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. California Syrahs and Rhones
   Tasted a few California Syrahs/Rhones this week:
   River Run Monterey Syrah Ventana Vineyard '93 (13.2% alc): Strong chocolaty very black peppery some oaked/herbal nose; bit sour/edgy very black pepper light herbal rather oaked flavor; med.long sour bit herbal very black peppery finish w/ light tannins; pretty good nose but a bit strange on the palate; interesting wine.
   River Run Monterey Syrah Ventana Vineyard '94 (13.2%): Very much like the '93 w/ even stronger black pepper character but less of the sourness on the palate; slightly less herbal/chocolaty/Monterey in character. Interesting wine.
   Eberle Paso Robles Syrah Fralich Vineyard '93 (13.3%): Deep dusty smokey pungent bit earthy some blackberry fruit slight horsecollar nose; tart pungent smokey rather oaked cloves spicy light blackberry flavor; long tart smokey pungent bit earthy/horsecollar cinammon & cloves oaky light blackberry finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; a big rich pungent wine w/ just enoughy funky character to give it an interesting Rhone character.
   Eberle Paso Robles Syrah Fralich Vineyard '94 (12.7%): Rather fragrant black- berry light oaked nose; tart tangy spicy blackberry strawberry bright light oaked flavor; tart very spicy fragrant strawberry fruit light spicy oaked finish w/ light tannins; a bright zippy Syrah more in the style of Gary's early Estrella River ones; seems to have had a ripeness problem w/ the Fralich grapes in '94 & backed off a bit on the oak.
   Deux Chapeaux Red Rhone Wine '93 (12%): A wine made in Calif from Alain Graillot juice/wine by Larry Stone and ?? (the other hat, from NYC, name escapes me), so a Crozes-Hermitage from Calif. Strong dusty/roasted/coffee Syrah nose; tart light bit lean rather pungent roasted earthy espresso flavor; med.long light roasted Syrah earthy finish w/ light tannins; a bit on the lean & light side but a lovely roasted/Syrah nose. I was about the only one who liked this wine...... but then most great prophets are widely repudiated in their time :-)
   Crozes-Hermitage Les Pierrelles Belle Pere et Fils '92 (12.6%): Unattractive wet cardboard musty rotted fruit slight roasted nose; light buttery light Syrah fruity/roasted bit sour unclean flavor; med.short sour light roasted Syrah finish w/ little tannins; bit too unclean & musty.
   Les Cailloux Chatneuf du Pape '93 (13.5%): Fragrant Grenache strawberry fruity light earthy nose; soft light fragrant strawberry Grenache bit thin flavor; med.short light fragrant Grenache fruity finish w/ light tannins; lots of grenache fruit but little CdP earthiness. A good effort in a rather poor year.
   Charvin et Fils Chateauneuf du Pape '93 (13.5%): Deeper more pungent earthy light fruit nose; somewhat richer earthy dusty light fruit flavor; soft light some dusty earthy bit dilute finish w/ light tannins; a rather light & dilute wine but some nice low-key dusty CdP character.
   Domaine Cheze St.Joseph Cuvee Prestige de Caroline '91 (12.5%): Strange sharp bit metallic petrol earthy nose w/ lots of new Fr.oak; very sour some dusty/earthy metallic/petrol bit fecal flavor; med.long metallic/petrol unclean earthy pretty new oaked finish w/ some tannins; loaded up w/ new oak but not much else; pretty strange stuff.
   J.L. Chave St. Joseph '94 (12.5%): Very spicy fragrant light toasty oaked light roasted Syrah nose; tart rich earthy bittery very spicy cinammon light oaked flavor; med.long dusty very spicy oaked fragrant cinammon & cloves some fruity finish w/ light tannns; needs 2-4 yrs; rather lightweight but very fragrant & nicely done; competent winemaking shows here.
   Cote-Rotie Lafoy & Gasse '93 (12%): Very strong roasted C-R Syrah coffee espresso smokey pungent nose; tart thin lean metallic hard light roasted Syrah flavor; short tart lean metallic edgy light roasted finish; a lovely clasic C-R nose but a thin mean little wine.
   Cote-Rotie Lafoy & Gasse '92 (12%): Deeper roasted Syrah pungent smokey oaked nose; softer smokey pungent roasted Syrah some tart/grapefruity flavor; med.long smokey pungent roasted Syrah rather tannic finish; bit more roasted Syrah & softer but still a hard & lean wine.
   Turley Napa Vlly Petite Syrah Aida Vnyd '94 (14.1%): Intense earthy toasty Fr.oaked some peppery nose; intense very tannic tart low fruit strong toasty Fr.oaked flavor; long licorice peppery light fruit very tannic toasty oaked finish; not a lot of fruit & loaded w/ tannins & Fr.oak but very good acidity and should age a long time.
   Turley Napa Vlly Petite Syrah Hayne Vnyd '94 (14.9%): Intense Fr.oaked toasty pungent black peppery dusty bit floral nose; rich very spicy pencilly/ toasty Fr.oak ripe blackberry pungent flavor; very long very tannic black- berry fruity strong pencilly/toasty Fr.oaked finish; very tannic & strong oak but lots of fruit for PS; will be a killer down the road.
   Elyse Napa Vlly Petite Syrah Barrel Select '94 (12.9%): A first & tiny production of this from Ray Coursen. Fragrant spicy peppery vanilla oaked fairly lush nose; soft very spicy peppery light menthol oaked fairly lush fruity flavor; very long minty/menthol oaked very spicy peppery PS finish w/ some tannins, needs 2-5 yrs; a very nicely made PS w/ a goodly amount of fruit.
   
   Musings.
   And so this concludes my tasting of Turley wines for this year!! When some winery or winemaker is annoited as the latest "hot" new winemaker or the "world's greatest winemaker" (I think RP count is almost up to a dozen of these by now!); I tend to run the other direction. There is far too much lesser known good drinking stuff out there to get sucked up in all this frenzy of the marketplace and all the hype. Thus I was fully prepared to not get excited by the Turley '94 releases. ..... but couldn't do it; their wines are much too good. Are they worth all the hype (hype, I might mention, that is NOT coming from the Turleys; but from the wine press)? I'd have to say yes. The reports of "stuck fermentations" and problems with the '95 vintage at Turley are, from sources I consider very good, FALSE. So, for all those who couldn't find any of the Turley '94's...... not too worry. It doesn't make you a vinous failure. A few yrs down the road, when all the wine press is focusing on their new darlings, the current "hot" winemaker who is the present fad, and all the consumers who slavishly follow their prattlings and head off in this new direction in a mad attempt to get these "hot,new" wine; the Turleys will still be making wines, my guess just as good as ever, and you WILL be able to buy these delicious wines. Stepping down from my soapbox now.
   The River Run Syrahs were quite interesting wines. Their wines always seem to be pretty delicious, sometimes a bit funky, but wines with some character. A very fairly priced. They're worth checking out when you see them. It is surprising how good a wine, from a variety widely regarded as a warm climate grape, can come from Monterey. But then it's always been known that Doug Meador really knows how to farm his grapes down there. These two River Runs really developed an interesting Rhone-like funkiness in the glass as they evolved. Not great Cote-Rotie, but good mid-range Rhone.
   The Turley, the Elyse, the Fife, several others are labeling their Petite sIrah as Petite sYrah; a trend that I feel causes some confusion in the marketplace with Calif (true French) sYrah. A world of difference in the grapes and the wines. Petite Sirah only, on rare occasions, seems to achieve greatness. That happens much more often with Syrah in Calif.
   
   
   
   
   
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