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.

 
1. Oregon and Central Coast Pinot
   Tasted a few Oregon & Central Coast Pinots last night:
   Fiddlehead Willamette Valley Oregon Pinot Noir '94: Lovely fragrant cherry PN light pencilly oaked nose; tart very spicy fragrant cherry pencilly oaked flavor; very long bright cherry very spicy pencilly oaked finish w/ light tanins; a lovely delicate elegant Burgundian style OR Pinot; would expect a bit more bang, though, for the $33.50 buck.
   Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Pinot Noir '72: Strong earthy pungent smokey slight stinky nose; soft strong pungent toasty oaked low fruit bit funky flavor; med.long pungent toasty oaked smokey finish w/ light tannins; a bit on the heavy & clumsy side but in absolutely remarkable condition and from not the best of cellaring conditions; and this was made back before Mondavi had a rep for PN; who says Calif Pinots don't age!
   Benton Lane Reserve Oregon Pinot Noir '94: Lush fragrant slight volatile strong black cherry some pencilly Fr. oaked nose; soft rich lush mouthfilling strong black cherry PN flavor med.long soft lush ripe black cherry fragrant finish w/ light tannins; very much in the lush soft Benton Lane style of Pinot; seems rather overpriced at $27.75.
   Bethel Heights Willamette Valley Pinot Noir SouthEast Block Reserve '94: Deep dusty bit earthy bit walnutty lush black cherry PN light oaked nose; hard dusty tannic light cherry/black cherry spicy bit oaked flavor; med.long rather hard tannic very spicy light cherry/black cherry finish; a lean & hard & rather closed down Pinot that needs 3-8 yrs of age badly to show well; should become a good one.
   Wild Horse Paso Robles Valdiguie '94: Also known as Napa Gamay; fragrant bright fruity/strawberry cherry light earthy nose; soft light fragrant Gamay cherry/strawberry very fruity flavor; med.short spicy very bright fruity strawberry finish w/ little tannins; a really nice drinking bright fruity Gamay better than most Beaujolais; great price @ $6.
   Wild Horse Cienega Valley Trosseau '92: The variety that is the iron fist (in the velvet glove) part of Jura reds; also known as Bastardo on Madeira & in the Duoro Vlly; Deep dusty earthy pungent smokey nose; hard tannic very dusty/walnutty earthy pungent smokey peppery light boysenberry very old vine flavor; long hard tannic very walnutty/dusty peppery earthy smokey finish; needs 3-10 yrs; very much in the style of Provence/Bandol/ Languedoc style of wine; great price @ $10.
   Wild Horse Central Coast Pinot Noir '93: Attractive smokey light charred oaked light fragrant cherry spicy PN nose; soft light cherry PN spicy light smokey/ charred oak flavor; med.long light smokey/charred oak bright forward cherry PN finish w/ light tannins; just a nice-drinking mainstream PN.
   Wild Horse Edna Valley Pinot Noir '93: Deep black cherry smokey pungent toasty Fr.oaked peppery lush nose; deep rich mouthfilling vanilla oaked ripe black cherry very spicy PN flavor; very long tart rich mouthfilling very spicy/black cherry PN vanilla oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; a beautiful big lush ripe PN; one of the best WildHorse Pinots I've had.
   Margerum Deux Tigre Edna Valley Paragon Vineyard Pinot Noir '93: Fragrant Burgundian smokey toasty pencilly oaked light cherry PN nose; tart very pencilly Fr. oaked toasty light cherry/earthy PN flavor; long spicy pencilly oaked toasty light cherry finish w/ light tannins; very nice Nurgundian PN; steal @ $10.
   Windward Vineyard Paso Robles Pinot Noir '93: Made by Kenny Volk @ Wild Horse; Very dark color; deep dusty earthy peppery licorice smokey toasty pungent basil violets floral ripe jammy black cherry complex nose; soft rich extracted ripe jammy black cherry/blackberry mouthfilling toast smokey oaked licorice very spicy flavor; very long rich toasty intense jammy black cherry/black berry floral very spicy oaked finish w/ some tannins; a big ripe jammy extracted Pinot; best PasoRobles Pinot I've ever had, which includes some awfully good HoffmanMtnRanch ones; fair priced at $25.
   Longoria Santa Maria Valley Bien Nacido Vineyard # 5 PN '94: Lovely lush very spicy black cherry very fragrant Burgundian/oaked pencilly nose; soft rich bit lean tannic very spicy black cherry pencilly oaked very Burgundian flavor; very long very spicy black cherry toasty Fr.oaked pencilly finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-4 yrs; a lovely very spicy/Burgundian Pinot; fairly priced at $22.50.
   Whitcraft Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Vineyard N Block '93: Intense peppery very dusty walnutty chile almost vegetal very spicy nose; off dry (?) very dusty/walnutty peppery earthy intense taosty oaked flavor; very long very dusty/walnutty herbal peppery/chile pepper toasty Fr.oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a very controversial wine which most people disliked; an unusual but very interesting wine.
   Bernardus Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Vineyard '93: Lovely fragrant pencilly oaked Burgundian spicy black cherry nose; tart rich pencilly Fr.oaked buttery oaked Burgundian light black cherry flavor; very long toasty Fr.oaked light cherry very buttery finish w/ light tannins; needs several yrs; a very nicely done Burgundian Pinot. Fairly priced at $23.80
   Ojai Vineyard Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Vineyard '94: Wow! Very dark color; very intense black cherry PN vanilla oaked almost Syrah-like lush dusty peppery nose; soft rich lush mouthfilling vanilla oaked loads of black cherry fruit smokey spicy sausage extracted flavor; rich mouthfilling intense black cherry fruit toasty vanilla oaked w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a big ripe extracted very black cherry wine more like Syrah than Pinot; essence of Pinot Noir; very unusual & atypical but everyone loved it. Fairly priced at $25.
   
   The Santa Barbara Pinots continue to get better and better. They oftentimes display some idiosyncratic winemaking styles, but they're always interesting. They seem to be consistently better than the Carneros and Russian River Pinots. The Bien Nacido Vnyd is shaping up to be one of the greatest vnyds in California; not just Pinot, but Syrah, Riesling, Chard, and other varieties. And it's a BIG vnyd, but incredibly maintained. Makes the best Pinots in SB Cnty, including the famed Sanford&Benedict Vnyd; IMHO.
   The Ojai Pinot was pretty incredible wine. In the last few yrs, there has been a big jump in quality, across the board, in Adam & Helen Tolmach's wines. A very, very underegarded producer making excellent wines at very fair prices. A really neat couple.
   The Wild Horse wines continue to show very well. The Pinot, Cab, Chard, and Merlot are some of my favorite restaurant-list wines; always reasonably priced. Considering the production level of Wild Horse, their abality to keep their quality level so high is amazing. Kenny Volk is one of the most interesting winemakers in Calif, in terms of trying new things and grapes. He always has small lots of odds & ends for sale at the winery, some of which can be very exciting wines, some just interesting experiments.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
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