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 awhile back (3/21/07) some New Rhones :

1. Yalumba The Virgilius EdenVlly Viognier (14.5%) 2004: Pale gold color; very attractive
   floral/spicy/pear/nutmeg light toasty/oak rather subtle nose; tart/lean spicy/pear/ very floral clean/bright/zippy light toasty flavor; light/clean/bright/tart attractive floral/peach/Viog finish; a tight/bright/clean understated cold-climate Viog; overpriced at $37.00
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2. Mouton Pere et Fils Condrieu Cote Bonnette (13.5%; www.AngelesWines.com) 2004: Med.gold color; lovely perfumed/pear/peach/V quite spicy some minerally/complex slight dusty/
   earthy nose; tart clean/bright some minerally rather floral/pear/peach/V flavor; very long/lingering bright/pear/peach/floral/V some minerally bit lean finish; bit of a hole in the mid-palate; an attractive tight Condrieu w/ some minerality. $45.00
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3. EdmundsStJohn Shell&Bones PasoRobles WW (14.2%; Viognier/RozetVnyd, Roussanne/
   TablasCreekVnyd) 2005: Med.gold color; beautiful fragrant/floral/spicy ripe/peachy/ honeysuckle/ floral/perfumed bit honeyed nose; soft rich/lush floral/fragrant/peachy/honeysuckle slight nutty/ minerally flavor; long rich/ripe/lush very floral/perfumed/peach/honeysuckle finish; a beautiful ripe/lush white but acidity & structure & bit minerally; great price at $21.00
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   3a. le secret ivre Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes (14%; 50% Viognier/Roussanne)
   PierreGaillard 2005: Med.dark color; lovely floral/peachy/pear/V bit smokey slight honeyed/ alcoholic bit Condrieu/minerally nose; tart rather minerally/slight smokey elegant flavor; med.short light peachy/V/minerally finish; quite an attractive at a very good price. $20.00
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4. JosephPhelps Viognier NapaVlly (14.6%) 2005: Light gold color; lovely fragrant/perfumed
   bright pear/peach/floral/V slight minerally nose; fairly rich/lush pear/peach/V/floral slight minerally flavor; long lush/ripe peach/pear/V bit minerally lovely finish; best Phelps Viognier yet; loads of rip fruit but w/ acidity and bit of Condrieu minerality. $45.00
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5. Newton Viognier NapaVlly (EB; 15.5%) 2001: Med.gold color; very strong toasty/butterscotchy/ creme brulee/oaked some melony/Chard-like slight peachy/V slight Mosel valve oil/petrol nose; soft rather nutty/toasty/caramel/oak/pungent slight melony/peachy bit oxidized flavor; med.long hazelnutty/oxidized rather toasty/butterscotchy/oak slight melony/peach finish; seems way too old before its time; too little fruit & too much oak. stupid price. $45.00
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6. Consilience CuveeMambo WW SantaBarbaraCnty (15.6%;Viognier/Roussanne/Marsanne;
   www.ConsilienceWines.com) 2005: Med.gold color; strong ripe/butterscotchy/perfumed/spicy
   light floral/citrusy some oaked nose; soft/fat/porky very ripe/overripe/butterscotchy/spicy bit hot/alcoholic flavor; med.long soft/fat very ripe/peach some butterscotchy/oak bit hot finish; attractive nose but very ripe/overripe on the palate $26.00
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7. Sine Qua Non The Rejuvenators Calif WW (56% Roussanne, 25% Viognier, 20% Chard; AlbanVnyd;15.2%) 2004: Med.light gold color; rather toasty/pungent/oaked/charred/burny slight floral/honeysuckle/spicy quite interesting nose; soft rich/lush very toasty/pungent/charred/oak
   light floral/honeysuckle flavor; very long/lingering charred/toasty/burnt/smokey/oak some floral/ honeysuckle finish; some good fruit buried under a lot of oak; a bit like some of the early Alban Viogniers; interesting white. $81.50
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8. FireStationRed Calif Shiraz (14.2%; www.FireStationRed.com) Winegrower/JohnDrady
   WineMaker/AnthonyAustin 2004: Very dark color; strong very grapey/boysenberry/blackberry/
   Syrah/chocolaty/licorice very Oz-like nose; soft slight sour very plummy/boysenberry/jammy/
   Syrah slight oak flavor; med.short ripe/plummy/boysenberry/Syrah/chocolaty finish w/ little
   tannins; much like a mid-range Oz Syrah w/o the oak; lacks structure; fairly priced at $16.00
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9. KendricVnyds Syrah ShenandoahVlly/Calif (13.9%; 225 cs; www.KendricVineyards.com)
   KendricWineCo./Novato 2004: Dark color; loads of Am.oak rather ripe/overripe/Zin-like/briary/
