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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.

More New Calif Wines - April 10, 2013

We tasted more New Calif Wines April 10, 2013:

  1. Graft Viognier WeddingHill/SaraleeVnyd/RRV (14.3%; www.GraftWines.com) SantaRosa 2010: Med.gold color; quite attractive peach/pear/Viog rather perfumed nose; rather tart/lithe spicy/pear /peach/Viog slight earthy/nutmeg very attractive flavor; long fairly tart spicy/pear/peach/Viog finish; definitely not a DollyParton Viog; rather restrained & elegant and quite beautiful expression of Viog. $25.20 (WoP)
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  2. TablasCreek Cotes de Tablas Blanc PasoRobles (EG/B; 27% Viog/26% grenacheBlanc/25% Marsanne/ 22% Roussanne; 13.0%) 2011: Med.gold color; strong pungent/smokey/tobaccoy/ash tray some floral/ aromatic/GB quite Rhonish complex nose; fairly tart pungent/smokey/bacony/Rhonish some floral/honeysuckle/ GB/spicy/nutmeg balanced complex flavor; very long smokey/pungent/bacony/ Rhonish light floral/ honeysuckle complex finish; lots of smokey/Rhonish character; much different from previous CdTBlanc and maybe the best one yet. $21.60 (VIN)
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  3. Graft Grenache DarkHorseVnyd/MendoCnty (3% Syrah; 14.3%) 2010: Rather light color; very fragrant/perfumed/ strawberries/Grenache very bright/spicy light pencilly/oak nose; light bit tannic/bitey very strong bright/ perfumed/strawberries/Grenache slight buttery/diacetyl very fragrant beautiful flavor; very long/ lingering buttery intense fragrant/floral/strawberries/Grenache very spicy/bright slight tannic/bitey finish; amazing aromatic wine; like being clutched into the bosom of a nude JuliaChild and rolling down the hillside of a field of alpine strawberries. $27.00 (WoP)
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  4. TablasCreek Grenache PasoRobles (EG/B; 14.8%) 2010: Med.color; deeper/earthy some strawberry/Grenache rather CdR-like/garrigue attractive nose; fairly tart bit hard/tannic earthy/Rhonish some deep/strawberry/Grenache flavor; med.long earthy/dusty bit tannic/hard some strawberry/Grenache finish; not the perfume/fragrance of previous ones and more of a Rhone character; not the usual tooty-fruity Grenache character and more depth than most Calif Grenache; needs several yrs of age. $32.00 (VIN)
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  5. TablasCreek Patelin de Tablas PasoRobles (52% Syrah/29% Grenache/18% Mourv/1% Counoise; 13.7%) 2011: Med. color; bit reduced/pungent/used fireworks some spicy/blackberry/Syrah slight earthy/pungent nose; somewhat soft bit pungent/earthy/Rhonish some spicy/blackberry/Syrah fairly smooth/polished quite tasty flavor w/ light tannins; soft slight sour some spicy/blackberry/Syrah bit buttery light earthy finish w/ light tannins; quite a nice-drinking slightly Rhonish red much better than most CdR at that price; great wine for the price. $16.00 (VIN)
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  6. TablasCreek Syrah PasoRobles (EG/B; 14.5%) 2010: Med.dark color; strong spicy/aromatic/Syrah/blackberry/ boysenberry somewhat subtle/understated slight earthy/dusty nose; bit tart some blackberry/Syrah/spicy/ boysenberry slight peppery/spicy flavor w/ modest/smooth tannins; med.long understated spicy/blackberry/ Syrah/boysenberry light spicy/peppery/earthy finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a rather understated interesting very non-Paso Syrah. $32.00 (VIN)
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  7. Ridge Zin EastBench/DryCreekVlly/SonomaCnty (100% Zin; 14.6%; Bttld: Feb 2013; 12 yr old
    LyttonWest vnyd; Drk: 12/12-12/17-12/18: JO) 2011    : Med.color; bit buttery/vanilla/oak strong spicy/Zinberry/ blackberry/Zin slight earthy rather pretty nose; rather buttery/vanilla/oak attractive spicy/blackberry/ raspberry/Zin flavor w/ light tannins; med.long buttery/vanilla/oak raspberry/blackberry/Zinberry/Zin finish w/ light tannins; a pretty Zin but just that. $25.20 (Z-List)
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  8. Ridge Zin BenitoDusiRanch/PasoRobles (100% Zin; 14.5%; Bttld: Dec 2012; 90 yr old vines;
