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.

 

Rhone Wines
Tasted a few Rhone wines:
Dry Creek Vineyard Dry Creek Vlly Viognier Vintner's Selection (13.5%; 360 cs) '97: Med. gold color; fregrant peachy/Viognier light lemony/toasty/oaked spicy nose; soft fat lush light peachy/Viognier very glycerined flavor; med.short fat lush soft light peachy/Viognier finish; a rather big soft fat lush Viognier; nicely done first effort for DCV.
Chateau du Trignon Cotes du Rhone Viognier (14%) '97: Med.gold color; lovely fragrant peachy/pear/spicy/cloves/perfumy some Condrieu/minerally nose; rich lush bit metallic/minerally light peach/pear/Viognier bit thin flavor; short light peachy/pear/Viognier light minerally/metallic rather lean finish; very nice rather Condrieu-like/minerally nose but doesn't deliver on the palate; a strange rich/lush texture yet rather thin & lean. Not worth the $21.50.
Joseph Phelps Vin du Mistral Napa Valley Pastiche (13.5%; Chard/Marsanne/Viognier) '96: Light gold color; very attractive appley/spicy some earthy/stoney light oaked nose; soft spicy appley/stoney/Marsanne light cinammon/cloves/oaked earthy flavor; long appley/stoney/spicy/cinammon light oaked finish; a really attractive very nicely made Marsanne at a great price.
Joseph Phelps Vin du Mistral Calif Pastiche (13.7%; 41% Mourvedre, 40% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 3% AlicanteBouchet) '96: Med.light color; attractive plummy/strawberry some oaked slight bretty/Rhonish nose; tart plummy/strawberry bit earthy/Rhonish/ bretty light oaked/toasty flavor; med. strawberry bit plummy/Mourvedre some earthy/ Rhonish/bretty finish w/ light tannins; a bit muddled but a nicely done Calif Rhone-style rouge at a good price.
Cline Contra Costa Cnty Mourvedre Reserve (14.5%) '91: Dark color; rather oaked earthy/dusty/plummy/CCMourvedre some spicy nose; tart lean hard some dusty/earthy/ mushroomy oaked/metallic rather old-wine flavor; med.long hard lean tart bit metallic oaked/plummy/earthy finish w/ some tannins; this has aged into a pretty strange wine w/ an interesting nose but lots of tired/old-wine lean/hard character on the palate.
Cline Mourvedre Contra Costa County Ancient Vines (14%) '95: Med.color; very strong minty/menthol/oaked some plummy/earthy/mushroomy/CCMourvedre nose; soft plummy/ earthy/Mourvedre rather strong minty/menthol/eucalyptus/oaked flavor; med.long soft/plummy strong minth/menthol finish w/ light tannins; fairly classic soft CC Mourvedre.
Cline Contra Costa County Mourvedre Small Berry Vnyd (14%) '96: Med.dark color; very strong minty/menthol/eucalyptus strong/plummy/blackberry earthy/mushroomy nose; soft rich plummy/Mourvedre/earthy/dusty old vines/mushroomy strong minty/menthol/ eucalyptus flavor; long soft very dusty/old vines strong plummy/Mourvedre very strong minty/eucalyptus/sage finish w/ some tannins; lots of CCMourvedre/plummy fruit & lots of dusty/old vine character w/ lots of minty/eucalyptus/sage character that some found overwhelming but I sorta liked.
Andrew Murray Santa Barbara County Mourvedre (13.5%) '97: Very dark color; slight fumey/volatile/EA nose that blows off to a deep blackberry/blueberry/plummy some toasty/Fr.oaked/fragrant nose; hard tannic dusty/plummy/blueberry extracted bit hot some chalky hard flavor; very long hard/tannic blueberry/blackberry/plummy toasty/Fr.oaked dusty finish w/ ample tannins; a big hard extracted wine that needs much age.
Andrew Murray Santa Barbara County Grenache (13.5%) '97: Black color; slight fumey/EA/ volatile nose that blows of to a very intense blackberry/licorice/strawberry loads and loads of lush Grenache fruit slight dusty/stemmy nose; huge rich blackberry/ strawberry/licorice/Grenache some toasty/Fr,oaked hard/tannic flavor; very long intense licorice/strawberry/blackberry light toasty/Fr.oaked huge extracted hard/tannic finish; needs some 4-8 yrs; probably will be a great one when the tannins subside a bit; much like the AlbanGrenache on steroids; killer stuff.
