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.

 

California Rhones
Did a tasting of Calif/Rhones for the RioGrandeWineClub this weekend:
Jaffurs Santa Barbara Cnty Stolpman Family Vnyd Roussanne (13.7%) '97: Med.gold color; slight SO2/yeasty rather fragrant/floral bit earthy/minerally/spicy/cinammon nose; tart/lean/metallic bit minerally/earthy rather floral/Roussanne some spicy/cloves/ cinammon/light oaked flavor; long tart bit metallic/minerally/lean light floral/ spicy/cinammon/light oaked bit earthy finish; a rather tart/tight/lean/minerally Roussanne that needs a few yrs age.
Ojai Vnyd Calif Viognier Roll Ranch Vnyd (13%) '97: Med.gold color; lovely/fragrant/ aromatic peachy/Viognier/floral/pear very spicy light toasty/oak nose; rich very spicy/floral/peachy/pear/Viognier light toasty/oaked soft lush flavor; very long lush pear/peachy/Viognier/floral/aromatic/spicy light toasty/oak finish; classic big/rich/lush Dolly Parton-style Calif Viognier.
Qupe Los Olivos Cuvee (44% Syrah, 44% Mourvedre, 12% grenache; Ibarra-Young & Stolpman Vnyds) '96: Med.dark color; fragrant/smokey rather licorice/meaty/plummy/oaked bit pungent nose; soft pungent/licorice/earthy/plummy light toasty/smokey/oaked flavor; long soft pungent/licorice/plummy slight stemmy bit toasty/smokey/oaked finish w/ light tannins; very well-made drinkable interesting Rhone/blend.
Edmunds St.John Les Cotes Sauvages "Fin de Siecle" Calif RTW (14.5%; Syrah/Mourvedre/ Grenache) '96: Dark color; beautiful deep/complex/spicy/Syrah/gamey/meaty some pungent/oaked very spicy/complex nose; big/tannic very spicy/pungent/meaty/some strawberry/Syrah/gamey some toasty/oaked complex flavor; very long very spicy rather tannic strawberry/Syrah some pungent/toasty/oaked complex finish; needs some 3-6 yrs; a terrific fairly complex blends; outstanding red at a great price.
Sierra Vista El Dorado Syrah Herbert Vnyd (13.0%) '97: Black color; intense juicy/ blackberry/Syrah/very deep fruity/ripe some dusty/earthy/mushroomy almost Essence of Syrah nose; soft ripe very lush/juicy/fruity/blackberry/Syrah very spicy some earthy/ dusty flavor; very long some tannic intense blackberry/Syrah/very juicy bit smokey/ toasty/oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; lots of ripe fruit for only a13.0% wine; one of the best ElDorado reds I've had at a great price. $13.75
Terre Rouge Shenandoah Vlly Calif Syrah Sentinel Oak Vnyd/Pyramid Block (14.5%) '96: Black color; intense blackberry/jammy/Syrah/boysenberry some smokey/toasty/charred some complex nose; soft bit fumey/alcoholic rather intense jammy/blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah very spicy some toasty/charred bit roasted flavor; long very ripe jammy/Syrah/ blackberry/boysenberry rather toasty/pungent/charred/oak very spicy finish w/ fair tannins; lots of ripe fruit character but more complexity than most Amador reds; needs 2-6 yrs of age.
Qupe Syrah Santa Barbara Cnty Bien Nacido Reserve (13.8%) '96: Dark color; strong very spicy blackberry/Syrah/licorice/pungent/black cherry some toasty/smokey/oaked fairly complex nose; soft lush blackberry/black cherry/Syrah some toasty/oaked/complex/ smokey/pungent flavor; long lush blackberry/black cherry/Syrah spicy some toasty/ pungent/oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs & should last 10 or so; just a really likable interesting/tasty Syrah.
Jaffurs Santa Barbara Cnty Syrah Bien NacidoVnyd (14.0%) '97: Black color; intense dusty/earthy/smokey/pungent licorice/aromatic/black cherry bit green olive/walnutty some toasty/oaked complex nose; very intense/extracted pungent/licorice off-dry(?)/ essence-like blackberry/black cherry/cola dusty/earthy some green olive/walnutty bit roasted/gamey/bacon fat complex flavor; very long hard/tannic big/extracted blackberry/black cherry rather pungent/toasty/roasted/oaked dusty green olive finish w/ ample tannins; needs 4-10 yrs; lots of interesting things going on in this wine; a wine for the long haul; killer stuff.
Andrew Murray Santa Barbara Cnty Syrah Les Coteaux (13.5%) '97: Black color; very intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/plummy/very ripe/essence-like bit fumey/volatile/EA nose; very ripe/extracted/intense blackberry/boysenberry/essence-like bit hot/fumey/ alcoholic off-dry (?) flavor; very long extracted/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah some earthy bit alcoholic/fumey/hot finish w/ ample tannins; a rather over-the-top kind of Syrah w/ huge fruit; a bit volatile makes a concern for the long term aging of this wine but it certainly has the extract.
Ojai Vnyd Calif Syrah Roll Ranch Vnyd (13%) '96: Black color; rather gamey/intense/ blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/dusty some toasty/oaked/pungent complex nose; big hard tannic/astringent some blackberry/blueberry/gamey/Syrah dusty bit closed flavor; very long hard/tannic some blackberry/blueberry/Syrah/meaty/gamey some dusty/earthy finish; needs 3-10 yrs; seems to have closed up a bit since I last had it; clearly a Syrah for the long haul; will be a great one.
Jade Mtn Napa Vlly Syrah Hudson Vnyd/Carneros (14.5%) '96: Very dark color; strong pungent/earthy spicy/licorice some smokey/toasty/oaked light blackberry/Syrah nose; soft clunky/licorice pungent/earthy some toasty/oaked pungent/spicy/cloves flavor; long soft earthy/dusty/mushroomy/pungent some toasty/smokey/oaked finish w/ some tannins; more spicy & zippy than the Kongsgaard but not the strong/Syrah fruit of the other Syrahs.
Kongsgaard Napa Vlly Syrah Hudson Vnyd/Carneros (14.1%) '96: Black color; some licorice/gamey/Syrah/earthy rather toasty/charred/oaked slight funky/bretty some complex nose; soft big lush clunky/licorice/earthy/mushroomy/truffly/complex rather toasty/charred/oaked flavor; long earthy/dusty bit bretty/horsecollar/Rhonish rather charred/toasty/oaky some licorice/earthy finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; seems to have picked up a bit of weight since last tried this wine; still a very stupido price. $100

