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. California Reds
   Tasted a few new Calif reds last night:
   Rosenblum Mt.Veeder/Brandlin Ranch Zinfandel '94 (14.8% alc): lush very spicy raspberry light dusty/oaked nose; rich lush glycerined bright raspberry light dusty/old vines light oaked flavor; very long lush bright raspberry dusty finish w/ light tannins; classic Rosenblum lushness but not that much extract or structure; more for drinking relatively soon.
   Ridge Calif Sonoma Zinfandel '94 (13.6%): fairly deep spicy blackberry bit dusty/ pungent nose; soft smooth rather spicy blackberry/dusty light oaked flavor; med. soft spicy blackberry peppery finish w/ light tannins; a very polished well-made drinkable rather interesting Zin.
   Ridge California Zinfandel Paso Robles Dusi Ranch '94 (14.1%): lush very spicy jammy raspberry light oaked nose; soft smooth polished light spicy jammy raspberry glycerined flavor; long glycerined smooth jammy raspbery slight smokey- pungent finish w/ light tannins; nice well-made polished Paso Zin.
   Eberle Paso Robles Sauret Vineyard Zinfandel '94 (13.8%): deep blackberry-boysenberry some dusty old vines oaked cinammon licorice nose; big blackberry very spicy rather licorice pungent toasty flavor; very long blackberry/boysenberry cinammon oaked s[picy light toasty pungent finish w/ fair tannins; neds several yrs; not your typical Zin but very well-structured w/ a rather deep brooding blackberry quality. Another very good Eberle Zin.
   Ridge California Zinfandel Lytton Springs '94 (14.2%): fragrant aromatic very spicy raspberry/ blackberry bright bit licorice nose; soft very spicy raspberry bright foreward elegant light oaked flavor; very long very spicy raspbery bright finish w/ light tannins; not the usualy blockbuster LS Zin; rather elegant and surprisingly foreward w/o the dep dusty funky character the Ridge LS often has.
   Lytton Springs Sonoma County Zinfandel '94 (14.3%): fragrant blackberry grapey slight volatile/EA light oaked nose; soft lush blackberry/raspberry slight hot/volatile flavor; med.long lush blackberry bit volatile finish w/ light tannins; has the customary LS volatility but not much extract and pretty restrained for LSLSZin.
   Ridge California Bridgehead Mataro (Mourvedre) Contra Costa County '93 (14.2%): deep dusty old vines plummy licorice oaked nose; soft very plummy licorice dusty old vines pungent flavor; very long lingering licorice plummy dusty old vines pungent finish w/ ample tannins; a pretty big extracted typical ContraCosta red.
   Ridge California Bridgehead Mataro Contra Costa County '94 (13.5%): lush plummy light licorice berry light oaked nose; soft smoth plummy licorice light oaked flavor; med.long soft plummy/licorice charred finish w/ light tannins; much smoother & polished & not the extract of the '93; nice interesting Contra Costa red for near term drinking.
   Ridge California Mataro Evangelo Vineyard Contra Costa County '93 (14.7%): deep plummy smokey very fragrant dusty old vines smokey oaked nose; rich mouthfilling pungent licorice tannic plummy earthy dusty/old vines flavor; very long pungent smokey earthy dusty plummy licorice finish w/ fair tannins; needs several yrs; lots of pungent old vines character; very interesting wine
   Ridge California York Creek Petite Sirah Spring Moutainn '92 (13.5%): very pungent peppery smokey oaked bit skunky/sewer gas nose; hard tannic rather lean peppery oaked earthy flavor; med.long pungent tannic earthy finish w/ ample tannins; needs some age but not as big & extracted as the '91.
   Ridge California Pagani Ranch Alicante (w/ 25% Zin) '93 (14.6%): Black color; deep intense pungent boysenberry cassis fragrant dusty old vines nose; soft pungent licorice smokey spicy sausage chocolaty tannic dusty flavor; very long intense pungent charred smokey sausage tarry very tannic finish; a huge roasted pungent Rhone-like wine; needs age but Alicante is noted for dropping color very rapidly in the bottle.
   Coturri Sonoma Valley Alicante Bouschet Uboldi Ranch '94 (13.0%): Inky black color; intense stinky/sewer gas/H2S bit volatile pungent licorice nose; hot tannic astringent pungent chalky low fruit pungent flavor; long pungent smokey tarry very astringent tannic finish; rather coarse & clumsey typical of Alicante but rather reined-in for Coturri. Strange stuff.
   Fermentations San Luis Obispo Cabernet Sauvignon Silver Canyon Vineyard '93 (13.4%): beautiful intense blackcurranty some herbal ligyt oaked nose; soft full rich ripe blackcurrantychocolaty light herbal light oaked flavor; long lush blackcurranty bit herbal Bordeaux-like earthy dusty finish w/ some tannins; one of the better PasoRobles Cabs I've had; much like the Justin in style.
   Tria Dry Creek Valley Cabernet Franc '93 (13.5%): Black color; strong fragrant light herbal Bordeaux-like blackcurranty earthy oaked nose; rich mouthfilling chocolaty/blackcurranty pencilly/oaked flavor; very long light herbal ripe blackcurranty/chocolaty pencilly/toasty oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; big ripe but rather Bordeaux-like; one of the best CabFrancs I've had of late.
   
   Musings.
   Thus far, many of the '94 Zins have not been quite up to my expectations in terms of extract and power. Lots of bright lush ripe fruit but many lacking the extract & structure I would like. Both the Rosenblums and the Ridges have been that way, so far. Very good wines but not the big step above the '93's that I was expecting.
   The Fermentations Can was not as stunning as the '93 Zin last week; but, nonetheless; a extremely good wine. These two ladies (Alex & Leslie) over in Cambria are folks to keep your eye on. Have yet their EdnaVlly MacGregor Vnyd Chard '94 to try.
   And another superb wine from Tria. Bill Nuttle, winemaker at Saintsbury (or Acacia; I forget). Another operation worth watching.