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. Rock Rabbit Santa Barbara County Syrah (13.6%; www.RockRabbitWinery.com) Derek Benham/ Proprietor 2001: Dark color; attractive Syrah/blackberry grapey/juicy/plummy slight peppery/ spicy nose; soft/ripe grapey/plummy/blackberry/juicy slight metallic flavor; soft/fat ripe/juicy/ plummy/blackberry/Syrah finish w/ little tannins; a rather soft/fat/soupy Syrah like FrenchCamp ot ClosMimi/PetiteRousse Syrahs; good wine for the price. $12.00
2. Koli (Hamblin) Cellars Sultry Syrah Lafond Vineyard Santa Rita Hills Santa Barbara 2000: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/Syrah/grapey very ripe slight peppery/pungent nose; tart peppery/spicy strong blackberry/Syrah very spicy slight gamey flavor; med.long tart ripe/grapey/blackberry/ Syrah slight peppery finish w/ some tannins; very interesting/well-made Syrah; doesn't have the intense cracked black pepper character I expect from Lafond grapes nor the strong acidity; seems on the ripe side; fairly priced at $24.00
3. Kiddush Hashem Cllrs Great Oaks Ranch Vineyard Santa Barbara County Syrah (14.5%) P&B by Kiddush Hashem Cllrs, SantaMaria; Vintned&Crafted by Rabbi-Winemaker Samuel Perez 2001: Very dark color; rather strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/jammy bit spicy/smokey nose; soft/ripe bit astringent/tannic somewhat sour some blackberry/Syrah slight spicy flavor; med.long bit tannic/astringent some blackberry/Syrah finish; pleasant Syrah if a bit on the simple side; rather overpriced at $30.00
4. Cordon of Santa Barbara Santa Ynez Valley Great Oaks Ranch Vineyard Syrah (14%) P&B by Etienne C. Terlinden, SantaMaria 2001: Very dark color; some reduced/stinky/diaper pail pungent/valve oil nose clears up to slightly reduced/pungent some blackberry/Syrah light toasty/pungent/oak nose; tart bit sour slight reduced/diaper pail/funky some blackberry/Syrah/black cherry cola flavor; med.long funky/pungent blackberry/Syrah/peppery some toasty/charred/oak bit spicy/cloves finish w/ light tannins; a bit on the strange/funky side but kind of interesting and a fair price. $23.00
5. Qupe Central Coast Syrah (13.5%) 2001: Med.color; rather plummy/earthy/rustic some blackberry/Syrah nose; soft plummy/grapey slight earthy some blackberry/Syrah/raspberry/
6. cherry/fruity flavor; med. long earthy/plummy/ripe some bright/blackberry/Syrah/raspberry finish w/ light tannins; nice drinking/attractive red at a good price. $15.00
7. Qupe Santa Ynez Valley Stolpman Vineyard Syrah (13.5%) 2001: Med.dark color; attractive strawberry/Syrah/ blackberry slight stemmy nose; soft/bright strawberry/Syrah/black cherry clean/spicy flavor; long bright strawberry/Syrah finish w/ light tannins; lots of bright strawberry fruit. $28.00
8. Qupe Arroyo Grande Valley RanchoArroyoGrande Vineyard Syrah (13.5%) 2001: Med.color; attractive plummy/ blackberry/Syrah bit dusty/earthy slight toasty/pungent nose; soft/ripe plummy/blackberry/Syrah/ boysenberry almost Lodi-like plummy or Amador-briary flavor; med.long soft plummy/blackberry ripe finish w/ light tannins; interesting/tasty Syrah almost Zin-like in character.
9. Ethan Arroyo Grande Valley Syrah Rancho Arroyo Grande Vineyard (14.5%) V&B by Ethan E. Lindquist, Sebastapol 2001: Med.dark color; much deeper blackberry/blueberry more lush slight pungent/oak nose; riper blackberry/Syrah/plummy lush/rich light pungent/smokey flavor; long soft/plummy/ blackberry/Syrah finish w/ light tannins; same plummy/blackberry character of the Qupe but bit more lush & extracted; reminds me a bit of Bob's Syrahs in the late '80's; well-made very good Syrah & great debut wine for Ethan.
