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. Deakin Estate Alfred Sparkling Syrah Victoria (13.5%) NV: Med.red/ruby color; bright/fragrant  strawberry/Syrah/soda pop nose; tart/sparkling strawberry/blackberry/Syrah bright flavor; med. short strawberry/Syrah/soda pop finish; an utterly frivolous neat sparkling w/ plenty of Syrah fruit.
2. Ruggeri Don Giovanni Marzemino Dolce (11%) NV: Med.bright/ruby color; rather earthy/grapey/ Beaujolais-like nose; sweet/frizzante grapey/very Beaujolais-gamay rather earthy flavor; med. grapey/Beaujolais finish; very much like Beaujolais/Gamay in character; neat frivolous little sparkler.
3. Qupe Santa Ynez Valley Grenache Purisma Mtn Vineyard (15.3%) 2000: Light color; strang strawberry/Grenache/ grapey almost peppery/spicy light oak nose; tart/acid bright strawberry/Grenache/grapey/cherry  flavor; med.long bright/zippy strawberry/Grenache/cherry/Nehi strawberry soda finish w/ little tannins; a tart/zippy/bright fun-drinking Grenache. 
4. Edmunds St John Rocks & Gravel Calif RW (46% Grenache, 30% mourvedre, 23% Syrah,  1% Counoise; Grenache: Pallini Vineyard, Ukiah & Rozet Vineyard, Paso Robles; Mourvedre:  Izay Vineyard, Eldorado & Rozet Vineyard; Syrah&Counoise: Rozet Vineyard; 13.7%) 2000: Med.light color; some funky/bretty/leathery earthy/peppery mostly strawberry/Grenache; soft/round peppery/strawberry/ Grenache some earthy bit simple/primary flavor; med.long spicy/peppery/strawberry/Grenache bit gamey/funky/bretty some CotesduRhone-like finish w/ light tannins; pleasant simple wine.
5. Edmunds St John Los Robles Viejos Rozet Vineyard Paso Robles RW (40% Mourvedre, 30% Syrah,  21% Grenache, 4% Counoise; 14.1%) 2000: Med.dark color; deep spicy/cloves gamey/peppery some blackberry bit oaked some complex nose; tart/rich spicy/peppery/cloves bit gamey/sauvage/earthy dried Italian herbs some toasty/oak slight funky/bretty interesting flavor; long spicy/cloved/ dried herbs/gamey somewhat plummy/blackberry/peppery finish w/ some tannins; pretty interesting Rhone blend.
6. Andrew Murray Vineyards Santa Ynez Valley Syrah Les Coteaux (13.9%) 2000: Very dark color; very weird some unclean/bacterial/Kansas feed store somewhat volatile/EA stemmy some blackberry/Syrah bizarre nose; sharp/hot/fumey menthol/blackberry/Syrah bit stemmy/herbal/Kansas feed store flavor; med.long hot/fumey/volatile mostly blackberry/Syrah herbal finish w/ some tannins; very bizarre Syrah.
7. Qupe Santa Barbara County Syrah Whitehawk Vineyard (13.5%) 2000: Dark color; very strong blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah very spicy light oaked/toasty nose; tart bit hard/lean/tannic strong blackberry/Syrah light toasty/oak flavor; long hard/tannic/lean some blackberry/Syrah finish w/ fair tannins; lots of Syrah fruit but a hard/lean/tannic quality on the palate; needs some age.
8. Qupe Santa Barbara County Syrah Colson Canyon Vineyard (13.5%) 2000: Very dark color; deeper more intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah slight herbal/stemmy more spicy/peppery nose; softer quite rich very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah bit menthol/minty/oak lovely flavor; long intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah light pepper/herbal minty/menthol/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; loads of Syrah fruit; terrific Syrah.
9. Rosenblum Cellars Solano County Syrah (15.2%) England-Shaw  Vineyard 2000: Dark color; slight volatile some vanilla/Am.oak very strong plummy/boysenberry/Syrah bit menthol nose; soft/fat very soft/plummy/ blackberry/Syrah slight menthol/oaked flavor; med.long soft very plummy/blackberry light oak finish w/ light tannins; very much like a big ContraCosta plummy Zin; drink in the short term.
10. Rosenblum Cellars Santa Barbara County Syrah Rodney's Vineyard (14.2%) 2000: Very dark/black color; beautiful  herbal/roasted/toasty/oak coffee/espresso/smokey/pungent strong boysenberry/Syrah complex nose; tart bit green olive/herbal rather charred/toasty/pungent/burnt oak strong blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah flavor; very long herbal toasty/smokey/pungent strong boysenberry/Syrah finish w/ some tannins; loads of fruit and loads of toasty/roasted character; best Rosenblum Syrah ever; great price at $24.00.
