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.

We tasted this week (5/25/05) some new releases from Jaffurs/Ampelos/TablasCreek:

1. TablasCreekVnyds PasoRobles Vermentino (14.2%; Rolle; www.TablasCreek.com) 2003: Light gold color; rather spicy/perfumed/appley bit earthy slight peppery rather lush nose; tart bit lean/austere peppery/perfumed/very spicy/fragrant appley flavor; long tart very spicy/appely finish; loads of perfume & fragrance w/an underlying leaness. $23.50
___________________________
2. TablasCreekVnyds PasoRobles Viognier (14.3%) 2003: Light gold color; lovelypear/spicy/ Viognier/nutmeg slight minerally/earthy nose; tart rather lean/austere light pear/Viognier some minerally/chalky flavor; long austere pear/Viognier/earthy/minerally finish; a rather understated rendition of Viognier; probably needs a yr or two of age. $23.50
___________________________
3. TablasCreekVnyds PasoRobles Roussanne (14.3%) 2003: Dark gold color; attractive floral/ appleyminerally quite spicy lovely/fragrant nose; soft/lush rich floral/honeysuckle some minerally/perfumed talc/spicy flavor; very long/lingering spicy/floral/honeysuckle some minerally finish; lovely rendition of Roussanne.$23.50
___________________________
4. Jaffurs SantaBarbaraCnty Roussanne (13.1%) 2004: Dark gold color; beautiful/intense very perfumed/fragrant/floral/honeysuckle loads of fruit nose; soft/rich very intense floral/peach/ honeysuckle very perfumed almost Viognier-like flavorw/ an underlying steely/acidity; very long intense/lush floral/perfumed/honeysuckle slight minerally/steely finish; huge wine w/ loads of intense Roussanne fruit; one of the best Calif Roussannes yet. $27.00
___________________________
5. ampelos SantaYnezVlly Rose of Syrah 2004: Med.salmon color; lovely fragrant/spicy/
cranberry quite grapey nose; soft very spicy/cranberry/floral dry flavor; med.long soft bright/ cranberry/spicy/cinammon finish; would like a bit more refreshing acidity but very nice drinking rose. $16
___________________________
6. ampelos FiddlestixVnyd SantaRitaHills PinotNoir 2003: Med.color; very strong
toasty/pencilly/Fr.oak bit earthy/walnutty somewhat black cherry/spicy somewhat Burgundian nose; tart bit lean/hard rather toasty/oaked/charred/pencilly some black cherry/Pinot/spicy slight earthy/dusty flavor; med.long tart black cherry/cherry/Pinot rather toasty/charred/Fr.oak finish w/ bit tannins; needs a yr or two; rather oaked and somewhat Burgundian in style. $30
___________________________
7. ampelos SantaBarbaraCnty Syrache (Grenache/Syrah) 2003: Dark color; lovelystrawberry/ blackberry/fragrant/spicy mostly Grenache nose w/ little oak; soft/lush strawberry/ blackberry/ spicy/aromatic slight pencilly/oak slight tannic flavor; long very bright/spicy/strawberry/ blackberry lush/soft light pencilly finish w/light tannins; an attractive lush/drinkable red. $28
___________________________
8. ampelos SantaRitaHills EvansRanch Syrah 2003: Dark color; lovely spicy/peppery/cracked white pepper light toasty/smoky/pungent/oak slight herbal/roasted nose; tart very peppery/cracked white pepper light toasty/pungent/oak/roasted bit tannic flavor; long tart spicy/cracked white pepper/blackberry/Syrah some complex/roasted/pungent slight tannic flavor; very good Syrah w/ lots of cracked pepper character.$26
___________________________
9. Jaffurs SantaBarbaraCnty Syrah (14.6%) 2003: Black color; beautiful/intenseblackberry/ boysenberry/Syrah toasty/roasted/smokey complex nose; tart/rich very strong/blackberry/ boysenberry/ Syrah some pungent/toasty/oak slight rustic/earthy flavor; very long intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah pungent/toasty/roasted slight earthy finish w/ fair tannins; needs yr or two but will go five easily; a terrific Syrah for this price. $23.00
___________________________
10. Jaffurs BienNacidoVnyd Syrah (14.9%) 2003: Black color; very intense boysenberry/
blackberry/black cherry/plummy slight dusty/earthy slight toasty/oak/roasted nose;tart very intense black cherry/plummy/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah slight roasted/toasty flavor; somewhat tannic very intense black cherry/plummy/blackberry/Syrah slight roasted/pungent finish w/ fair tannins; loads of intense black cherry Syrah fruit but great structure for aging and not overblown; killer Syrah. $28.50
___________________________
11. Jaffurs ThompsonVnyd Syrah (14.8%) 2003: Black color; huge beautiful intenseblackberry/ peppery/Syrah some toasted/charred/roasted very spicy nose; tannic huge/rich intense blackberry/peppery/spicy/Syrah rather tannic some toasty/charred/pungent/roasted flavor; very long intense/blackberry/peppery/spicy charred/pungent/smokey/toasty fairly tannic finish; needs 3-10 yrs; terrific huge/intense peppery Syrah at a great price. $33.00
___________________________
12. Jaffurs MelvilleVnyd Syrah ( 14.8%) 2003: Black color; beautiful spicy/cracked white pepper/ blackberry/Syrah some roasted/charred/smokey/pungent complex nose; tart very spicy/cracked white pepper/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah some charred/roasted/pungent fairly tannic big/extracted flavor; very long/lingering intense cracked white pepper/blackberry/Syrah/very spicy some pungent/roasted/charred finish w/ fair tannins; needs 3-10 yrs; amazing Syrah. $35.00
___________________________
13. TablasCreekVnyd PasoRobles Panoplie (80% Mourvedre/13% Grenache/ 7% Syrah) 2002:
Very dark color; intense black cherry/plummy/boysenberry some earthy/pungent/gamey
almost Beaucastel complex nose; tart rather hard/tannic plummy/blackberry/black cherry plummy/earthy/gamey/minerally complex flavor; very long tart/hard/tannic rich/plummy/black cherry/blackberry slight toasty/oak complex/pungent/gamey finish; needs 5-10 yrs; easily the best Tablas red I've yet had; terrific wine.$82.00
___________________________
14. Upslope Syrah SantaBarbaraCnty (14.9%; www.TedWardWines.com) JaffursWineCllrs 2003:
Black/black color; very intense/extracted boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/pungent/licorice roasted/toasty/oak peppery huge fruit nose; tart very intense blackberry/boysenberry/ licorice/ pungent/Syrah toasty/charred/roasted complex quite tannicflavor; very long/lingering tannic/extracted very intense blackberry/boysenberry/licorice/Syrah/spicy toasty/charred/ roasted/pungent finish w/ strong tannins; needs much age; killer extracted Syrah but not over-the-top at all; incredible Syrah $60.00
___________________________
15. Jaffurs BienNacidoVnyd Syrah (14.0%) 1997: Dark color; somewhat funky/Rhonish/
bretty/horsecollar/Languedoc-like some blackberry/Syrah nose; tart bit tannic/dried-out slight blackberry/Syrah some Rhonish/funky/bretty flavor; med.long funky/Rhonish/bretty some blackberry/Syrah bit dried out/astringent finish; lots of Rhonish character; bit too unclean/bretty for my tastes. Larry's mystery.

