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 week (9/6/06) Some New Calif/Oz/WashState Rhones:

1. Domaine des Senechaux CdP Blanc (MeBaD; 14%; Roussanne+GrenacheBlanc & Clairette) 2005: Light yellow color; lovely floral/honeysuckle/perfumed light earthy nose; tart slight earthy rich/floral/honeysuckle/spicy flavor; very long floral/Roussanne/honeysuckle finish w/ light stony/earthy character; like a good mid-range Calif Roussanne; bit pricy at    $34.00
   _______________

2. St.Cosme AC Condrieu (13%) Louis et Cherry Barroul/Gigondas 2004: Med.gold color; very light toasty/oak huge/powerful/peach/pear/Viognier classic Condrieu/mineral beautiful nose; soft big/rich/lush some pear/peach/Viognier light minerally attractive flavor; med.short pear/peach/ Viognier slight Condrieu/minerally finish; a beautiful/classic Condrieu nose but doesn't follow thru on the palate; rather Calif in style; overpriced at $56.00
   _______________

3. ChelhamCreek Viognier LarnerVnyd/SantaBarbaraCnty (14.5%; 75 cs) 2002: Light gold color; pleasant pear/Viognier some fragrant/perfumed slight graphite/gunpowder/reduced/metallic nose; soft/fat/lush pleasant floral/pear/Viognier flavor; med.long soft/fat/lush attractivepeach/ pear/ Viognier finish; nice Viognier but on the soft/fat/porky side. $22.00
   _______________

4. Harlequin Viognier CliftonVnyd/WahlukeSlope/ColumbiaVlly (14.5%; www.HarlequinWine.com;  2005: Med.gold color; beautiful very fragrant/perfumed/Viognier/pear/ peach some minerally/ Condrieu-like/earthy lovely/interesting nose; tart big/rich/powerful very floral/perfumed/Viognier/ peach/ aromatic some minerally/earthy flavor; very long tart/rich/lush light minerally ripe pear/peach/ Viognier finish; more minerally like the '03; a terrific Viognier at a great price. $21.00
   _______________

5. Novy RussianRvrVlly Viognier (15.2%; www.NovyFamilyWines.com) 2005: Slight cloudy med.gold    color; very ripe syrupy/candied peaches/Viognier grapey nose; soft/fat slightly sweet rich/lush/canned peaches/pear/very floral/Viognier slightly bitter flavor; med.long soft/fat strong peachy/canned peach/floral/Viognier very ripe off-dry finish; appears to be a stuck or stopped fermentation; atypical Viognier but still an attractive wine. $16.00
   _______________

6. Lattitude 46 N CliftonCuvee MilbrandtVnyd/WahlukeSlope/ColumbiaVlly RW (14.5%; www.Lattitude46.com; 59% Grenache, 36% Syrah, 5% Mourvedre; 470 cs) VinAmisVentures/ Touchet 2005: Med.color; lots of perfumed/aromatic/strawberry soda/ Grenache/cheap perfume/candied slight earthy nose; soft very candied/Grenache/perfumed/ strawberry soda some tannic slight earthy flavor; med.long candied/Grenache/strawberry soda bit earthy/appley finish w/some tannins; somewhat cheap Christmas candy character; an attractive CdR-level red; bit pricey at  $36.00
   _______________

7. Massena BarossaVlly TheMoonlightRun (50% grenache, 30% Shiraz, 15% Mataro, 5% Consault;    www.Massena.com.Au; 15.0%) 2003: Very dark color; dusty/appley bit tobaccoy/ toilet deordizer very ripe/strawberry/Grenache tomatoe paste/black currant syrup some oaked nose; soft tomatoe paste/deordizer/strawberry soda/Grenache light toasty/oak flavor; med.long candied/ strawberry/Grenache/tomatoey finish w/ little tannins; attractive Grenache but rather pricey at $28.00
   _______________

8. Tir Na Nog (Land of the Youth) BlewittSprings/McLarenVale OldVines Grenache (15.9%; www.TAPWC.com.Au) 2003: Dark color; strong minty/menthol ripe/Grenache/strawberry rather strong Am.oak nose; soft candied very strong Grenache/strawberry some minty/menthol/pak flavor; long strong candied/Grenache/strawberry minty/menthol finish; a nice Grenache but a bit on the soft/goopy side. $27.00
   _______________

9. Alkoomi FranklandRiver WA Shiraz (5% Viognier; 13.5%; www.AlkoomiWines.com.Au) 2004: Dark color; beautiful/complex blackberry/cough syrup/spicy/peppery bit toasty/roasted/smokey/ Rhonish some spicy/cranberry nose; tart/balanced bit roasted/spicy cranberry/blackberry/ Syrah/ cough syrup flavor w/ light tannins; med.long quite spicy/peppery/smokey some Rhonish/ roasted/ peppery blackberry/cranberry finish w/ light tannins; an absolutely lovely/drinkabe some Rhonish very interesting Shiraz at a great price. $23.00
   _______________

