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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.

Some New Reds - June 30, 2010

We tasted last night (6/30/10) some New Reds:

  1. VinoV Chard SolomonHills/SantaMariaVlly (12.7%) 2007: Pale yellow color; lovely pure/melony/ Chard slight earthy/minerally light toasty/oak some spicy/nutmeg nose; bit tart attractive Chard/ melony/lemony bit mineral/earthy loght toasty/oak flavor; very long/lingering lemony/melony/ Chard light toasty/oak light spicy/earthy finish; a lovely/spicy very well-made Chard; one of the better Chards I've had this year. $32.00
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  2. VinoV PinotNoir SolomonHillsVnyd/SantaMariaVlly (14.5%) 2005: Med.light red color; strong earthy/black cherry/PN/bit spicy light toasty/oak slight Burgundian nose; tart slight fumey/alcoholic strong earthy/black cherry/PN light toasty/oak flavor; long tart somewhat earthy black cherry/PN light toasty/oak slightly tannic finish; needs several yrs yet; not the bright fruit of some SMV Pinots and a somewhat earthy character that give it a bit of a Burgundian character. $40.00
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  3. EdmundsStJohn ThatOldBlackMagic Calif RW (co-frmtd Syrah from Wylie & Feneaughty vnyds/
    ElDorado, Syrah & Grenache from Fenaughty, Syrah & Grenache from EaglePountRanch/
    Mendocino; 14.3%; www.EdmundsStJohn.com) 2006    : Med.dark color; some smokey/earthy/spicy rather meaty/Syrah some strawberry/mushroomy/Grenache/earthy slight funky somewhat interesting nose; soft slight tannic some meaty/mushroomy rather SouthernRhone/bit funky/strawberry/earthy flavor; long slight tannic strawberry/slight Rhonish/meaty/mushroomy finish; more like a middle-of-the-road Cotes du Rhone and not a lot of Syrah character.
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  4. EdmundsStJohn Syrah Parmalee-HillVnyd/SonomaCnty (14.4%; www.EdmundsStJohn.com) 2005: Dark color; strong toasty/bacon fat/smokey/roasted/coffee some blackberry/Syrah slight earthy rather NorthernRhone nose; tart some tannic/hard strong blackberry/Syrah some meaty/smokey/roasted flavor; very long roasted/coffee/smokey rather blackberry/Syrah some tannic/hard complex finish; needs 5-10 yrs yet; a Syrah as good, maybe better, than any of Steve's Durells; terrific Rhonish-like Syrah at a great price. $27.00
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  5. VinoV Syrah WhiteHawkVnyd/SBC (14.5%; www.VinoVWines.com) 2004: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry slight earthy/licorice/pungent very light toasty/oak slight funky/aged interesting nose; tart some tannic/astringent light toasty/oak bit earthy/blackberry/Syrah light licorice/pungent flavor; long fairly tart some tannic/astringent bit earthy/blackberry/Syrah light toasty/oak finish; as a slight funkiness and seems a bit ragged around the edges but plenty of blackberry/Syrah fruit; probably needs a few more yrs.
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  6. VinoV Syrah WhiteHawkVnyd/SBC (14.5%) 2005: Very dark color; intense blackberry/Syrah/ boysenberry some licorice/pungent/smokey light toasty/oak quite perfumed very attractive nose; some tart very strong blackberry/Syrah some licorice/pungent/smokey light toasty/oak bit tannic fairly rich/mouthfilling/structured flavor; very long blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry slight pungent/smokey some tannic finish; needs 2-6 yrs; first rate attractive Syrah.
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  7. VinoV Syrah WhiteHawkVnyd/SBC (14.5%) Ventura 2006: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah somewhat peppery/black pepper/pungent/licorice slight coffee/roasted/ Rhonish light toasty/oak nose; softer very peppery/blackberry/Syrah/spicy some pungent/licorice/ roasted/smokey/coffee bit tannic/hard flavor; very long tannic/structured black peppery/blackberry/Syrah some roasted/pungent/licorice light toasty/oak some complex finish; some like the Tensleys but less lush fruit and more structure; probably about the best Syrah from WhiteHawk that I can recall; absolutely first-rate Syrah at a very good price. $32.00
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  8. Yorba Tempranillo ShakeRidgeVnyd/AmadorCnty (14.9%) 2007: Very dark color; strong cherry/Temp/black cherry some toasty/oak light earthy/dusty very interesting nose; tart some tannic/astringent/structured strong black cherry/cherry/Temp some toasty/oak light earthy/dusty flavor; very long black cherry/Temp some toasty/smokey/oak somewhat tannic/structured finish; needs 2-8 yrs; speaks strongly of Tempranillo w/o the vanilla oaky character of the Spanish ones; one of the better Calif Temps I've had.
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  9. Yorba Zin ShakeRidgeVnyd/AmadorCnty (15.6%; www.YorbaWines.com) AnnKraemer 2006: Very dark color; strong blackberry/Zin/briary/boysenberry some pungent/licorice quite spicy slight milky/vanilla/Am.oak strong dusty/earthy/Fiddletown Zin-like rather perfumed nose; tart strong blackberry/Zin bit licorice/pungent very spicy some milky/Am.oak bit tannic/structured flavor; very long tannic/structured blackberry/black cherry/Zin quite spicy some Am.oak finish; reminds me a lot of the fabulout Ridge Fiddletown Zin '77 w/o the DraperPerfume; not at all like ShenandoahVlly Zin and like some of the best Fiddletown Zins. $28.00
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  10. Yorba Barbera ShakeRidgeVnyds/AmadorCnty (14.6%) 2007: Dark color; very strong spicy/Italian sausage/Barbera some earthy/dusty very light toasty/oak slight funky nose; very tart somewhat lean/astringent/tannic somewhat spicy/fennel/Italian sausage rather tight/pinched very light oak flavor; med.long tart/tannic/astringent somewhat spicy/fennel/sausage/Barbera light toasty/oak finish; needs some age yet; a rather tight/pinched/lean red like you'd expect of a Barbera; my least favorite of the Yorbas. $26.00
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  11. ShakeRidge Red ShakeRidgeVnyds/AmadorCnty RW (50% Syrah/30% CS/8% Merlot/10% Malbec/2% Graciano; 14.6%) 2006: Very dark color; rather blackberry/black curranty slight herbal some toasty/oak slight minty/menthol rather Cab-like beautiful nose; tart black curranty/Cab some blackberry/Syrah some toasty/oak rather structured/tannic light licorice/pungent flavor; very long/lingering some toasty/oak strong black curranty/Cab slight herbal bit of blackberry/Syrah some toasty/oak fairly tannic/structured finish; needs 3-8 yrs; speaks mostly of Cab w/ some blackberry/Syrah; quite a lovely blend and probably the greatest of the Yorbas; not at all like any Amador Cabs & more like a primo NapaCab; beautiful/ageable wine at a great price. $28.00
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  12. Yorba Syrah ShakeRidgeVnyd/AmadorCnty (14.9%) 2006: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/boysenberry/briary/spicy/Syrah light toasty/oak slight alcoholic/hot nose; soft rich/lush intense blackberry/ boysenberry/Syrah quite spicy light licorice/DrPepper/RCCola some tannic flavor; long somewhat tannic/structured strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah light toasty/oak bit pungent/licorice/DrPepper/spicy bit complex finish; probably the ripest & lushest and most Amador-like of the Yorbas but more structure and ageibility than most Amador Syrahs; a beautiful Syrah that needs 4-10 yrs. $32.00
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  13. Novy Syrah SantaLuciaHighlands (15.1%) 2002: Very dark color; intense toasty/charred/oak strong cracked black pepper pungent/licorice complex some herbal/blackberry/Syrah beautiful complex nose; soft intense cracked black pepper/spicy/blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry slight herbal some pungent/licorice flavor w/ soft tannins; very long/lingering strong cracked black pepper soft strong blackberry/Syrah slight herbal/pungent finish w/ soft/smooth tannins; wonderful mature Novy Syrah.