10. Qupe Santa Barbara County Syrah Alisos Vineyard (13.5%) 2001: Dark color; strong spicy blackberry/blueberry/ Syrah rather peppery/complex slight pungent/gamey nose; very spicy/peppery/black pepper blackberry/ blueberry/Syrah light toasty/pungent flavor; long peppery/spicy blackberry/boysenberry slight gamey/ pungent finish w/ some tannins; the biggest & most interesting to me of these 2001's, though some preferred the PurisimaMtn one. Seems to resemble Syrahs from the Thompson  Vineyard, which is close by. Outstanding Syrah at a fair price. $27.00
11. Qupe Santa Ynez Valley Purisima Mtn Vineyard Syrah (13.5%) 2001: Med.dark color; strong peppery/spicy/ blackberry/Syrah rather spicy fairly ripe nose; bit softer/rounder blackberry/plummy/Syrah some spicy/black pepper flavor; long peppery/blackberry/Syrah slight plummy finish w/ light tannins; lovely Syrah.
12. Qupe Syrah Santa Barbara County Lazy Acres Cuvee (Stolpman/AlisosCanyon Vineyard/PurisimaMtn  Vineyards; 13.5%) 2001: Dark color; deeper/richer blackberry/plummy/Syrah ripe some black cherry slight pungent nose; soft/ripe plummy/blackberry/Syrah/black cherry slightly more pungent/smokey/oaked flavor; med.long soft/round plummy/blackberry/black cherry slight pungent finish w/ light tannins; almost BienNacido in character; terrific Syrah for the price. $22.00
13. Foxen Syrah Tinaquaic Vineyard "DryFarmed" Santa Maria Valley Syrah (14.9%) 2001: Very dark color; strong toasty/pungent/oaked some eucalyptus/menthol rather pungent/peppery some roasted/smokey very strong blackberry/Syrah/gamey complex nose; tart very spicy/black peppery strong blackberry/Syrah bit menthol/eucalyptus pungent/smokey flavor; very long pungent/smokey/roasted/charred intense blackberry/Syrah quite peppery/spicy finish w/ fair tannins; killer Syrah at fair price. $30.00
14. Kenneth-Crawford Santa Rita Hills Syrah (14.3%; www.KennethCrawford.com) 2001: Dark color; very strong peppery/cracked black pepper/spicy/pungent intense blackberry/blueberry/Syrah light toasty/oak nose; tart rich tannic/hard very cracked black pepper blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah light toasty/oak flavor; very long/lingering very cracked pepper intense blackberry finish w/ fair tannins; needs 3-6 yrs; a killer cold-climate Syrah at a great price. $27.00
15. Melville Estate Syrah (14.7%; www.MelvilleWines.com) 2001: Dark color; very ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah chocolaty ripe/spicy nose; very tart ripe slight black pepper very strong blackberry/boysenberry/ black cherry cola/Dr.Pepper flavor; very long intense blackberry/boysenberry/cola finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; lots of very ripe character but lots of acidity & structure; tastes riper than the 14.7% suggests; terrific Syrah at a steal of a price. $22.00
16. Robert Mondavi Winery Oakville/Napa Valley Boomerang! RedWine (14.1%; 59% Syrah, 36% CS, 2% CabFranc, 2% Merlot, 1% Malbec; ToKalon Estate; 50% new French oak) 2000: Med.dark color; very strong vanilla/ oaked/ Oz-style  slight herbal rather strong blackberry/boysenberry/jammy nose; soft/fat/lush strong vanilla/Bourbnon/oaked strong lush/jammy/blackberry/Syrah slight herbal/earthy flavor; very long jammy/blackberry/Syrah very vanilla finish w/ light tannins; very much like a Marquis-Phillips Shiraz.