11. Melville Syrah Estate Santa Ynez Valley (14.5%) 2000: Dark color; beautiful/exotic very peppery/ cracked black pepper very spicy/fragrant/perfumed slight green olive rather blackberry/Syrah bit taosty/charred/Fr.oak nose; tart/crisp very cracked black pepper very spicy/blackberry elegant light toasty/pungent/oak flavor; very long cracked black pepper spicy/blackberry/Syrah light toasty/roasted very perfumed finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; classic cool-climate cracked black pepper Syrah; much like the failla-Jordan Syrah w/o the power. Should age very well over the next 2-6 yrs. Great price at $23.00.
12. Edmunds St John Calif Syrah (Parmalee-Hill&Durell Vineyards, Sonoma; Basseti Vineyard,  Cambria; Higher Ground Vineyard, ElDorado; 13.7%) 2000: Near black color; slight funky/wet-dog-fur nose  that clears to very peppery/very spicy pungent/roasted classic EdStJ/complex rather blackberry/ Syrah nose; tart rather hard/tannic very peppery/spicy some blackberry/gamey/Syrah slight earthy pungent/toasty/smokey flavor; very long rather hard/tannic peppery/spicy some boysenberry/blackberry/ Syrah finish; a big rather hard/tannic bit closed that's going to be a killer down the road; great great structure for aging and price at $26.00.
13. Edmunds St John Syrah ElDorado County Wylie-Fenaughty Vineyard (14.1%) 2000: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/Syrah very spicy/peppery some boysenberry slight earthy nose; tart/rich straightforward blackberry/Syrah spicy/peppery light pungent/smokey slight earthy flavor; very long/lush blackberry/ Syrah/mushroomy light pungent/smokey finish w/ some tannins; lots of primary fruit but not the structure and complexity (yet) of the '99; needs a few yrs age.
14. Edmunds St John El Dorado County "Wylie-Fenaughty" Syrah (14.1%) 1999: Black color; much more complex smokey/pungent/peppery complex classic EdStJ black pepper/spicy blackberry/Syrah nose; very tart/ rich blackberry/black pepper/black cherry cola light toasty/smokey/pungent flavor; very long tart black pepper/blackberry/Syrah gamey/spicy pungent finish w/ ample tannins; needs more age but will be killer down the road. Great price at $24.00.
15. Justin Winery Halter Vineyard (14.1%) Paso Robles Syrah 1999: Black color; intense blackberry/blueberry/ Syrah/boysenberry rather toasty/Fr.oaked/smokey rather Oz-like nose; soft/rich intense boysenberry/ blackberry/Syrah intense fruit toasty/smokey/Fr.oak flavor; very long intense blackberry/boysen- berry/Syrah strong toasty/pungent/Fr.oak finish w/ fair tannins; needs several yrs; terrific very Oz-style Syrah. SteveCostigan's mystery wine.
16. Edmunds St John Calif Syrah (14.5%) 1996: Med.dark color; beautiful/complex very spicy/peppery toasty/pungent herbal/green olive very fragrant/perfumed nose; tart big/complex toasty/pungent/ roasted/Fr.oaked some blackberry/Syrah green olive/herbal complex flavor; very long herbal/green olive toasty/pungent/smokey/roasted blackberry/Syrah finish w/ some tannins; still yrs to go but a beautiful/fragrant/complex Syrah; I thought it was an AlainGraillot Crozes; terrific Calif Syrah. Larry's mystery.
17. Robert Stephane Domaine du Tunnel CuveePrestige (13%) Cornas 1999: Black color; very intense raosted/coffee/espresso/mocha/pungent blackberry/Syrah NorthernRhone complex nose; intense blackberry/Syrah very roasted/espresso/pungent powerful/extracted flavor; very long/lingering intense blackberry/Syrah strong roasted/espresso/smokey finish w/ ample tannins; quite Calif in style and the intensity of the LaLas; best young Cornas I've ever had; Howard&Rhoda's mystery wine brought back from the MarcheAuxVins, about $20. Killer Cornas.

1. Sparkling Shiraz: A genre that seems unique to OzLand. Widely dismissed by "real" wine lovers,  they're a wine that I really like drinking. I once had a 30 yr old sparkling Burgundy (Shiraz) from Seppelt at Darrell Cortis that was absolutely amazing; only slightly gassy, but a complexity that not unlike old RedBurgundy. It's a wine I'd like to see attempted in Calif.
