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 & French Rhones
Tasted last night some New Calif/French Rhones:
Bonny Doon Calif Roussanne (14.5%) '97: Med.gold color; fragrant floral/ appley very spicy/Viognier-like peachy perfumed nose; rich very lush floral/ spicy aromatic/perfumed fat slight Condrieu/minerally flavor; very long soft lush lingering aromatic/perfumey floral/peach/Viognier-like light buttery/ oak some minerally finish; a beautiful aromatic Roussanne. Great price $17.00
Domaine Patrice Magni Les Grandes Vignes du Roy Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc (13.5%) '96: Med.gold color; some nutty/almondy/oxidized earthy/stoney light floral nose; rich tart stoney/earthy bit nutty/almondy slight oxidized flavor very long stoney/earthy nutty/almondy some floral/fragrant finish; lots of acid & stoney character but quite rich on the palate; will age well for 3-10 yrs; should be a great Rhone Blanc w/ age. Great price @ $18.50
Qupe Bien Nacido Cuvee Santa Barbara County (75% Chard, 25% Viognier) '95: Med. gold color; very fragrant/perfumed some volatile/aromatic some toasty/charred fairly complex nose; rich lush celery aromatic bit volatile/aromatic very ripe toasty/oaked spicy/complex flavor; med.long tart some toasty/oaked pain grillee (as RP would say) very fragrant/aromatic slight volatile/hot rather complex finish; a beautiful developing white.
Sine Qua Non Omadhaun & Poltroon Calif WTW (50%+ Roussanne, 50%- Chard; mostly Alban Vnyd; 15.2%) '96: Med.gold color; very strong perfumed/complex charred/ toasty oaked rather fragrant/orange peel some leesy/yeasty/reduced/M-L nose; tart huge rich mouthfilling lush toasty/smokey/oaked floral/perfumed some M-L/leesy complex bit bitter orange peel flavor; very long lingering huge mouthfilling floral toasty/smokey/oaked floral/orange aromatic finish; a very complex interesting white neither flagrantly Chard nor Roussanne; lots of toasty oak lots of acid & loads of fruit; will age into a killer wine of some sort.
Horton Vineyards Orange County VA Viognier (13.5%) '97: Light gold color; fragrant perfumed/floral/Viognier/peachy some appley/minerally pineapply bit minerally Condrieu nose; tart spicy pineapply/floral/peachy bit minerally slight grapefruity/metallic/plastic-hybridy flavor; long tart floral/peach/pineapply some minerally slight metallic finish; a very pure Viognier w/ a very interesting minerally/Condrieu-like component; good value @ $16.00
Castle Vineyards Calif Viognier Ripken Vnyd (13.9%) '97: Light gold color; some toasty/oaked slight stinky/pungent/H2S bit smokey some floral/Viognier aromatic nose; soft fat appley/floral/Viognier/peachy some hair-oil light smokey/oak flavor; med.long some pungent/oaked/smokey some floral/Viognier finish; not a lot of aromatics & a bit on the fat & porky side but an interesting Viognier.
Chateau Roquebrun St.Chinian Languedoc '94: Med.dark color; strong dusty rather Syrah/bacon fat/smokey/roasted spicy nose; hard rustic tannic dusty bit metallic rough earthy low fruit flavor; med.long bit thin hard tannic rough rustic rather dusty tannins light Syrah/blackberry finish; a superb nose but pretty rough Languedoc character on the palate. Good value @ $12.00 when served w/ hearty food.
Domaine du Trapadis Rasteau Cotes du Rhone-Villages (Grenache w/ Syrah, Carignan, Cincault & Mourvedre; 13%) '97: Med.dark color; bit musty/funky/ wet cardboard low fruit slight strawberry nose; soft bit funky/unclean/musty some strawberry/earthy flavor; med.short bit funky/musty bit tart/thin/lean slight strawberry/Grenache finish; interesting bit rustic CdR.
Claude Chastan Domaine de St.Siffrein Chateauneuf du Pape (13.5%) '95: Med. dark color; strong roasted/complex/smokey some Grenache/strawberry fairly classic CdP nose; bit lightish/thin rather roasted/smokey/dusty earthy/ complex some bretty/horsecollar flavor; med.short rather bretty somewhat thin horsecollar/dusty/earthy some roasted/strawberry finish w/ light tannins; becomes pretty bretty/horsey/horsecollar w/ air; very good classic CdP nose but a bit thin & narrow on the palate.