    submerged cap frmtation; 1.4% water addition; Drk: 10/12-10/16-10/18: EB) 2011    : Med.dark color; slight funky/ pungent strong blackberry/Zin/raspberry some toasty/pencilly/oak quite spicy some complex nose w/o the usual PasoRobles/jammy/ripe character; bit tart spicy/blackberry/Zin/boysenberry light pencilly/toasty/oak bit alcoholic flavor w/ modest tannins; long quite spicy/blackberry/Zin some dusty/old vine light toasty/pencilly/ oak finish w/ some tannins; a rather different Ridge Paso that seems less ripe/overripe, more structured, and less of the PasoRobles jammy character than previous ones. $27.00 (Z-List)
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  9. Ridge Geyserville SonomaCnty (78% Zin/16% Carignane/4% PS/1% AlicanteBouschet/1% Mataro; 14.0%; Bttld: Jan 2013; Drk: 12/12-12/22-12/24: EB) 2011: Med.color; strong blackberry/Zin/very spicy rather dusty/ old vines bit earthy light pencilly/oak rather perfumed some complex nose; bit tart quite earthy/dusty/old vines very spicy/blackberry/Zin light toasty/pencilly/oak somewhat low-key/understated some complex flavor; very long balanced/structured very spicy/blackberry/Zin light toasty/pencilly/oak some dusty/OV finish w/ modest tannins; lots of spicy and dusty/OV character but seems rather restrained/understated for a young Geyserville; needs more age to really start to sing; a solid Geyserville but not a wowser. $34.20 (Z-List)
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  10. TablasCreek Esprit de Beaucastel Panopile PasoRobles (60% Mourv/30% grenache/10% Syrah; 14.5%) 2010: Dark color; very strong plummy/Mourv/gammey some toasty/oak/smokey slight earthy/Rhonish some complex nose; slightly tart strong plummy/Mourv/blackberry/boysenberry light toasty/smokey/oak slight earthy/gamey/Rhonish flavor w/ modest tannins; very long/lingering very strong Mourv/plummy/blackberry/boysenberry light toasty/smokey/oak slight earthy/Rhonish/garrigue finish w/ modest tannins; not a big Paso Rhone but very well balanced and should age into something really good. $76.00 (VIN)
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  11. KerlooCllrs Syrah LesCollines WallaWallaVlly/Block 30 (13.8%; 92 cs; U/U; www.KerlooCellars.com) 2010: Dark color; very strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/plummy/ perfumed some toasty/charred/oak quite spicy bit peppery/cold-climate some black cherry nose; slightly tart very strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/chocolaty/ bing cherry/plummy rather rich/mouth-filling light toasty/charred/oak slight peppery flavor w/ some tannins; very long rich/ripe/blackberry/ Syrah/boysenberry/plummy/chocolaty slight earthy/peppery light toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; quite a good 4-square WashState Syrah. $35.00
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  12. Carlisle Syrah Rosella'sVnyd/SantaLuciaHighlands (15.3%) 2003: Very dark/black color; very strong chocolaty/ blackberry/Syrah some herbal/SLH some toasted coconut/charred/smokey/oak quite big/perfumed nose; soft bit hard/tannic intense herbal/SLH/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/very spicy some toasty/charred/toasted coconut flavor; very long rather intense blackberry/Syrah/chocolaty/ripe /herbal some toasty/charred/oak finish w/ ample tannins; pretty classic Carlisle Syrah and developing at a glacial pace.


And a wee BloodyPulpit:

1. Graft: A partnership of Ryan Prichard, Sheri Zarkoob and Diego Roig; who met as interns at Williams-Selyem. Never heard of the before, but BrianGoehry of Wines on Piedmont/Oakland (one of my favorite wine shops in the EastBay area) urged me to try them. Not big blockbuster wines that'll get big scores out of Monktown...but very well-made, balanced, and a delight to drink.
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2. TablasCreek: I have, of course, followed TablasCreek from the very start...back afore they were making wine and were primarily a nursery operation. They typically are much different from most Paso Rhone wines. Thewy don't show the power & intensity & alcohol of many of them. They typically show more restraint and balance and are on the understated style. Often they don't show particularly well upon release...they really need some age to show their stuff. The Patelin (Rouge & Blanc), made from mostly purchased grapes, are one of the real bargins in Calif wines, selling in the upper teen$.
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3. Kerloo: A new wnry (to me) of Ryan & Renee Crane ("kerloo" is supposedly the cry of a crane). It struck me as a pretty classical WashState w/ lots of ripe fruit but the structure to age well. I was fairly impressed by this newcomer.

TomHill

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