2. Marzemino: This is an apparently indiginous variety to the Trentino of Italy and regarded as  similar to Gamay in character. I could see that in this wine; it had that earthy grapiness I find in Beaujolais. A fun little wine. It's apparently also made in a dry red version and also as a passito wine; both of which I'd love to try.
3. Qupe Grenache: This is BobLindquist's first btlg of a Grenache. I was expecting a bit more serious of a wine. That's not this wine. It's a bright/fun little wine. The color part of the label describes the wine quite well; a shocking DayGlo pink.
4. EdmundsStJohn R&G'00: I had this wine at BayWolf in March and really liked it quite a lot.  This version seemed rather bretty (Mourvedre?) and a bit on the one-dimensional side. Maybe it'll put on weight w/ age. Will try another btl with food soon.
5. AndrewMurray wines: I've followed young Andrew's wines from the very start, when he debuted them (it) at the WineCask futures tasting. That wine showed loads of tannin and extract and lots of new oak. The passion with which he talked made me believe that Andrew was a guy to watch in the future. It's been an.....interesting......ride. His first whites were pretty woody, hard and  austere. He's really improved his whites greatly. The reds, over the last few yrs, have been a bit of  a mixed bag. Some of them (Hillside Reserve) have been terrific and show me what his vnyds are capable of, some of the most hilly/rugged vnyds in all Calif. And them some reds, like this Les Coteaux, have shown a nasty fumey/hot/volatile/EA streak to them. I've not had any opportunities to visit with Andrew over the last few yrs, but shure would like to know what's going on there. When he's on with a wine, they're as good as it gets in Calif; and then others I just don't quite understand. But I'm on this train for the long haul and ain't jumping ship yet.
6. Qupe Syrahs: I've followed BobLindquist's Syrahs from the very start, the '82 Central Coast. They're some of my favorite Syrahs from anywhere. A great guy, a great winemaker, and he's got his baseball loyalities where they belong. The WhiteHawk (a vnyd on AlisosCnynRd near Thompson) and the ColsonCanyon (a bit further North as I recall) are two new "Single Vineyard Selection" additions to Bob's Syrah portfolio. They both struck me as stylistically different from his other Syrahs. They seemed bigger/rounder/softer, more fruit-forward, less mocha/oaked than his Bien Nacido Reserve or the Hillside Reserve. They seem to lie between the BNReserve and the Hillside in style I would say. Excellent Syrah and a great addition to Bob's carte.
7. Melville Syrah: I finally had their Chard when I was at PeterWork's in May and liked it quite a lot; but it was the Syrah I was hot to try. I did last night; and was mightly impressed. It has that cracked black pepper that I've found in cool-climate Syrah vnyds like Basetti and AlRago's QueSyrah. But what most impressed me was the perfume this wine showed; a perfume I more often find in Pinots. No surprise there, since Greg Brewer is their winemaker. This Syrah is not about power and extract, but about perfume and elegance; the kind you more often find in CoteRotie. A very impressive debut Syrah. The Melville  Vineyard (80 acres) is located way out west in the SantaYnez Valley, out towards Lompoc.  Chard and Pinot country. Probably the most westerly Syrah plantings in Santa Barbara. I've been mightly impressed also with the Syrahs from this vnyd I've tasted at Adam Tolmach's and Craig  Jaffurs. The Melville folks are also planting a new (100 acres) vnyd up on CatCanyonRd north of LosAlamos (not the REAL LosAlamos), devoted to Viognier and Syrah, a much warmer area. Definitly a vnyd(s) and winery to keep your eyes upon.
8. EdmundsStJohn Calif Syrah: This is Steve's entry-level Syrah; I've followed it from the very start. It has always been a wine I buy every year because it's such a great value. But make no mistake, it is very serious Syrah. This '00 version (much like the Ojai Santa Barbara '00 Syrah) struck me as on the hard and closed side and badly in need of another yr's of btl age to really start to show its stuff. Jump on this wine when you see it, if you've never had an EdStJ Syrah.
9. EdmundsStJohn Wylie-Fenaughty Syrah: These two vnyds, farmed by Ron Mansfield, are at a high elevation up in ElDorado County. They are easily the best Syrahs coming from an area that should be known and producing more great Syrahs. Steve thought the '99 was his best W-F yet and I agree. It it starting to show some development but still has a long life ahead of it. As Steve describes it, it has  a lot of "fine-grained" tannins that make it attractive young, but will carry it a long way. The '00 W-F seemed more about primary fruit and doesn't show the structure that the '99 has. OTOH, it's still pretty terrific Syrah; nothing to snivell at.