And the usual stuff from TheBloodyPulpit:


1. Some of these wines were given to us to try, so don't know the price on all of them.
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2. VinoV: These wines are made by MichaelMeagher. He was formerly winemaker w/ AdamTolmach/OjaiVnyds before striking out on his own. He makes his wine at the OldCreekRanch, near OjaiVnyd, where he's also the winemaker. Michael & I go way back to his early days at Ojai.
I've tried his VinoV wines in the past, sorta on a hit or miss basis. So when Michael offered his current wines to try, plus the vertical of his WhiteHawk Syrah, I jumped at the chance. The Chard was a lovely/interesting Chard; one of the better ones I've had this year. The Pinot was
not nearly as thrilling. Of the Syrahs; the '04 seemed to have a slight funk to it and seemed a bit ragged at the edges; as if it was not evolving gracefully in the btl. Hard to tell where it will be going. The '05 was a good/solid classic SantaBarbara Syrah. But the '06 I thought was absolutely first-rate; as good as any from SantaBarbara, and probably the best I've from WhiteHawk. Terrific job I thought.
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3. SolomonHills Pinot: I've not had many SantaMaria Pinots from this side of the river that have really hit my sweet spot. Most seem to have a somewhat earthy/Burgundy character to them and lack the bright cherry/Pinot fruit you find in the BienNacido Pinots. Also owned by the Miller brothers. It is one of the coolest & westernmost vnyds in the SantaMariaVlly. The soil appears very sandy in character, in stark contrast to very stoney/gravelly BienNacido soils.
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4. ShakeRidgeVnyd: When I was researching HdR, I noted a new wnry, Yorba. This is NapaVlly wine made by KenBernards. The grapes are grown by highly-regarded viticulturist AnnKraemer in her ShakeRidge vnyd up in AmadorCnty. This vnyd is up in the Sierra foothills; east of SutterCreek and south of the ShenandoahVlly. Ann has a lot of interesting stuff planted there in a rather complicated vnyd. The wines did not strike me as typical AmadorCnty/ShenandoahVlly wines. They did not have that strong briary/blackberry/ripe component typical signature of ShenandoahVlly. They seemed much more akin to the wines from the Fiddletown area, just east of the ShenandoahVlly and slightly higher elevation. They did not show that earthy/mushroomy character you typically find in the ElDorado reds. They did not have a ton of lush/opulent fruit but showed more restraint and all very structured for aging. Stylistically, I found a lot of similarity in these wines, but still very much varietally correct. Definitely a wnry/vnyd to watch in the future. I was impressed by my first test drive of Ann's wines.
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5. OldBlackMagic: I didn't find much in this wine to excite me. It reminded me some of a middling Cotes du Rhone, not one of my favorite genres. However, like the Rocks&Gravel, Steve's wines have this way of rising up and biting you on the a$$ with some age. I would guess that this OBM is one of those wines. Sometimes you just gotta believe.
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6. NovySyrah: This was SteveCostigan's mystery wine. On release; it had big boysenberry fruit w/ strong herbal character typical of SLH. This wine has since developed a strong cracked black pepper character and in a very good place for drinking right now.

TomHill

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