short funky/earthy metallic/ sour finish; atrocious example of CdP. $27.00
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6. Ogier Michael&Stephane LaRosine Syrah VinDePays des CollinesRhodaniennes (12.5%)
2002: Dark color; attractive blackberry/Syrah light roasted/espresso/black pepper fairly interesting nose; extremely teeth-chattering/acidic/hurty slight NorthernRhone/roasted light blackberry/Syrah flavor; pleasant some NorthernRhone nose but it hurts on the palate; overpriced at $30.00
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7. MarcSorrel Crozes-Hermitage (13%) 2003: Very dark/black color; slight reduced/wet wool
some roasted/pungent light espresso/mocha slight musty/earthy bit perfumed nose; tart spicy/ blackberry/Syrah light pungent/roasted slight wet wool/funky bit tannic flavor;med.long spicy/blackberry/Syrah bit tannic finish; pleasant NorthernRhone character but just that; expected much more from a Sorrel; too pricey for the name at $25.00
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8. DomaineBernardGripa St.Joseph (12.5%) 2002: Very dark color; lovely roasted/espresso
classic NR/roasted slight bretty slight blackberry nose; bit tight/closed some roasted/smokey/ NR rather weak/dilute slight funky/bretty flavor; med.short weak pungent/toasty/roasted/smokey washed-out finish w/ little tannins; disappointing and overpriced at $33.00
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9. PointConcepcion Encantada CentralCoast Syrah (14.8%; www.PointConceptionWines.com) 2003: Dark color; very strong green olive/very spicy pungent/toasty blueberry/blackberry/jammy/
Syrah rather NR-like/toasty/oak nose; rich very spicy/toasty/oak/charred espresso/mocha intense blackberry/blueberry/jammy lush/soft loads of fruit flavor; very long spicy/charred/toasty very intense blueberry/jammy finish w/ light tannins; classic huge-fruitjammy/blackberry Paso Syrah. Steal at $20.
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10. PointConcepcion CuveeJalama CentralCoast Syrah (14.4%) 2003: Very dark color; slight
funky/dusty very fragrant/blackberry/Syrah some roasted/toasty/oak slight green olive/
cold-climate/peppery lovely Calif/ersatz-Rhone nose; tarter quite spicy bit peppery/green-olive strong blackberry/Syrah some toasty/oak/charred flavor; very long strong blackberry/Syrah slight green olive/peppery toasty/oak finish w/ some tannic finish; less blowsey fruit and more SantaBarbara/spicy/Syrah character; fairly NR in character; another steal at $25.00
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11. LesVieillesVignes de Balandran Costieres de Nimes (MeBaD; 14%) 2001: Black color; very
intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah huge fruit bit hot/alcoholic almost Oz-like nose; soft big/intense/lush/ripe blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah some hot/alcoholic flavor; longhuge fruit/ blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah finish w/ light tannins; almost Oz or Paso-style Syrah w/ gobs of hedonistic fruit. Dave's mystery wine.
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12. Core LateHrvst CandyStore SantaBarbaraCnty RW (17.4%; 90% Grenache, 10% Mourvedre;
25 cs; SaH: 36Brix; RS: 1%; Btl#368; 1.2tons/acre; www.CoreWine.com) 2003: Very dark/black
color; very intense plummy/grapey bit toasty/smokey/oak some overripe/alcoholic but not
raisened nose; soft very sweet intense/grapey/plummy/boysenberry/huge-fruit some alcoholic/ late-harvesty rather toasty/oak/smokey flavor; very long huge-fruit/chocolaty/boysenberry/ plummy light toasty/oak bit alcoholic/Porty finish w/ some tannins; a terrific Essence dessert wine. $27.00/hlf

1. A pretty disappointing show by the French this night. You know it's bad when BOTH of
Larry's wines save the tasting!!
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2. PointConcepcion: These are the wines of one PeterCargasacchi. Peter had brought them to
Larry's in SantaBarbara to try a few weeks ago but we didn't get around to trying them
that night. So Larry brought them as mystery wines tonight. At 300 cases of each, they
are scheduled for a March release. At $20 and $25/btl, these are terrific values. Our
group will be ordering some.
Tom