Chateau Rayas Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve (14%) '96: Med.light color; attractive dusty/roasted/CdP complex little fruit/no Grenache elegant/fragrant nose; lean/ hard/tannic/thin dusty/roasted/CdP toasty/complex no fruit flavor; very long elegant/complex dusty/roasted/smokey/smoked hot dogs lean/thin/tannic finish; needs age but where's the fruit?; very nice fragrant nose but a thin mean little wine on the palate; grossly overpriced at $83.
A.Clape Cotes du Rhone (12.5%) '97: Dark color; beautiful complex espresso/ coffee/roasted/smokey/pungent/smoked hot dogs nose; hard tart lean rather thin/ tannic rather roasted/smokey/espresso/NorthernRhone dusty flavor; long hard tannic roasted/smokey/pungent/dusty rather lean/hard/thin finish; a great Northern Rhone nose but a bit lean/hard on the palate; bit pricey at $22.00
Geyser Peak Alexander Vally Shiraz Reserve (12.9%) '92: Dark color; very strong Am. oaked lush some blackberry/toasted coconut nose; soft fat very strong Am.oaked toasted coconut/vanilla some dusty/blackberry/gamey/Syrah flavor; long very intense Am.oaked/vanilla/toasted coconutty light blackberry/gamey/Syrah finish w/ light tannins; classic AlexanderVlly soft/fat character; definitely an Aussie-style Shiraz but not nearly the same fruit intensity those wines have.
Sierra Vista El Dorado Syrah (12.5%) '89: Med. color; rather herbal/dusty/earthy smokey/complex mushroomy/EDCntyRed bit old Rhone nose; tart bit lean/thin dusty/ earthy/complex low fruit herbal flavor; med.long light bit herbal/dusty/complex spicy/chile earthy/mushroomy finish w/ some tannins; little Syrah character and more ElDorado/dusty/red wine character; an interesting wine that's just hanging on; drink up.
Sierra Vista El Dorado Syrah (13.0%) '96: Med.color; dusty/earthy/cinammon/oaked light blackberry/Syrah mushroomy/spicy nose; tart bit lean light blackberry/blue berry/Syrah rather dusty/earthy/mushroomy/EDRed flavor; med.long dusty/earthy/ mushroomy spicy/oaked/cinammon light blackberry/Syrah finish w/ some tannins; lots of ElDorado dusty/earthy character.
Sierra Vista El Dorado Syrah Herbert Vnyd (13.0%; Serine pointu clone) '97: Very dark color; very intense blackberry/blueberry/Syrah dusty/smokey/earthy slight bretty/ Rhonish slight roasted/toasty nose; tart rich intense blackberry/blueberry/Syrah dusty/earthy/leathery big ripe light toasty/roasted flavor; very long intense blackberry/gamey/Syrah dusty/mushroomy rather Rhonish finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; best SV Syrah yet.
Sierra Vista El Dorado Syrah (19 yr old Red Rock Ridge vnyd; Chapoutier Cote-Rotie clone; 13.0%) '96: Dark color; neautiful roasted/smokey/dusty very gamey/Syrah/ blackberry spicy/oaked complex nose; tart rich gamey/Syrah/blueberry/blackberry earthy/dusty/pungent/smokey/oaked flavor; very long rich gamey/Syrah/blueberry spicy/smokey/mushroomy/oaked earthy/dusty finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-6 yrs; THIS is the best SV Syrah yet; terrific wine.
Calera Mills Vnyd San Benito County Young Vines Pinot Noir '87: Med. brickish color; rather herbal/roasted/toasty/smokey/gamey/oaked/chile nose; tart rather herbal/ horsey/vegetal/bretty smokey/toasty/pungent lean dried out flavor; long pencilly/ toasty/oaked/horsey herbal/chile/gamey finish w/ light tannins; rather dried out and tired but interesting & complex; Larry's mystery wine.
Doamine de Vallouit Cote-Rotie Les Roziers '88: Dark color; beautiful roasted/ smokey/espresso/pungent/gamey complex/fragrant classic C-R nose; tart rich hard tannic intense roasted/espresso/pungent/bacon fat/smokey flavor; very long hard/ tannic classic C-R/bacon fat/roasted/espresso finish; still needs 5 yrs or more; wonderful classic C-R. Howard's mystery wine.