10. Ulithorne FruxFrugis Shiraz MclarenVale (Vines planted 1971; 14.5%; EG) 2002: Very dark color; intense blackberry/blueberry/boysenberry some green olive/spicy some vanilla/Am.oak bit peppery lovely nose; rich/ripe intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/spicy some vanilla/oak fairly structured some tannic flavor; very long vanilla/Am.oak blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah some spicy/green olive finish w/ fair tannins; needs several yrs; one of the better McLarenVale Shirazs I've had in some time; fairly priced at $53.00
    _______________

11. SpannVnyds MoZin SonomaCnty (72% Zin, 23% Mourvedre, 5% PS; 14.3%; 1050 cs) 2003: Med. color; rather overripe/plummy/bit raisened/Zin/raspberry Am.oak slight volatile pleasant  nose; soft very ripe/plummy/Zin/boysenberry/raspberry some Am.oka bit hot/alcoholic flavor; med. very ripe/plummy/blackberry/Zin bit hot/alcoholic finish w/ light tannins; pleasant but rather overripe Zin red. $14.00
    _______________

12. SpannVnyds Syrah SonomaCnty (14.6%; 950 cs) 2002: Dark color; some toasty/oak ripe/black- berry/boysenberry/jammy slight bretty/earthy slight spicy/peppery attractive nose; soft/    ripe/lush blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah some spicy/DryCreekVlly slight bretty flavor; very strong ripe/ blackberry/ boysenberry/Syrah bit tannic finish; needs a yr or two; quite an interesting Syrah at a very attractive price. $16.00
    _______________

13. Cazar SonomaCoast Syrah (14.0%) HunterWineCllrs/Sebastapol 2002: Very dark color; big/rich/huge jammy/blackberry/Syrah peppery/spicy slight charred/toasty/smokey/oak beautiful/ peppery complex nose; tart/rich beautiful peppery/roasted/Rhonish very ExtremeSonomaCoast ripe/blackberry/green olive/peppery toasty/espresso/roasted very strong blackberry/Syrah flavor; very long/lingering Rhonish/roasted/espresso very strong peppery/blackberry/Syrah complex finish; needs several yrs; a terrific Syrah at an unbelieveable price. $17.00
    _______________

14. AlaineGraillot LaGuiraude Crozes-Hermitage 1998: Very dark color; rather roasted/smokey/ espresso/black pepper dusty/old vines beautiful NorthernRhone complex nose; tart very strong green olive/roasted/espresso/ smokey very complex flavor; very long/lingering espresso/black pepper/ roasted/espresso tart very complex finish w/ fair tannins; will probably go another 6-8-10 yrs; a beautiful example of a classic NorthernRhone Syrah. $26.00
    
    

1. HarlequinViognier: I've followed RobertGoodfriend's Viognier from the very start, the '03. That '03 I thought was one of the finest USofA Viogniers I've had, showing some of that Condriey minerality that you seldom find in this country. The '04 version was bigger/richer and more in a Calif style. This '05 version is much more akin to the '03, with much of that same minerality, yet some of the richness the '04 shows. Some of the best Viogniers, IMHO, being made in this country.
_______________
2. NovyViognier: I've followed Adam's Viogniers from the very start. The '04 version was well over 16% and rather on the hot/fumey side. This '05 version, at a degree less alcohol, is much more attractive, w/o the alcoholic burn. But still on the overripe side and some folks thought the residual sugar off-putting. I didn't particularly mind that at all, but it does have a somewhat overripe character.
_______________
3. AlkoomiShiraz: Like many others in the USofA, I've been tiring of Oz Shiraz a bit, with so many of them showing the same Barossa/McLarenVale flavor and aroma profile. But then I hit something like the Alkoomi and it jolts me back to reality that there are some great Oz Shirazs out there coming from cooler climate areas. This '04 Alkoomi is an absolute gem of a wine, with great cool-climate character, and a steal of a price.
_______________
4. SpannVnyds: Not a whole lot of info out there on Spann Vnyds, owned by Peter and Betsy Spann.  Betsy apparently worked for one of the distributors here in NewMexico, but not sure our paths ever crossed. The Syrah was very much liked by the group and we were able to get another two cases up in Boulder. It sparked my interest enough that I'd like to try other of their wines.
_______________
5. Cazar: Holy cow...another winery I can't find anything about. Whoever they are, this was one terrific example of SonomaCoast Syrah. And at a fantastic price as well. Got orders for several cases but not able to track any more down, alas. I think they may be associated with Chasseur Wines in Sebastapol (the labels certainly look the same) but have not been able to verify that. A mystery, how the heck can I follow them from the very start if I can't figure out who they are??

TomHill