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.

 

CALIFORNIA RHONES

Tasted a few (mostly) New (mostly) California Rhones last night:
Bonny Doon California Rousanne (13.5%%) '96: Med.gold color; rather earthy/dusty some stoney/metallic low fruit nose changes to rather fragrant/aromatic floral Viognier-like nose; soft fat metallic/stoney very glycerined/buttery somewhat floral/Viognier-like flavor w/an underlinging tart/acidic character; med. long very tart/acidic lush floral/appley bit stoney finish; a really interesting Rousanne w/ a very rich lush texture but a very tart backbone; sort of like a Z-H riesling.
Alban Vineyard Central Coast Rousanne (14.1%%) '96: Med.gold color; very fragrant perfumed/perfumed talc Tokay/PinotGris-like floral aromatic some oaked nose; soft very full/rich/lush floral T/PG aromatic very spicy flavor; very long soft fat very perfumed/aromatic light pungent/toasty oaked finish; a big rich very lust ripe aromatic light oaked wine much like a Z-H T/PG.
Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Bien Nacido Vineyard Viognier (13.5%%) '96: Med.gold color; lush floral spicy light peachy/Viognier perfumed talk nose; soft bit lean slight metallic/minerally spicy lush peachy/Viognier flavor; med. long soft rich light peachy/Viognier floral light minerally/metallic finish; a big rich lush Viognier w/a bit of Condrieu/minerally character.
Alban Vineyard Central Coast Viognier (14.1%%) '96: Med.gold color; slight volatile/EA very floral fragrant peachy/Viognier light toasty oaked spicy nose; soft rich bit clunky fat overripe apples glycerined light peachy/Viognier flavor; med.long soft fat overripe apple cinammon/toasty some peachy/Viognier slight minerally finish; a bit soft & porky but a rich lush wine w/ a low key Viognier character.
Alban Vineyard Edna Valley Alban Estate Viognier (14.1%%) '96: Med.gold color; beautiful floral very peachy/Viognier complex some toasty/smokey oak bacon fat spicy nose; off-dry (-like) rich full mouthfilling ripe peachy/Viognier rather minerally/earthy very Alsatian-like glycerined flavor w/ good acidity; very long lingering very smokey/toasty finish; a huge rich complex rather Condrieu-like Viognier.
Terre Rouge Shenandoah Valley Viognier (14.5%%) '96: Med.gold color; classic very ripe peachy/Viognier very lush aromatic nose; soft off-dry (??) incredibly rich ripe/peachy/Viognier slight minerally/metallic/earthy mouthfilling flavor; very long very lingering huge ripe mouthfilling very ripe peachy/Viognier slight metallic/minerally finish; a terrific DollyParton/floozy of a Viognier; best Amador Viognier yet.... Amador CAN make great white wines.
Edmunds St. John Grand Heritage California Viognier (15.5%%) '96: Med.dark gold color;slighty stinky/burnt rubber nose that clears rapidly too very ripe/appley light peachy/Viognier rather smokey/bacon fat/toasted oak/toasted coconut complex nose; soft very rich smokey/pungent/oaked light toasted cocobut overripe apples light peachy/Viognier slight late harvesty glycerined flavor; very long overripe apples light peachy/Viognier slightly hot/alcoholic rather smokey/pungent/bacon fat very rich glycerined finish; a very difficult wine to describe & not like any other Viognier I can recall, though a bit of Cote du Vernon character from the toasted quality; the oak is well in proportion to the fruit; a stunning though a typical Viognier.
Villa Mt. Eden Santa YnezValley Syrah Grand Reserve (13.5%%) '93: Med.dark color; some herbal rather black cherry dusty meaty black olive nose; leaner green olive/herbal rather herbal some dusty leathery toasty/pungent oaked flavor; long rather herbal leaner spicy green olive leathery fairly lush finish w/ light tannins; a very interesting wine towards the herbal part of the Syrah spectrum.
Villa Mt. Eden Nevada County Syrah Grand Reserve (13.0%%) '94: Very dark color; big chocolaty lush black cherry dusty Syrah some oaked nose; soft fat chocolaty Aussie-like shiraz some toasty oaked nose; soft fat chocolaty some menthol/oaked spicy light black cherry finish w/ light tannins; interesting Syrah much more like an Aussie Shiraz w/o the overbearing oak.
Domaine de la Terre Rouge Tete-a-Tete Sierra Foothills Red Wine (Rhone blend; 13.0%%) '96: Med.light color; strong Grenache/strawberry some earthy rather oaked nose; soft spicy very strawberry/Grenache light Amador briary some toasty oak flavor; soft light bright strawberry/Grenache light Amador/briary/berry finish w/little tannins; a nice pleasant drinking red.
Marques de Grinon Domino de Valdepusa Syrah (Toledo, Espagna; 14%%)'93: Very dark color; strong Syrah earthy bit bretty some Rhone-like toasty Am.oaked nose; sweetish pungent dusty strong spicy Am.oaked some Rhone/dusty/earthy flavor; med. long very smokey/pungent Am.oaked earthy/dusty finish w/ some tannins; very much like a Rhone wine made in a Spanish style; good touch w/ the oak.
Bonny Doon Cigar Volante (77% Grenache, 18% Syrah, 5% Mourvedre) '85: Med.color; strong minty/menthol oaked some bretty very spicy very oaked nose; tart lean narrow spicy very minty/menthol oaked slight strawberry fairly bretty flavor; med.long tart bretty spicy/light strawberry toasty/menthol finish w/ little tannins; pretty much ready to drink; very interesting nose but a sort of shrill tartness on the palate.
Renwood Amador County Syrah (67 cases; 15%%) '91: Dark color; very intense smokey/dusty/pungent slight bretty licorice/blackberry pungent/dusty rather Amador/briary complex bit fumey nose; tart rich blackberry/licorice Amador/briary some hot & bretty flavor; long bit hot/alcoholic ripe blackberry/licorice briary finish w/ fair tannins; definitely Amador and definitely Syrah; seems a bit hot & alcoholic but a very big Syrah.
Alban Vineyard Syrah Edna Valley Alban Estate-Reva (14.1%%) '95: Black color; bit stinky at first very pungent roasted/smokey intense blackberry some roasted/C-R-like bacon fat very French nose; tart very rich smokey/toasty/pungent very blackberry smokey somewhat roasted/C-R flavor; very long very smokey/pungent/toasted bacon fat roasted/C-R intense blackberry/Syrah finish w/fair tannins; needs 3-10 yrs; most C-R-like Syrah yet from Calif; terrific stuff.
Alban Vineyard Edna Valley Lorraine Syrah Alban Estate Vineyard (14.1%) '95: Black color; intense licorice/blackberry Syrah pungent/smokey oaked nose; big rich very intense loads of blackberry fruit pungent/toasted oak slight C-R/roasted flavor; very long tannic very rich intense blackberry/Syrah some pungent/toasty oaked finish w/ample tannins; needs 5-15 yrs; very very concentrated blackberry Syrah fruit.
Rabbit Ridge Sonoma County Syrah (13.5%%) '94: Very dark color; very strong licorice some blackberry/Syrah very pencilly/oaked/perfumed talc nose; tart bit bretty very pencilly/FrenchOak some blackberry/Syrah bright fruit flavor; med.long tart very pencilly/French oak some blackberry some raspberry/Zin finish w/ some tannins; can use several yrs; distinctly Syrah but speaks more of the Rabbit Ridge style than Syrah.
Domaine Terre Rouge Amador County Syrah (14.5%%) '95: Black color; intense Amador briary licorice intense blackberry/Syrah bit alcoholic/late harvesty nose; sweetish very intense blackberry rather Amador/briary loads of fruit slight dusty/oaked bit hot flavor; very long very intense blackberry rather Amador/briary bit alcoholic finish w/ fair tannins; needs 3-6 yrs yet; very strong Amador character overlaid w/ very intense Syrah fruit; Bill Easton's best Syrah yet perhaps and perhaps Amador's best Syrah yet.

