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.

 

Central Coast Pinots
Tasted the other week (6/30/98) some Central Coast Pinots:
Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post Central Coast Pinot Noir (13.2%) '96: Med.light color; fragrant perfumey bright cherry/Pinot Noir nose; tart light cherry light pencilly/oaked bit metallic very bright/zippy/cherry/Pinot Noir flavor; long light buttery/pencilly/oak bright cherry/Pinot Noir finish w/ little tannins; a bright cherry/Pinot Noir delicate & elegant and ready to drink.
Gainey Santa Maria Valley Limited Selection Pinot Noir (13.5%) '96: Med.light color; deep bit herbal/dusty/toasty/smokey/coffee grounds nose; soft fairly rich bit brett/horse- collar deep black cherry flavor; long deep black cherry some smokey/pungent/oaked slight brett finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a fairly big rather Burgundian-style Pinot Noir.
Steele Santa Barbara County Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot Noir '96: Med.light color; strong pencilly/toasty/low key light black cherry nose; buttery/pencilly/oaked/light toasty rather bright black cherry flavor; med.light black cherry rather pencilly/oak finish w/ light tannins; not the usual overwhelming Jed Steele toasty oak; very nicely done Pinot Noir w/ the Bien Nacido black cherry coming thru.
Cold Heaven Santa Barbara County Bien Nacido Vineyard (13.2%) Pinot Noir '96: Med.light color; deeper/darker/ black cherry dusty bit walnutty nose; med. tart deeper/more black cherry some pungent/toasty/oak slight sour/walnutty flavor; med.long richer black cherry/ black cherry cola some toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; needs yr or two; a bigger/deeper BN Pinot Noir but not as big a rich as the ABC ones.
Whitcraft Santa Maria Valley Bien Nacido Vineyard Block N U&U Pinot Noir '96: Dark color; strong dusty/walnutty/earthy bit brett low fruit/bing cherry complex/interesting nose; bit sour strong dusty/walnutty/earthy pungent/toasty/oak slight funky flavor; long tart pungent/dusty/walnutty smokey/pungent/complex fairly extracted finish w/ fair tannins; needs 3-5 yrs; a very unusual/extracted Pinot w/ not a lot of fruit; most disliked this wine but I thought it very interesting & tasty; an unusual rendering of Pinot.
Stephen Ross Santa Maria Valley Bien Nacido Vineyard (13.7%) Pinot Noir '96: Med.dark color; lush beautiful black cherry/dusty fragrant nose; tart ripe spicy very lush/black cherry light pencilly/oak flavor; long lush black cherry spicy slight dusty some pencilly oaked finish w/ light tannins; a bright spicy classic BN Pinot Noir; very polished very well-made Pinot.
Stephen Ross Arroyo Grande Valley La Colline (13.5%) Pinot Noir '96: Med.light color; rather strong/pungent/toasty light Pinot/cherry/fruit nose; tart lean spicy/toasty slight bitter/hard bright cherry/delicate flavor; med.long lean/spicy/tart rather spicy/bright cherry finish w/ light tannins; a bit less cherry/Pinot Noir fruit & a bit harder & leaner.
Stephen Ross Edna Valley Edna Ranch (13.8%) Pinot Noir '96: Med.dark color; deep pungent black cherry strong Pinot Noir/licorice bit Kansas feed store ripe toasty/oak nose; tart black cherry cola/pungent dusty/toasty/oak flavor; rather tannic/hard strong pungent/toasty/black cherry cola finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; a bigger richer more clunky/pungent Pinot.
WindWard Vineyard Paso Robles Pinot Noir Monopole (12.6%) '95: Light color; light fragrant light cherry/Pinot Noir pencilly bit licorice nose; light delicate bright black cherry cola flavor; med.long bright cherry cola/soda pop finish w/ little tannins; a bright cherry/soda poppy Pinot w/ lots of whole berry fermentation character; bit like Saintsbury Garnet in style.
Ojai Santa Barbara County Bien Nacido Vineyard (13%) Pinot Noir '96: Very dark color; slightly reduced/ stinky intense black cherry cola/black cherry cough syrup some toasty/pungent/ pencilly/oak nose; big rich pungent/charred oak intense black cherry cola smokey/ dusty flavor; very long black cherry cola/cough syrup pungent/toasty/smokey/oak dusty finish w/ ample tannins; a big rich extracted black cherry cola Pinot; will be a killer wine w/ 3-7 yrs of age.
Nichols Santa Barbara County CottonWood Cnyn Vineyard (13.5%) Pinot Noir '96: Light color; very strong toasty/smokey/pungent/charred oak slight walnutty rather Burgundian nose; tart bright cherry/Pinot Noir bit walnutty strong charred/smokey/pungent/pencilly very oaked flavor; very long spicy bright cherry/Pinot Noir lots of Burgundian/pencilly/toasty/oak finish finish w/ some tannins; lots of Burgundian character & lots of cherry fruit; great SB Pinot Noir.
Nichols Edna Valley Paragon Vineyard (13.5%) Pinot Noir '96: Med.color; deeper black cherry cola dusty more Calif-style some pencilly/toasty/oak nose; softer riper black cherry cola/licorice some pungent/toasty/oak flavor; med.long black cherry cola/licorice some menthol/toasty/pungent/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-4 yrs; a bigger riper more Calif-style Pinot.
Nichols Monterey County Pisoni Vineyard (13.5%) Pinot Noir '96: Very dark color; very intense perfumed very spicy bit herbal/chocolaty exotic aromatic some toasty/oak nose; big rich extracted bit herbal pencilly/oak very smokey/charred/coffee exotic flavor; very long tannic extracted exotic bit herbal smokey/charred/pungent finish w/ ample tannins; needs 4-10 yrs; will be a killer wine; very perfumed exotic spicy wine yet obviously Pinot; best Monterey Pinot I've ever had ('till #14).
Ojai Santa Lucia Highlands Pisoni Vineyard (13%) Pinot Noir '96: Black color; very intense chocolaty bit stemmy intense blackberry/Syrah-like licorice Kansas feed store/ dusty very perfumed/exotic nose; hard very intense blackberry/Syrah-like chocolaty licorice extracted bit stemmy huge exotic/spicy flavor; very long very extracted intense blackberry/black cherry cough syrup licorice pungent/smokey/dusty finish w/ ample tannins, needs 5-15 yrs; a huge extracted wine w/ lots of Syrah character but still distinctly Pinot; a very exotic wine.
Villa Mt.Eden Santa Maria Valley Grand Reserve Bien Nacido Vineyard (14.2%) Pinot Noir '96: Light color; rather tobaccoy/smokey/oaked/coffee light cherry nose; tart light bright cherry some spicy/tobaccoy bit dusty/buttery flavor; long buttery/tobaccoy/oak light cherry finish w/ light tannins; nice Pinot but just that.
Fellbacher Lammler Spatburgunder Auslese Trocken (13.0%) '97: Med.dark color; very strong dusty very walnutty some perfumed/spicy nose; tart lean low fruit some walnutty hard astringent flavor; med.long hard/lean/tannic walnutty little fruit finish; strong dusty/earthy/walnutty character w/ precious little fruit.
Hubert de Montille Pommard Les Grands Epenots Premier Cru '90: Med.dark color; rather earthy/dusty pungent/bit licorice slight black cherry/Pinot Noir nose; bit dried out dusty/earthy low fruit slightly tired some tannic flavor; med. dusty/earthy low fruit some tannic dried out finish; on the down side.