And to celebrate the return of some long-time friends, and a BD, we had a cake (pears & gorgonzola) and a few dessert wines:

1. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Late Harvest Viognier (16.5%) 2001: Med.gold color; rather alcoholic creamy very strong/grapey/passito very ripe slight peachy some pencilly/toasty/oak nose; some sweet very grapey orangey/peachy bit hot/alcoholic some pencilly/toasty/oak flavor; very long some sweet grapey/peachy bit alcoholic finish; very good passito-style dessert wine. $30.00/hlf
2. Chateau Rabaud-Promis Sauternes (13.5%) 1988: Med.gold color; very strong peachy/apricotty/botrytis slight earthy some complex nose; very sweet strong botrytis/peachy/apricotty slight earthy/creme brulee flavor; very long very sweet soft peachy/botrytis finish; a classic Sauternes and still a young wine. Larry's contribution to dessert.
3. Olde Shandon Port Works Lmtd Release Port (18.5%) NV: Med. slight bricking bit murkey (should have decanted it) color; strong alcoholic/porty very grapey rather ruby porto some complex/spirity nose; sweet soft very grapey/spirity alcoholic/porty slight pencilly/toasty very licorice flavor; quite sweet spirity/alcoholic very grapey finish w/ light tannins; very good slightly-aged Ruby Port.

1. Derek Benham: Not a name I'm familar with. He & brother Courtney were founding partners of the BlackstoneWnry up in Graton/Sonoma. recently they sold their interest. They still retain ownership in MartinRayWnry and MarkWest Vineyards.
2. Koli Hamblin: Another new name to me. Ain't Google wunnerful!! This is apparently Koleen Hamblin who apparently runs KOLI Communications, a public relations/communications firm out of Santa Barbara. Obviously she has access to some pretty terrific grapes.
3. Kiddush Hashem: Yet another new name, about which I can find nothing. The grapes come from the GreatOaks Ranch, out on the east side (across the highway) of Los Olivos, next to Bridlewood. Both the wines from this  Vineyard tasted like the  Vineyard may have been cropped on the high-side. Would guess this wine was made at the Central Coast Wine Coop in Santa Maria, home of many a small operation.
4. Qupe Central Coast Syrah: This is a wine I've sort of struggled with over the last few yrs, but have sorta come to terms with now. When Bob Lindquist first started making this wine it was entirely Santa Barbara fruit, loaded w/ lush blackberry/Syrah fruit, and a steal at the low-teen$ price it went for. Around '95, Bob started adding Syrah from the Miller's FrenchCamp  Vineyard, out on the far EastSide Paso, and some interesting old-vine Carignane and Zin from Lodi. It changed the character of the wine considerably. The wine was no longer an expression of bright/pure Santa Barbara Syrah. The FrenchCamp gave it a bit plummy/mushroomy/funky character. More like a Cotes-du-Rhone style Qupe rather than a Santa Barbara Syrah. Furthermore, the wine is often released at SantaFe Wine&Chile Fiesta in October, shortly after bottling. It usually comes off a light & thin. Then around late December/early-January, it seems to start putting on weight and developing a lot of character. That being said, the Qupe CentralCoast is a wine that I keep returning to. One of my favorite restaurants (Andiamo) usually has it in hlf btls and it's often my wine of choice. If you accept the fact that the CC is an inexpensive/Cotes-du-Rhone style of wine, not Bob's purest or greatest expression of Syrah, than it's a mighty fine wine for what it is. This 2001 CC strikes me has having more bright Syrah fruit than any over the last few yrs and probably his best since the '94 or so.
5. Rancho Arroyo Grande  Vineyard: This is a new property up above Lake Lopez near Saucelito Canyon  Vineyard. It's much higher in altitude than most of the EdnaVlly  Vineyards like Talley or Alban. And much more warm, I would guess. They also make Syrah & other wines under their own label as well.