   blackberry slight earthy nose; soft very ripe/overripe Amador Zin-like/briary/blackberry very strong Am.oak flavor; med. soft/fat very ripe/overripe blackberry/briary finish w/ little tannins or structure; on the overripe side & loads of Am.oak; more like Amador Zin than Syrah; suspiciously low alcohol. $16.00
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10. Consilience CuveeMambo RW SantaBarbaraCnty (16.8%; mostly PetiteSirah) 2004: Black color; huge fruit/boysenberry/blackberry/licorice loads of oak rather alcoholic nose; soft/fat big/ huge/blackberry/boysenberry/fruit concentrated loads of oak flavor; med.long huge/blackberry/fruit slight herbal loads of vanilla/oak rather hot/alcoholic finish w/ slight tannins; gobs & gobs of concentrated fruit; rather hot/alcoholic & lacks structure; bit too over-the-top for my tastes. $38.00
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11. Turchi Syrah SantaBarbaraCnty (13.9%; www.TurchiWine.com; 83% Syrah+ Malbec + CabFranc) CoreWines 2005: Black color; intense bit herbal/licorice complex blackberry/Syrah strong Fr.oak/toasty rather aromatic boysenberry/framboise nose; soft/fat slightly sour some tannic
    very ripe/overripe boysenberry/blackberry/jammy/framboise rather toasty/Fr.oak flavor; rather tannic some herbal very ripe blackberry/boysenberry/framboise toasty/oak finish; needs a few yrs; a rather strange but interesting wine at a very fair price. $14.50
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12. Dehlinger Syrah RussianRvrVlly (EB; 14.6%) 2003: Very dark color; lovely smokey/pencilly/
    Fr.oak strong blackberry/Syrah some Pinotish complex nose; tart very smokey/pungent/pencilly
    strong blackberry/Syrah slight earthy balanced/polished flavor; very long pencilly/smokey/ oak quite blackberry/Syrah finish w/ light tannins; needs several yrs; a lovely balanced & polished Syrah towards the Pinot part of the spectrum; classic Dehlinger wine. $37.80
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13. LaDiligence StageCoachVnyd/NapaVlly Syrah (14.2%) DaveMiner/FrancoisVillard/
    MinerFamilyVnyds 2004: Black color; intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah very smokey/ pungent/Fr.oak slight Rhonish/roasted/peppery/spicy nose; rather tannic/hard strong blackberry/ Syrah quite pungent/smokey/toasty/Fr.oak slight peppery/roasted/coffee flavor; long tannic/hard
    pungent/Fr.oak/toasty strong blackberry/Syrah finish; needs 3-6 yrs; very nice Napa Syrah
    w/ a bit of Rhonish nuances. $40.00
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14. Drew Syrah MorehouseVnyd/SantaYnezVlly (14.5%; 185 cs; 5%LarnerVnyd) 2004: Very dark/black color; huge blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah some peppery/spicy/coffee some toasty/Fr.oak very attractive nose; tart some hard/tannic intense boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah slight peppery/
    pungent/coffee some toasty/Fr.oak flavor; very long/lingering intense blackberry/Syrah light
    peppery/coffee some toasty/oak finish; needs 3-8 yrs time; a classic Jason Drew Syrah;
    very fairly priced at $35.00
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15. Cline AncientVine ContraCosta Mourvedre (14%) 1999: Very dark/black color; huge eucalyptus/minty/menthol rather plummy/earthy slight mushroomy complex nose; soft rich very minty/menthol/eucalyptus ripe/plummy slight earthy/funky flavor; med.long eucalyptus/menthol
    ripe plummy finish w/ light tannins; best Sonny mystery wine ever. $14.00.
    
    

1. PhelpsViognier: I've not tried the Phelps Viognier in some yrs. They were one of the first
Calif Viognier producers. They were not very attractive to me. They seemed rather pinched
and lean and tight when released. They sometimes aged rather well, though. But they seldom had the lush/ripe fruit I like in Viognier; as maybe they were harvested too early.
This '05 Phelps was a whole nuther beast. Easily the best Phelps Viognier I've ever had; with much more ripeness & lushness, yet good structure. Like their Syrah program; it seems that Phelps is making Rhone wines that are now the equal of their Insignias.
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2. Consilience: These are wines I just can't seem to get. I like some of the things they often
show, but all too often, they seem a bit too much over-the-top for me. Had one for dinner
a few weeks and it just got too tiring on my palate after a few glasses.
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3. Rejuvenators: Can't say that this wine did a lot for me because of the ton of oak it had. But it IS SQN, so we are told it IS great wine. End of discussion. Some people in the group
labeled it as fraudulent, because of the price. I think the jury is out and it may actually shed some of that oak and become interesting w/ age. We shall see.

TomHill