And the customary rantings from the bloody pulpit:
Wine rep Jill Cashman had tasted our group a month ago on the two Phelps Pastiches and I liked them a lot then. Previous Phelps Pastiche has been a pleasant red but just that. These were a real notch up in quality. The Blanc (their first Pastiche Blanc I believe) is a particularly nice white wine that has a strong Marsanne varietal character but a richness instead of the usual lean/hard character you get from Marsanne. And at a great price. Highly recommended. The Rouge is not quite as exciting but still a very nice quaff w/ good Rhone style (though still distinctly Calif) at a good price. Two really superb wines for restaurants by-the- glass program. The Blanc: 45% Chard, 26% Marsanne, 21% Roussanne, 6% Viognier, and 2% Muscat.
Cline Cellars: I don't recall the past Cline Mourvedres having so much minty/ eucalyptus/sage character as these. Some tasters thought it excessive but I felt there was plenty of Mourvedre/plummy fruit to carry it. The SmallBerryVnyd '96 is probably the best Mourvedre they've made yet. I've been rather impressed w/ the increase in quality of the Cline wines over the last yr or two. They're not quite yet in the top tier of Calif/Rhone producers but they make awfully good, interesting Rhone varietals at a reasonable price (now the Jacuzzi Zin... that's another matter!). As more of their Sonoma plantings of Rhone varietals come on line, Cline is a wnry to keep your eye on.
Whither Mourvedre: I think the jury is still out on whether Calif will make great Mourvedre or not. There's precious little 100% varietal Mourvedre from France (don't know that I can think of even one) so it's hard for me to get a good feel for what the grape is capable of (that's sorta assuming that if GREAT Mourvedre is produced, it will be French.... hardly a sensible assumption!). Most of the early Mourvedres produced were from Cline/ContraCosta grapes which has a rather distinctive plummy/dusty character to them and probably distorts somewhat people's impression of what Mourvedre can do. Most Calif/Rhone producers use it in their Rhone blends. And of, course, there's the Ridge Mataro (Mourvedre) that's quite good, but speaks more of Ridge than of Mourvedre. As more and more Mourvedre plantings come on line in cool areas, like SantaBarbara, it's going to be exciting to see just how far the Calif winemakers can push the variety to greatness At the Raisin'Rhones '99, there is supposed to be a panel on Mourvedre that will hopefully shed some light on this question.
Calif Grenache: I've sung before the praises of Calif Grenache & the fact it is destined for greatness in Calif. The Alban Grenache is world-class Grenache. This version from Andrew Murray is right up there close behind; a bit more harder & tannic & rough than the Alban, but it has all the fruit intensity that John's has. Keep you eye on Grenache from Calif!
Ch. Rayas: I thought it was pretty gutsy to pair Andrew's Grenache against the '96 Chateau Rayas (this WAS, of course, the special RESERVE wine of Rayas!!). The Andrew Murray blew it away. Even the FrancoPhiles in the group were embarassed by the Rayas. Addmitedly not the best of yrs in the Southern Rhone but for the price, one should be getting a whole lot more. I would be embarrased to be selling a wine like this at that price; I'd be a laughingstock! Like the Kermit Lynch wines, New Mexico gets only the dregs of Martine's wines after the "better" customers have had their pick ( in my Kansas vernacular; it's called being "the hind tit on a boar hog"!), so the '95 Rayas never came here & I didn't get a chance to try it; reportedly it was quite good. And I've had Rayas in lesser yrs that I thought were quite good. But this '96..... stupid wine at a stupid price!
Sierra Vista & ElDoradoCnty: I've always like John & Barbara MacCready's SV wines since I first started trying them (Jeez.... he's an engineer by training.... they gotta be good!!). ElDoradoCnty seems to have a definite terrior character in their red wines that gives them a (to me) distinct earthy/dusty/mushroomy character not all that unlike found in Southern Rhone, Provence, and points South. Because of this ElDorado character, John's Syrahs have probably reminded me more of Chateauneuf than Northern Rhone. Thus I've long felt ElDorado had quite a pontential for making Calif Rhones. I've been impressed w/ the big improvemennts he's made in his Zins over the last 2 yrs or so. Now, with these 2 Syrahs, John has hit two homeruns here; these are terrific Calif Syrah, with lots of Southern Rhone character; easily the best Sierra Vista Syrahs yet made and easily the best ElDoradoCnty wines I've ever had. Worth seeking out and trying.
x. And although I'm not too keen on numbers & scores, for those folks who get a nice warm, fuzzy feeling from them:

Number of Wines from Your Opponents BackYard
Tasted Before He Even Got A Chance to Taste Them

Bernard Roth-1 TomHill-736

and if I can get to my just-arrived Jaffurs release afore Bernard (throwing down the gauntlet here, Bernie!), my lead shall become insurmountable!

TomHill (launching a pre-emptive strike on Bernie here!)