6. Qupe Vineyard Designates: Life used to be so much more simpler when it was just: CentralCoast, BienNacidoReserve, and Hillside Estate Reserve. With the 2001 vintage and more Syrah sources becomming available, Bob has launched his Vineyard Select series with these 5 new  Vineyards. I believe he has taken grapes from some of these  Vineyards before that went into the Central Coast. With more Santa Barbara Syrah grapes to work with, it's probably the reason the CentralCoast is so much better this year. BobLindquist is one of the icons for Syrah in California. His '82 Calif Syrah, from Estrella River  Vineyard grapes was the first Calif Syrah to really grab my attention, to make me realize that, yes, Calif CAN produce world-class Syrah. A btl of that seminal wine a year ago at HdR was still in wonderful condition. It's always been sort of a puzzle to me why Bob is below Arpy's radar; hardly ever see any reviews of them in WA. Maybe since they don't have that "gobs of hedonistic fruit" and aren't "sexy", that he misses them. His loss, our gain I say. Of this series, my clear favorite was the Alisos, closely followed by the PurisimaMtn. I was expecting,based on the Tensley and Beckmen Syrahs from this Beckmen-owned  Vineyard to be the biggest & the richest. The Alisos was, though. The Stolpman and the PurisimaMtn  Vineyards are right adjacent to each other, but seemed quite a bit different in character; the Purisima showing more cold-climate character than the Stolpman. Could be the difference in clones, or the difference in crop levels; don't know. Anyway, this series of 6 (didn't get the BienNacido in here) Syrahs are very well done, classic Qupe in style, yet all speak of their individual  Vineyard sources (that "terroir" thing again). They're all worth trying as a set.
7. LazyAcres Cuvee: This is a blend assembled by Bob Wesley at Lazy Acres grocery store (calling Lazy Acres just a grocery store is like calling Tiger Woods a golf hacker). It seemed a bit bigger/richer than the other  Vineyard designates, but with a softness and roundness that suggests earlier drinking. But the balance you find in most Qupe Syrahs gives them surprisingly long lifetime. This was first served to the SantaFe wine group in late May and was even more impressive than tonight's version. So impressive that Howard Sherry even bought a case of it... high praise indeed.
8. Foxen Tinaquaic: This is a new wine for Foxen, although they've made a Cabernet from this  Vineyard for a number of yrs. Its got a bunch of eucalyptus trees nearby, I understand, though it's much stronger in their Cab than in this Syrah. Almost a Thackery Jr; it's easily the best Syrah yet made by the Foxen boys in my opinion.
9. Mondavi Syrah: Almost never include Mondavi wines in my tastings as I find them rather on the clean boring side. This mystery wine was given us by Andrew Willingham. I thought it a dead-ringer for an Oz Shiraz; very un-Mondavi-like in character. It is apparently for purchase to the Mondavi shareholders, of which Nadrew is one. The way the Mondavi stock is going, Andrew best keep his day job.
10. Jaffurs LateHrvst Viognier: I really liked this wine on my first btl that I cracked fresh off the boat. The btl we had at Downey's seemed pretty hot/alcoholic. This btl seemd more like the first. It has no evident botrytis and is much more like an Italian passito wine. Still think it's good dessert wine.
11. Olde Shandon Port: Totally new wine to me, a gift to try from Fabrizio at Alloro in PasoRobles after our dinner there. It comes from a tiny new winery (about 700 cases/yr) out by Shandon, on EastSide Paso. Tarrica makes a number of dry varietals and this port. The grapes are 100% Merlot from the St.John's River  Vineyard in Woodlake. There are two Woodlakes in Calif, one down in Tulare Cnty on the east side of the SanJoaquin Vlly, one just to the east of Lodi. Would guess the grapes are from the Lodi one. The wine is like a somewhat aged Ruby Porto, so has apparently seen a number of yrs in old oak barrels. It actually is quite a nice Port and probably reflects the highest calling that Merlot grapes can achieve!! Thanks to Fabrizio for exposing this to us.