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.

 

Chardonnay
Embarassed to say but tasted the other week some Calif & Oz Chards:
Makor Santa Barbara County PinotBlanc Bien Nacido Vineyard (12%) '96: Med.gold color; fragrant light toasty/smokey/oaked some floral/pineapple nose; soft ripe smooth floral/pineapple smokey/toasty/Fr.oaked flavor; long soft smooth toasty/Fr.oaked floral/pineapple/spicy finish; a really tasty white at a very good price.
Tria Monterey WTW Maelstrom (Barrel Fermented Riesling/Chardonnay/Pinot Blanc) '96: Med.gold color; fragrant rather floral/German spatlese/petrol some lemony/ oaked/complex nose; tart spicy rich/floral/Riesling/spatlese rather buttery/ toasty/oaked spicy flavor; med.long tart floral/Riesling/pineapply/petrol rather buttery/oaked/lemony finish; lots of Riesling character w/ fair amount of oak; a very interesting white.
Sierra Vista El Dorado Chardonnay (Barrel Fermented; 13.5%) '97: Med.light gold color; strong toasty/smokey/oaked ripe/melony/spicy/Chardonnay light earthy nose; soft fat off-dry(??) ripe/melony/Chardonnay/spicy some toasty/oaked flavor; med.long soft fat off-dry ripe/lush/melony/Chardonnay light earthy/smokey/oak finish; very nice nose but soft & fat & tiring on the palate.
Kynsi Santa Ynez Vlly Chardonnay Sanford & Benedict Vnyd Reserve (13.8%) '95: Med.dark gold color; strong toasty/smokey/oaked rather spicy/SBChard/celery/floral complex nose; rich tart spicy/SB celery/melony/Chardonnay strong toasty/pungent/ charred/oak flavor; very long charred/pungent/toasty/Fr.oaked ripe/lush/ melony/SBcelery/spicy complex finish; lots of oak but lots of SB Chardonnay fruit && good acidity.
Ojai Vnyd Arroyo Grande Vlly Chardonnay Talley Vnyd Reserve (13%) '96: Med.gold color; strong toasty/oaked/pungent/pencilly ripe/melony/Chardonnay/perfumed talc nose; rich lush/ripe/melony/Chardonnay/bit earthy/pencilly tart toasty/Fr.oaked flavor; long toasty/pencilly/oaked/pungent spicy/melony/Chardonnay light floral finish; nicely done Chardonnay w/ nice balance of oak.
Ojai Vnyd Santa Ynez Vlly Chardonnay Sanford & Benedict Vnyd (13%) '96: Med.gold color; very strong celery/spicy/stoney rather pungent/pencilly/Fr.oaked nose; very tart rich/lush/celery/melony/Chardonnay stoney/earthy lots of pencilly/toasty oaked flavor; very long lush/ripe/melony/celery/spicy/Chardonnay toasty/pencilly Fr.oaked finish; lots of ripe fruit & great acidity; needs several yrs; very classic Santa Ynez Chardonnay.
Jory Central Coast Calif Chardonnay El Nino (Unfltrd) '97: Med.gold color; fragrant pineapply/floral/Chardonnay/perfumed talc some celery/Chardonnay light oaked nose; soft fat/ripe/pineapply/floral/melony/Chardonnay light spicy/pencilly/oaked flavor; med. long soft/lush celery/melony/Chardonnay/light earthy/pineapply light pencilly/ oaked finish; a softness & fatness much like PasoRobles Chardonnay; nicely made very drinkable Chardonnay.
Jory Santa Clara Vlly Chardonnay Lion Oaks Ranch Selected Corton/Charlemagne Clone '97: Med.dark gold color; strong perfumed talc/toasty/coconutty/spicy/aromatic/ exotic/leesy slight stinky/mercaptan/Burgundian nose; tart rich perfumed talc/ exotic very spicy/coconutty/melony/Chardonnay toasty/coconutty/leesy flavor; very long exotic/very spicy toasty/coconutty/Fr.oaked very ripe/melony/Chardonnay finish; a rather spicy & exotic style of Chardonnay.
Dehlinger RussianRiverVlly Chardonnay Estate (14.1%) '96: Med.gold color; rather stinky/pungent/H2S/burnt rubber/reduced some spicy/melony/Chardonnay/earthy some butterscotchy/oaked nose; soft rich/lush/melony/Chardonnay/earthy buttery/oaked bit reduced/stinky flavor; long pungent/buttery/oaked ripe/melony/spicy/ Chardonnay tart finish; a bit stinky/reduced but packed w/ flavor.
Rosenblum Cellars Russian River Vlly Reserve Chardonnay Lone Oak Vnyd (14.2%) '97: Med.dark gold color; very exotic/intense/Chardonnay/fruity/melony/pears slight alcoholic light oaked nose; soft very fat intense/melony/Chardonnay/ripe fruit some caramel/butterscotchy/oak flavor; med.long loads of Chardonnay fruit/melony/ exotic/spicy/soft light caramel/butterscotchy/oak finish; a very unusual/ exotic Chardonnay w/ loads of fruit; some like the LongVnyds; much lighter in oak than expected; pretty interesting Chardonnay.
