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 last night (5/3/06) some White&Red Rhones:

1. BonnyDoon GrenacheBlanc MontereyCnty (14.5%) 2004: Pale gold color; light floral/pear rather aromatic bit appley/Mosel valve oil interesting nose; very soft/fat light pear/appley slight metallic/earthy flavor; med.short fat/underacid low-key floral/apple/pear finish; pleasant enough nose but ratherr vapid on palate. $18.00
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2. CarinaCllrs SantaBarbaraCnty Viognier (14.1%; www.CarinaCellars.com) 2004: Pale gold color; beautiful/aromatic floral/peachy/Viognier slight reduced/H2S that clears some toasty/oak nose; tart light toasty/oak ripe/lush/peachy/Viognier flavor; med.long light toasty/oak ripe/peach finish; quite a lot of toasty/oak in nose but good Viognier character; nice Viognier at a very fair price. $17.00
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3. b.core SantaYnezVlly 57% Marsanne/Rodney'sVnyd 43% Roussanne/Camp4Vnyd (86 cs; 14.2%; www.CoreWines.com) 2004: Light gold color; very strong toasty/Fr.oak bit reduced/burnt rubber rather low-fruit nose; soft/rich/lush floral/tropical fruit/pear mouthfilling/glycerined very attractive flavor; long tropical fruit/peach/pear rich/lush finish; rather stinky nose but really great flavors; needs decanting to breathe. $27.00
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4. Failla AlbanVnyd/EdnaVlly Viognier (14.5%) 2004: Med.light gold color; light pear/peach/ Viognier/floral/Mosel valve oil/complex light oak spicy nose; tart very spicy bright floral/ pear/Viognier light oak lean/rich flavor; long tart spicy/floral/pear/Viognier light oak finish; a rather understated Viognier but great structure & acidity and needs several yrs; very/very rendition of Viognier. $41.00
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5. AlbanVnyds AlbanEstateVnyd/EdnaVlly Viognier (16.4%) 2004: Med.gold hazy color; attractive floral/pear/Viognier spicy/nutmeg/light oak very interesting nose; searing/acid low-key/pear/ Viognier slight bitter rather nutmeg/spicy flavor; very tart/acid very long/lingering low-key/ Viognier/pear light toasty/oak/nutmeg finish; alcohol not obvious at all; badly needs some age and should be a great one. $39.00
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6. AlbanVnyds AlbanEstateVnyd/EdnaVlly Roussanne (16.2%) 2003: Dark gold color; slightly burnt rubber/reduced intense hazelnutty/floral/honeysuckle/honeyed some toasty/oak complex nose; soft/ripe/very lush intense floral/hazelnutty/honeysuckle very perfumed some toasty/oak flavor; very long/lush/ripe hazelnutty/honeysuckle/floral complex light toasty finish; carries the alcohol well; a huge/lush/ripe Roussanne. $39.00
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7. Radio-Coteau LasColinas/SonomaCoast Syrah (14.6%; U/U; 780 cs) 2004: Med.dark color; lovely spicy/pencilly/Burgundian light black cherry/blackberry rather Pinot-ish nose; tart very Burgundian/Pinot bit hard/tannic/lean rather pencilly/Fr.oak bright/black cherry flavor; med. long pencilly/Burgundian Pinotish/black cherry w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a lovely rather Pinotish rendition of Syrah; beautiful wine. $34.00
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8. Radio-Coteau CherryCamp/SonomaCoast Syrah (240 cs; U/U; 15.0%) 2004: Very dark color; very strong peppery/blackberry/Syrah perfumed/fragrant bit earthy some toasty/oak nose; tart spicy/ black cherry/Syrah/black berry some pencilly/toasty/oak slight dusty/earthy flavor; very long spicy/black cherry/Syrah light pencilly/toasty/oak some tannic finish; needs 2-5 yrs; much stronger Syrah/peppery character but in a Pinot style; beautiful rendition of Syrah. $48.00
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9. Radio-Coteau Timbervine/RussianRvrVlly Syrah (350 cs; www.RadioCoteau.com; U/U; 15.0%) 2004: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/black cherry/Syrah pungent/licorice/dusty/bit peppery/very spicy some smokey/oak nose; tart rich dusty/earthy strong licorice/blackberry/ black cherry/Syrah some toasty/oak/pungent bit tannic flavor; very long strong black cherry/ blackberry/Syrah light toasty/oak/pungent some peppery/dusty finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; much more classic Syrah than the SonomaCoast versions; lovely/classic RRV Syrah. $45.00