1. Some pontifications from the BloodyPulpit:
   1. The TablasCreeks were shipped to their WineClub members and not generally available.
   ___________________________
   2. The Ampelos wines are to be released in July.
   ___________________________
   3. The Jaffurs prices are pre-release prices plus shipping. They are to be shipped
   in the Fall and available at pre-release until June 1. www.JaffursWine.com
   ___________________________
   4. TablasCreek: I've been very impressed by the TablasCreek wines, across the board,
   of late. The early ones I thought were styled a bit too much towards making a
   European/Beaucastel kind of wine and a bit too much on the hard/lean/austere style.
   The more recent ones have shown more of a Calif/lush/ripe character; yet they still
   show a European elegance and restraint and certainly not an overblown or floozy
   style that Paso wines can veer towards. I'm not sure if it's merely the greater
   maturity of the vines, or a concious winemaking decision. But their wines just keep
   getting better and better. Huzzah.
   ___________________________
   5. Ampelos: This is a new launch from Peter&Becky Work (www.ampeloscellars.com),
   friends I've known for some 10-12 yrs now. Their 22 acre vnyd is just over the
   hill on the Lompoc Hwy just afore Post (or Mail) Rd, on the south side. Planted
   to Pinot, Syrah w/ a bit of Viognier. They have sold Syrah in '04 to Craig Jaffurs.
   Their first release was a '02 Syrah, from purchased grapes, as are these '03's.
   Their first wines from Estate grapes will be '04. This Spring they have put in
   a small plot of Pinot for SteveClifton/GregBrewer. Every 4'th Pinot vine is a
   PinotGris vine, interplanted for co-fermentation. Their consulting winemaker,
   DonSchroeder, is Becky's son; who works for another winery in the Lompoc Ghetto,
   where their wines are also made. It's worth making an appointment to tour the
   vnyd w/ Peter. The passion and enthusiasm that Becky & Peter have for this venture
   is very apparent. A property to keep your eyes on.
   ___________________________
   6. Jaffurs: I have, of course, followed Jaffurs wines from the very start; when LarryA
   and I sat out on Bob Senn's LOW&SE front porch one cold/foggy morning and tasted
   samples w/ Craig from baby food jars (well...we DID taste out of wine glasses,
   but the samples were poured from baby food jars).
   Craig's wines have been going from strength to strength over the last few yrs and
   are consistently no-brainer buys on futures for my group. His whites have been
   showing a bit more ripeness & lushness, but still retain that acid backbone they've
   always had. The reds have become bigger & more extracted, but still show great structure
   for aging and the alcohol levels are held in check.
   Of Jaffurs Syrahs, the Thompson has traditionally been my favorite. Anymore,
   now, it's the Melville Syrah I like most because of the cracked white pepper
   character I find in it. The Melville was my favorite of this '03 tableau. The
   grapes come from the Melville Verna's vnyd up on Cat (or Alisos) Canyon Rd. Right
   across from the SutterHome vnyd there as I recall. Wonder where THOSE grapes go?
   ___________________________
   7. QPR Syrahs: Consistently, the Jaffurs SantaBarbara, the Ojai SantaBarbara, and the
   EdmundsStJohn Calif Syrahs are just about the best Calif Syrahs available for
   the $$'s. When I see them on a restaurant list, they're usually my choice. And
   they age quite well, thank you, for an inexpensive Syrah.
   ___________________________
   8. Jaffurs UpSlope: This is a special wine made for Craig's NewYork distributor;
   a selection from the best barrels of all Craig's single-vnyd barrels. So it'll
   mostly be found in NewYork, though a small amount was kept at the winery for
   sale there.
   Tom