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. Dessert Wines
   Had the opportunity to taste some interesting dessert wines last night:
   Kerpen Wehlener Sonnonuhr Riesling Auslese 2* '90: Lovely aromatic floral R light Mosel valve oil/slatey/steely nose; tart off-dry crisp clean floral R steely Mosel valve oil flavor; very long tart crisp lean slatey/steely light valve oil finish; a very young wine that should last another 10-20 yrs; much less rich and opulent than expected for an Auslese
   Anslemi Recioto di Soave '88: Deep grapey butterscotchy bit oxidized/ honeyed/nutty nose; rich very grapey lush butterscotchy passito slight oxidized flavor; very long lush lingering grapey slight nutty finish; a terrific passito-style wine.
   Phillipe Foreau Vouvray Goutte d'Or '90: Intense botrytis/peachy/very grapey nose; tart very rich intense botrytis apricotty grapey flavor; very long hard tart very grapey/botrytis peachy finish; much bigger & richer & more intense than most sweet Vouvrays; incredible stuff.
   Maculan Acininobili '90: Wow!! Deep intense peachy botrytis apricotty ambrosial some earthy nose; huge very sweet butterscotchy oaked intense botrytis peachy grapey bit earthy flavor; very long lingering oaked butter- scotchy apricotty botrytis finish; very much an Italian Sauternes; unusual to see botrytis in Italian dessert wines; even better than the outstanding Maculan Torcolato.
   Ch. Les Hebras Monbazillac '90: Very strong butterscotchy/caramel/slight earthy very fragrant slight volatile nose; soft intense butterscotchy earthy slight piney dusty ripe botrytis/peachy flavor; very long butterscotchy earthy caramel oaked finish; big & very ripe w/ lots of botrytis & a bit on the heavy-handed side but best Monbazillac I've ever had.
   Ch. Raymond-Lafon Sauternes '90: Lovely fragrant aromatic oaked earthy some buttery/caramel rather closed nose; tart lean somewhat sweet buttery/ caramel/butterscotchy bit earthy/chalky rather hard austere flavor; very long lingering hard lean buttery/caramel tart earthy finish; a very lean hard austere tight closed Sauternes that will live forever; not nearly as rich & opulent as most; much like the old Caillous but much cleaner. Incredible.
   Meulenhof Erdener Busslay Mosel Riesling Eiswein '91: Strong grapey flowery R lush nose; sweet steely acidic spicy lush grapey rather sweet/sour flavor; very long tart/acid very grapey very clean spicy finish; a bit strong on the sweet/sour character but will age for a very long time.
   Sichel Kircheimer Schwarzener Trockenbeerenauslese '89: Very intense peachy/botrytis dusty grapey nose; soft intense very grapey/peachy/botrytis lush bit earthy flavor; very long very peachy/botrytis intense grapey finish; loaded w/ botrytis; some like the Santino TBAs.
   Navarro Cluster Select Late Harvest Anderson Valley Riesling '86: Intense apricotty/peachy/botrytis fragrant some earthy complex near volatile nose; very sweet rich intense peachy/botrytis grapey complex flavor; very long lingering intense botrytis/peach complex finish; still good acidity but a lovely maturing Calif TBA.
   Navarro Cluster Select Late Harvest Anderson Valley Riesling '90: Very intense peachy/botrytis apricotty lush slight earthy nose; big ripe peachy/botrytis apricotty slight sweet/sour grapefruity flavor; very long lush grapey/ peachy botrytis finish; very much like the '86 but not as complex & mature.
   Navarro Cluster Select Late Harvest Anderson Valley Riesling '93: Intense flowery aromatic slight volatile light peachy botrytis nose; very sweet sugary lush flowery R clean spicy light botrytis flavor; very long lingering clean very spicy flowery R light botrytis finish; not as much botrytis than the previous ones but clean & crisp & will probably age longer.
   Tokaji Wine Trust Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos '81: Very grapey earthy dusty somewhat oxidized nose; soft grapey earthy some oxidized/wet dog fur flavor; long grapey botrytis apricotty some oxidized finish; pretty good Tokaji; this was made under the Socialist regime... why is it so good??
   Royal Tokaji Wine Company Tokaji Aszu 5 Putt '91: Big ripe grapey botrytis peachy earthy slight oxidized nose; strong sweet/sour very grapey earthy slight oxidized flavor; long grapey botrytis peachy some oxidized earthy finish; a bit cleaner & less oxidized than the '81.
   Golya Tokaji Aszu Essencia '88: Very strong botrytis peachy grapey slight earthy ozidized sherry-like nose; very sweet slight oxidized earthy botrytis peachy flavor; very long very sweet slight oxidized very peachy/botrytis finish; not very much bigger & richer than the 5 Putt ones.
   Klein Costantia South Africa Dessert Wine NV: Very fragrant perfumey aromatic light Muscatty almost GWT-like nose; very sweet very fragrant perfumy aromatic flavor; very sweet very long lingering very spicy aromatic finish; very unusual wine much like a Z-H SdGN GWT than Muscat.