Steele Mendocino Chardonnay LoLonis Vnyd (13%) '97: Med.gold color; fragrant/ aromatic bit earthy/dusty rather pencilly/pungent/oak nose; soft/fat maybe r.s. dusty some pencilly/oaked light melony/Chardonnay flavor; med.long pencilly/ pungent/oaked light dusty/earthy/melony/Chardonnay finish; nice Chardonnay but just that; actually a bit on the boring side; typical Steele Chardonnay; overpriced at $30.50.
Kistler Sonoma Coast Chardonnay '97: Med.dark color; slightly reduced/stinky/ sewer gas light dusty/earthy light Chardonnay/melony/fruity light pencilly/ vanilla/oaked nose; tart low fruit melony/Chardonnay/perfumed talc lean light pencilly oaked flavor; med. slight reduced/stinky light fruit/melony/Chardonnay light pencilly/oaked finish; not much there; grossly overpriced at $42.00.
Chehalem Willamette Vlly Ridge Crest Vnyd Chardonnay '94: Med.gold color; strong oaked rather piney/toasty/smokey bit oxidized/aged nose; soft very perfumed talc rather toasty/oaked/earthy bit aged/oxidized flavor; med. soft rather dusty/earthy low fruit bit oxidized/aged finish; bit past its prime.
Marcassin Gauer Vnyd Upper Barn Alexander Vlly Chardonnay (14.7%) '95: Med.gold color; intense pungent/smokey/toasty/Fr.oaked/complex ripe melony/Chardonnay/floral nose; tart very rich/ripe/intense/melony/Chardonnay strong toasty/butterscotchy/ Fr.oaked/charred/complex flavor; very long tart intense ripe/melony/Chardonnay/ fragrant/floral strong toasty/ butterscotchy/ charred/Fr.oaked finish; a big rich ripe Chardonnay that still has some age to go.
Penfolds Adelaide Hills Chardonnay Trial Bin (13.0%) '96: Med.gold color; strong buttery/butterscotchy/oaked ripe/melony/celery/Chardonnay some spicy/fragrant nose; tart bit lean lots of melony/Chardonnay light toasty/buttescotchy flavor; med. long ripe/melony/Chardonnay bit appely light butterscotchy/oak finish; a nice rather tart/lean Chardonnay w/ lots of fruit & restrained oak. Overpriced at $26.00.
Penfolds Reserve Bin 94A SE Australia Chardonnay (13.5%) '94: Dark gold color; very intense toasty/charred/pungent/toasted coconut exotic/botrytis/Sauternes bit oxidized/complex nose; soft fat rather herbal/artichoke/celery/Chardonnay strong charred/pungent exotic/botrytis flavor; long charred/toasty/caramel/ oaked herbal/Chardonnay/celery bit oxidized/Sauternes/giggy finish; pretty weird and exotic Chardonnay that I found rather interesting/bizarre. Overpriced at $34.00.
Penfolds Yattarna SA Adelaida Hills/McLarenVale Chardonnay (13.0%; 0.25% r.s.) '95: Dark gold color; very strong buttery/oaked/spicy/butterscotchy exotic/very spicy/complex ripe melony/Chardonnay nose; tart very rich/lush/ripe/melony/Chardonnay very spicy/sandalwood/exotic butterscotchy/toasty flavor; long very spicy/ exotic butterscotchy/oaked very ripe/melony/Chardonnay complex/spicy finish; stupid price at $58.00.

And a short bloody pulpit (these are Chards, not much to say about them, who even gives a rat$$a**!!):
I've always liked the Kistler Chards in the past. This SonomaCoast was a huge disappointment.... not much flavor or aroma or character... and little prospect that any would be checking in. To quote one annoymous taster in the group: "This wine is a HOAX".... delivered in the typical Larry Archibald fashion for all to hear. A stupid wine at a stupid price.
The Penfolds Yattarna: One of the best Aussie Chards I've had; lots of richness & ripeness & rather exotic/spicy in character. But Penfolds Blanc version of Grange???? Don't think so!!!
The Tria Maelstrom was a very interesting white wine. Bill Knuttle (also winemaker at Chalk Hill) has been making so very good wines under his Tria label. This is another in that string.
The Makor label is always one that promises good value. This Pinot Blanc was no exception. He's winemaker at Qupe/AuBonClimat/IlPodere/VitaNova and really knows what he's doing.