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10. K-Vintners TheBoy WallaWallaVlly (14.1%; 68% grenache/18%Syrah/14%Mourvedre; 525 cs) 2004: Med.color; very dusty/earthy/walnutty little Syrah or fruit slight oaked rather interesting WashState Red nose; tart earthy/dusty some toasty/charred/oak sorta Chateauneuf- like slight cherry/strawberry flavor; long dusty/earthy finish w/ light tannins; very low fruit profile but quite an interesting WashState red w/ a sorta CdP style. $35.00
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11. K-Vintners Syrah MilbrandtVnyd/WahlukeSlope/ColumbiaVlly (14.1%; 1200 cs) 2004: Very dark color; strong blackberry/Syrah some toasty/oak slight earthy/dusty attractive nose; soft/lush spicy/blackberry/Syrah light earthy/dusty some toasty/oak/pungent flavor; med.long blackberry/ Syrah light dusty finish w/ light tannins; a very attractive straightforward/blocky WashState Syrah at a good price. $25.00
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12. K-Vintners Syrah Lucky#7 7HillsVnyd/WallaWallaVlly (13.9%; www.K-Syrah.com; 800
    cs) 2003: Black color; rather toasty/Fr.oak/charred ripe/blackberry/Syrah/blueberry light earthy complex bit peppery/spicy nose; very intense/tannic blackberry/Syrah dusty very charred/toasty/ Fr.oak/pungent/espresso bit tarry flavor; very long tannic/extracted blackberry/blueberry/ Syrah bit Rhonish/coffee rather charred/toasty/oak finish; needs much age; some Rhonish character; loads of charred oak but plenty of fruit underneath; terrific Syrah at a fair price. $35.00
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13. OwenRoe Syrah LadyRosa DuBrulVnyd & Rosa Mystic Block/YakimaVlly (14.1%; www.OwenRoe.com) 2004: Black color; very intense blackberry/boysenberry/ripe/Syrah some toasty/oak bit roasted/espresso complex Rhonish nose; very intense boysenberry/blackberry/ Syrah/ripe some roasted/espresso/mocha some toasty/charred/smokey/oak complex flavor; very long boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah some roasted/espresso/smokey finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-6 yrs; a terrific WashState Syrah w/ lots of Rhone character. $46.00
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14. AlbanVnyds AlbanEstate/EdnaVlly REVA Syrah (15.8%) 2003: Very black color; very intense toasted/charred/burnt/oak/pungent very intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah huge fruit slight peppery/dusty nose; rich/lush/fat very ripe/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah some charred/burnt/ toasty/oak extracted some tannic flavor; long/soft/fat boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah some burnt/charred/oak bit hot/alcoholic finish w/ some tannins; huge/huge fruit but a bit lacking in structure. Pretty expensive. $66.00

1. And the usual nonsense from the BloodyPulpit: 1. Alban Whites: These both are huge wines. The high alcohol levels were not at all bothersome for me, though I'm pretty tolerant of alcohol. John's whites used to be loaded w/ toasty/charred/ Fr.oak. He seems to be toning that down quite a bit over the last few yrs, though. Both of these whites I liked a lot, for that big style.
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2. Radio-CoteauSyrah: Eric Sussman's rendition of Syrah is one that I particularly like. Syrah does not HAVE to be all about bigness and extraction. His skills w/ Pinot are very much reflected in his Syrahs; being much more elegant and reigned in than most Calif Syrahs. Terrific wines from a winemaker who's one of the best. I'd love to see what he could do with Nebbiolo!!
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3. Worshiping At The Altar Of Varietal Typicity: There is much whining from some quarters, complaining that some Pinots are much more Syrah like than Pinot. They go on the whine about how upset they'd be if they opened a Pinot w/ their fresh salmon and got one of these "grotesque" Syrah-like Pinots. I sometimes wonder if they'd whine just as loud if they opened up a R-C or Dehlinger Syrah to accompany their mastadon steak and found it was one of these bright/lively/vibrant Pinot-like Syrahs?? These Pinot-lovers can be such whiners. My take on the subject is if you're opening a Pinot or Syrah from a producer/area that you've never had before, then all bets are off and you just take your chances. It behooves one to know the style of the producer of your Pinot or Syrah afore you start whining about its lack of varietal typicity.
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4. Alban Reva: I was a bit disappointed in this '03 version. It had the typical huge Alban fruit and charred oak, but felt it was somewhat lacking in structure and not the usual searing acidity his red wines typically show.
   Tom