And... seldom lacking an opinion... the Reverend speaks from the bloody pulpit:
Save the TerreRouge, these wines were all old friends that had been pretty highly- regarded in my LosAlamos tasting group. The wines were all pretty much exactly what I expected them to be. For this (primarily) Albq-based group, most of these were totally new wines in an area (Calif/Rhones) to which they had not had much exposure, save a couple of the folks. I was quite struck by the diversity of opinions on the wines (not that I expect everyone to agree with mine). Some of the wines were roundly vilified, mostly for reasons that I'd characterize as more stylistic in content, rather on the wine's quality. Often, some really loved the very same wine that others dumped all over. And many of the descriptors I couldn't, struggle as I might, couldn't find in the wines. Ahhhhh, getting beat down by a group like this is good for ones humility!!
ElDoradoRhones: I continue to be impressed w/ the improvement John & Barbara MacCready have been making in their SierraVista wines the last few yrs. This '97 Syrah is one of the, maybe best, ElDorado red wines I've ever had. Loads & loads, almost an Essence-like fruit to it; almost as if Syrah juice had been added back into the wine. Hard to believe it was only 13.0% alcohol, but John's usually pretty accurate on those numbers. Steve Edmunds is also starting to get Syrah and other Rhone varieties from up in ElDorado so it will be exciting to see what he does w/ those grapes. Perhaps the Perrins screwed up when they chose to plant in PasoRobles rather than ElDorado??
TerreRouge Syrah: The Amador/Shenandoah Syrahs have been a bit perplexing to me. The Amador/Shenandoah ripe/briary/blackberry/juicy character seems to overwhelm the varietal character so often. So that, to me, I couldn't tell an Amador Zin from an Amador Syrah. This TerreRouge Syrah was probably about the best one I've had and had more Syrah character and more complexity than most seem to have. Very well-done and interesting Syrah. I would characterize Bill Easton as probably the best & most exciting winemaker up in Amador these days. In a region that makes some pretty terrific wines but seems to be slipping back into the same relative obscurity that it had in the early/mid-'80's. Sad, cause I tend to really like their wines and like the very friendly people up there. Alas, all the wines coming out of SutterHome/ Montevina doesn't make a very convincing case for the region.
Qupe wines: Every time I taste another Bob Lindquist/Qupe wine; I just sort of shake my head in wonder as to how he can continue to turn out, time after time, vintage after vintage, such consistently good/tasty/interesting wines. A pretty impressive track record as far as I'm concerned. They don't often get all the kudos and WOW's that some of the big/extracted wines like the Araujos or Arrowoods receive; but they are never clunkers or never fail to please (me, anyway). Sorta like.... would you rather hang out w/ a flashy Dolly Parton are w/ your sister? When his '97 CentralCoast Syrah first came out last Fall, I finally found what I thought was a BobLindquist clunker.... thought it was a real step down from the last few yrs of CentralCoast Syrah. I've probably had the wine 12-14 times since then and have really grown to like the wine quite a lot; one of my favorite reds to order in a restaurant. It has less SantaBarbara fruit & more Paso fruit than the ones of late and, if you drink it w/ that in mind, it's still an awfully tasty Syrah, as long as you don't expect it to be SantaBarbara Syarh, and a lot of Cotes-du-Rhone like character to it.
HudsonVnyd Syrah: It was interesting to taste both HudsonVnyd Syrahs side-by-side. I slightly preferred the JadeMtn for having more spiciness & interest & less overwhelmed by the oak. Make no mistake... the Kongsgaard Syrah is good Syrah... a GOOD $25 Syrah. I'll not be buying any. As long as he continues to make only 3 barrels or so and once Parker goes ga-ga over the wine, which he surely will, and the wines attains its cult status that John seeks, he will be able to command that sort of price. I'm not convinced the HudsonVnyd is a site for GREAT Syrah. All the ones thus far (Kongsgaard, JadeMtn,Neyers) have been sort of on the clunky/chunky side w/ not a lot of bright Syrah fruit that other Calif Syrahs display.... more of a Gigondas character to them than great Calif Syrah. But I'll continue to take data points.