And the usual pomposities from the bloody pulpit:
Without a doubt, Santa Barbara County makes, perhaps, the best Pinots in Calif; though Russian River is close behind. The Edna Valley ones seem to be a bit harder, more clunky, more Calif in style. The Santa Barbara ones often have this lovely very perfumed cherry character to them. And then some times they display a sort of walnutty character (like the husks of walnuts out in the snow that become slimey and leave a black stain that lasts forever; my Kansas background here) that some people don't much care for. I've always like Steve Dooley's (Stephen Ross) wines from when I first had them; very well-made, polished, interesting; less Burgundian than some. His Pinots seem very Gary Farrell in style but from Central Coast fruit. The Nichols wines have always struck me as not particularly big & rich, but quite Burgundian in character. The Chris Whitcraft wines I have also liked (though too expensive) for their strange/exotic/unusual character. They're big wines pushed to the limit (sometimes a bit beyond) but always interesting and intriguing to taste, if for no other reason then to see what he's done this time. They're not everyone's cup of tea & it's little wonder that the WS folks are totally clueless in understanding his wines. The quality of the Bien Nacido Vineyard is well-known; one of Calif's Grand Cru vineyards. These are the first Pisoni Vineyards that I've had & I was very impressed. Keep your eye on this vineyard.
"When you've tasted one Pinot Noir.... you've tasted one." : Larry Auer. Says it all... the diversity of Pinot in Calif is one of the reasons I like this wine so much. Sure makes Cabernet look borrrrring.