And stepping up to the bloody pulpit to pontificate a bit:
The Viogniers & Rousannes... all very very good wines. I usually through in a few Viogniers at my Syrah tastings & they're almost always met w/groans & sighs of resignation. Maybe I've finally won the battle to convince them how good Calif Viogniers can be w/ this bunch; everyone really liked these ones. But it's been a long 10+ year struggle.
I've often expressed my disappointment w/ the Calif GWT & Riesling and always puzzled why they couldn't/wouldn't make DRY Alsatian-style wines in Calif (I know... the Navarro and the Claibourne&Churchill are nice...but just that). That is, a very fragrant/perfumey/aromatic fairly rich sorta Z-H style white wine. I'm now more & more convinced that they can..... 'cept it won't be GWT or Riesling; but Viognier & Rousanne, maybe Marsanne. Many of the early Viogniers were sort of Chardonnay wannabes.... too much oak. That seldom happens anymore.
The Rousannes/Viogniers above were all very big rich perfumed aromatic whites, some so intense they seemed a bit off-dry, but doubt they were. Very much in a Z-H/Alsatian style. I feel a bit strange praising these wines so highly after whining so loudly several weeks ago about the Z-H style being so non-traditional a difficult to match w/ food. Wines this intense do take a bit more imagination and creativity to match w/ food because of their intensity. They aren't just mere Chard alternatives.
The Alban wines.... stunning wines all. This latest release of his wines are clearly his best ever; and puts him into the top tier of Rhone/Syrah producers in Calif w/ Bob Lindquist, Adam Tolmach, and Steve Edmunds; my favorites. I've followed John's wines from the very start; obviously because he's a Rhone producer. I first met him at Vail, when he was a total unknown, & nobody was much bothering to come up to his table to taste his wines. I was very struck by his passion for making Rhones and his vision of where he wanted to go; his commitment for doing things right out in the vnyd. His first Syrah was pretty hard & rustic & pretty heavily oaked. His whites were rather hard & lean & austere w/ I tought too much toasty oak. But I suspected he'd probably figure out the winemaking..... making wine is trivial!! His wines have been progressively getting better year by year; with this batch of wines he's hit it outta the park. You'll be reading a lot more about Alban Vnyds.
Bill Easton's two Terre Rouge wines were very impressive. Amador/ShenandoahVlly has long had a reputation for great Zin, but they've been sort of a Johnny-One_Note because that's all they've been known for. Especially not having a white variety that makes very good wine has impeded there reputation. But his '96 Viognier makes a clear statement that the ShenandoahVlly CAN make great Calif white wine. His '95 Syrah is probably the best Syrah I've yet had from Amador. It has that distinct briar of Amador but is still clearly Syrah. I think the challenge up there, like Zin, is to make a big ripe extracted wine w/o letting the alcohol get out of hand. Definitely another Rhone producer to keep your eye on.
Tom Hill (preparing for a week of assaulting his palate w/ Zin & Syrah in California)