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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.

Wines of Forlorn Hope - August 10, 2011

We tried last week (8/10/11) the wines of Forlorn Hope:

  1. ForlornHope LaGitana Torrontes SilvaspoonsVnyd/AltaMesa/Lodi (87 cs; 13.3%;
    www.ForlornHopeWines.com) MatthewRorickWines/SuisunVlly 2010    : Light gold color; lovely stoney/mineral/metallic/steely/flinty very fragrant/perfumed pear/mango/spicy very aromatic nose; soft rather steely/metallic/mineral strong floral/pear/mango/pineapple quite perfumed rather lush flavor; very long metallic/steely/mineral lush/pear/mango/pineapple/floral aromatic finish; powerful aromatics w/ a nice underlying minerality; easily the best Torrontes I've had. $20.00
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  2. Pircas Negres Torrontes (Organically Grown Grapes; 12.5%) FamatinaVlly/LaRioja/Argentina 2010: Pale yellow color; light apple/pear slight earthy/coarse simple nose; rather tangy/grapefruity/tart bit thin light pineapple/pear/peach slight stoney flavor; med.short rather thin/lean light peach/pineapple some tangy/grapefruity finish; a rather pretty nose but a bit thin/lean on the palate. $12.50 (SFW&S)
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  3. LoTengo Torrontes (13%) 2007: Med.gold color; some rotted apple/oxidized/apple cider no fruit no Torrontes nose; tart very ripe/overripe rather apple cider/oxidized no fruit flavor; very long wet dog fur rather oxidized/apple cider slight minty finish; unpleasant and over the hill; closed w/ a NeoCork and paid the price. $10.00 (KK)
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  4. Bodegas Callia Alta Torrontes (13.5%; www.BodegaCallia.com) Valle de Tulum/SanJuan 2009: Med.yellow color; some petrol/Mosel valve oil somewhat fragrant/peach/pear/Torr quite interesting/unusual nose; tart rather thin/watery very light petrol very light peach/pear flavor; rather short thin/watery very light peach/pear finish; quite an interesting nose, but pretty vapid on the palate. $10.00 (KK)
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  5. PacualToso Torrontes (EB; 13.5%) Mendoza 2010: Pale gold color; slight cabbagey light fragrant/peach/pear slight stony/minerally light/delicate nose; fairly tart light/delicate peach/pear/flowery slight stony/tangy flavor; med. long tart light/peach/pear/flowery finish; quite a pretty light/delicate wine. $13.00 (SFW&S)
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  6. ForlornHope QueSaudada Verdelho DeWittVnyd/AmadorCnty (14.3%; 127 cs) 2009: Med.light yellow slightly cloudy color; quite spicy/dried coconut/pineapple slight dusty some waxy/figgy/Semillon-like lovely very interesting nose; soft rather spicy/nutmeg slight leesy lovely tropical fruit/figgy/waxy light coconutty rich/lush flavor; very long/complex figgy/waxy/Semillon-like/tropical fruit slight leesy finish; a beautiful/interesting wine a bit like the Kalin Semillon w/o the oak. $24.00
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  7. ForlornHope Ost-Iutrigen StLaurent RicciVnyd/Carneros (13.3%; 17 cs) 2009: Dark color; some classic/StLaurent/earthy/dusty very fragrant/spicy/peppery quite perfumed slight ozone/pungent complex nose much like the Sattler but amped up; tart light earthy/dusty quite spicy/peppery/DrPepper/ black cherry light pungent/graphite flavor w/ modest tannins; very long tart earthy/dusty strong black cherry/DrPepper/very spicy finish w/ light tannins; classic earthy/dusty StLaurent character but way more spicy/fruit than any I've had. Great price at $22.00
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  8. Sattler St.Laurent Burgenland (Q trocken; 13.0%) Tadten/Austria 2008: Dark color; rather earthy/dusty some spicy/peppery rather grapey/fruity/musky bit Burgundy-like very interesting nose; soft fairly earthy/dusty light spicy/peppery bit coarse/rustic slight tannic flavor; med.long bit hard/ tannic/bitey rather earthy/dusty slight peppery/spicy rather rustic/coarse finish; quite an interesting nose but rather coarse/rustic on the palate; much like a Blaufrankish or Zweigelt. $19.50 (KK)
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  9. Glatzer St.Laurent Carnuntum (Q trocken; 13.0%; www.WeingutGlatzer.At) 2007: Med.color; strong toasty/smokey/oak some spicy/fruity/earthy rather rustic/coarse bit interesting nose; soft bit tannic/hard rather earthy/dusty coarse some toasty/smokey/oak flavor; med.short toasty/oak rather earthy/dusty rustic/coarse/rough bit tannic/hard finish; lots of earthy/coarse character and not a lot of fruit; interesting rustic red. $20.00 (KK)
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  10. ForlornHope GasconyCadets PetiteVerdot KingVnyd/SuisunVlly (14.5%; 127 cs) 2006: Dark color; some toasty/oak very intense black cherry/black cherry cola/spicy/licorice/pungent strong RCCola/ DrPepper beautiful Cab-like nose; tart rather tannic intense licorice/pungent/black cherry/DrPepper/ RCCola some toasty/oak flavor; very long pungent/licorice/black cherry/RCCola some toasty/oak rather tannic but balanced finish; needs 3-8 yrs; I don't much care for Cab-based wines but this one is terrific. At a great price. $30.00
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  11. ForlornHope MilAmores DeWittVnyd/AmadorCnty RW (40% TourigaNacional/40% TintaRoriz=
    Tempranillo/15% TintaCão/5% TintaAmarella; 14.1%; 325 cs) 2006    : Dark color; beautiful smokey/pungent intense licorice/DrPepper/boysenberry/black cherry/cola/mocha big fruit very spicy/licorice some toasty/oak huge nose; soft very rich/lush intense boysenberry/blackberry/spicy/ DrPepper some toasty/oak rather tannic/extracted bit young Porto-like w/o the alcohol huge/complex flavor; very long intense/licorice/boysenberry/blackberry/briary/DrPepper some toasty/oak rather tannic complex finish; a huge wine but balanced and not over-extracted; very much like the Ridge Eschen Zin '77 but more rugged; stunning wine to lay down; at a great price. $25.00
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  12. Forlorn Hope LesDeuxMatieux PetiteSirah Mr.T'sVnyd/SuisunVlly (TenbrinkVnyd; 14.7%; 97 cs) 2006: Very dark/black color; strong toasty/oak/smokey intense peppery/spicy/PS/blackberry/ boysenberry slight earthy/dusty beautiful nose; slightly tart hard/tannic/structured intense peppery/ PS/blackberry/black cherry/cola some toasty/oak slight herbal/green olive complex flavor; very long/lingering intense/peppery/blackberry/boysenberry rather tannic/structured spicy/peppery/green olive some toasty/oak finish; simply stunning; a huge wine but one w/ balance & structure & plenty of fruit; one of the best young PS's I've had in many a year; reminds me a lot of the FreemarkAbbey
    YorkCreek PS '71 at this point in time; needs at least 5 yrs and may go out 20. Terrific price. $30.00
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  13. RobertBialeVnyds PetiteSirah RoyalPunishers NapaVlly (15.7%) 2008: Black color; some toasty/pencilly/oak rather lush/ripe/fruity/boysenberry/framboise bit hot/alcoholic nose; soft/lush/ripe huge fruit/boysenberry/blackberry/PS some toasty/pencilly/oak bit tannic slight hot/alcoholic flavor; soft/lush/ripe bit hot/alcoholic huge/lush/boysenberry/PS slight tannic finish; a huge fruit/gooshey PS; sorta like doing a face plant onto a nude Oprah's upper-carriage; not the spice or the interest of the ForlornHope. Fairly priced at $45.00 (SFW&S)

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And the usual stuff from the BloodyPulpit:

1. ForlornHope: This is a small operation run in Fairfield at TenbrinkWnry by MatthewRorick. When I was helping organize the FriuliFest of last month, I saw his name on the list of attendees as someone making wine from GeorgeVare's Ribolla. Took a look at his WebSite. Wow....he's got some really interesting stuff. Matthew specializes (best I can tell) in making wines from unknown/neglected grapes. So ordered up a tableau for my group to try. Usually, when I serve a tableau of wines like this from some unknown wnry, they're pretty skeptical and go along to humor mme. In many cases, the wnry is unknown for a reason...the wines are either not very good or not interesting. However, after they started tasting Matthew's wines, they started to wake up and take notice. But the end of the evening, they were clamoring to order some. Matthew's production is pretty small and this is the first time I've ever felt reluctant to post my TN's. The only saving grace is that I know the size of the flock of TomHill sheep is pretty tiny, so they'll have no impact.

I'll be making a visit w/ Matthew on Monday and, hopefully, have a better feeling of what he's doing. And, of course, acquire my braggin' rights that "I followed him from the very start"!!
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2. StLaurent: A variety most planted in the CzechRepublic, but I've only seen it from Austria. Of the the 10-12 examples I've tried, they all have not a lot of fruit and a strong earthy/dusty character that the British used to refer to as "gout de terroir". The ForlornHope version is the first varietal StLaurent released in the US. It comes from a friend of Matthew's who has a tiny/90-vine vnyd down in the Carneros. There is apparently a bit planted up in the AndersonVlly, but it is blended away into a PinotNoir. Matthew's StLaurent was a spectacular wine showing more fruit than any I've had from Austria. It reminded me a bit of AdamLee's PinotMeunier but w/o
the oak. Stunning wine...alas sold out.
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3. SuisunVlly: I've had maybe 15-20 wines from SolanoCnty/GreenVlly/SuisunVlly. I've not been at all impressed with any of them. They often seem to have a soft/soupy character I associate w/ Clarksburg and YoloCnty wines. I must say that these two of Matthew's wines has totally changed my outlook on the area and great wines can be produced in SolanoCnty. After I visit Matthew Monday, I hope to have a much better feel for the area. It's an area I've just sorta ignored on my drive over to Sac.
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4. DwWittVnyd: This was a new vnyd for me. Located up in AmadorCnty, but outside the ShenandoahVlly AVA and over by Fiddletown. These Portugese varieties also go to ScottHarvey. Mathew got a tip from RogerKing, grower of his PetiteVerdot, about the vnyd that had Tempranillo/TintaRoriz after he was unhappy w/ his Temp he was getting out of LakeCnty. So he went with it and likes the results. So do I.

TomHill

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