Rosenblum Cellars Chateau La Paws Cote du Bone Contra Costa Cnty Mourvedre (14.9%) '97: Med.light color; very fragrant/plummy/Mourvedre aromatic bit blackberry/Zin ripe berry nose; rather buttery/diacetyl lush plummy/spicy ripe/bright berry soft light flavor; med.long very buttery plummy/Mourvedre finish w/ no tannins; a very nice drinking lightish red, the Rhone equivalent of Kent's Vintner's Cuvee; good price at $9.50
Bonny Doon Le Cigare Volant Calif RTW (50% Syrah, 35% Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvedre) '96: Very dark color; strong blackberry/Syrah plummy/smokey aromatic/licorice some bretty/horsecollar nose; tart rich spicy/blackberry Syrah some plummy some complex flavor; long lush very spicy/aromatic rather strawberry/blackberry/Syrah some plummy finish w/ light tannins; a very interesting well-made wine; more Syrah than previous LCV; a bit more complex/interesting but not the structure for aging of previous ones, a bit toward the CadelSolo style; needs 1-4 yrs.
Ojai Vineyards Calif Syrah (13%) '94: Very dark color; strong perfumed/aromatic very spicy some pungent/complex/licorice/plummy bit smokey/pencilly/oaked nose; very rich lush ripe blackberry/Syrah/plummy light toasty/pencilly/oak some dusty/spicy complex flavor; long very spicy/complex ripe blackberry/ Syrah/plummy/gamey some pencilly/toasty/pungent finish w/ some tannins; can still use a few yrs of age; what a great drinking Syrah this is.
Horton Vineyards Orange Cnty VA Syrah (13.1%; 15% Touriga Nacional, 5% Tannat) '95 Dark color; rather gamey/blackberry/dusty/Syrah some smokey/pungent/oaked rather Rhonish nose; tart strong gamey/dusty/blackberry/Syrah/dark fruit rich dusty/tannic slight plastic/hybridy/funky flavor; long toasty/oaked pungent gamey/blackberry/dusty/Syrah slight hybridy/plastic finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a very interesting very well-made rather Rhone- like Syrah.
Hamel Russian River Valley Alegria Vnyd Syrah (13.9%) '96: Very dark/black color; intense smokey/oaked strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah dusty/complex pungent bit berry/Zin-like nose; big tannic extracted ripe blackberry/Syrah spicy/dusty some smokey/oaked/pungent some bright/forward/berry-Zin fruit flavor; very long tannic/extracted ripe blackberry/Syrah light pungent/smokey oaked finish w/ ample tannins; needs 3-6 yrs age; another winner from Kevin & yvonne Hamel.

And all the usual florrid pap from the bloody pulpit:
SQN Omadhaun & Poltroon: which translates roughly as chicken-shit & dunce because of the difficulty they had in raising these two components of this wine: another big success from Manfred & Elaine Krankl, this is one of the few blended wines I would truly call synergistic. It had a lot of huge barrel-fermented M-L Chard but so much more than that; a fragrant high-toned character that was not (to me) identifiable Roussanne but something you never find in pure Chard itself. This is a huge wine but still has all the acidity & structure to age for quite a while, but who knows what it will evolve into. Another great example of the primo grapes that John Alban grows; they can produce such big rich wines yet still have plenty of acidity. The 15%+ alcohol in this wine was not at all evident and the flavors were not a bit on the overripe side. The packaging is typical Krankl packaging. Big massive bottle that I wouldn't want to lift a case of. When I unwrapped the tissue from the bottle I got quite a start. There is sholder button (like on Ch. Haut-Brion btls) w/ a bright e+m label (for Elaine & Manfred). For some reason, that triggered the memory of my Electricity & Magnetism (termed E&M) graduate course in the Physics Dept where I struggled mightly & barely survived Maxwell's Equations. Still bear the scars of that encounter and no fond memories of Prof Dragsdorf. Ugh!! At any rate, a superb wine from the Krankls. Just released and worth seeking out.
Roussanne in Calif: I've preached this sermon before and the superb Bonny Doon reinforced it: Roussanne is where it's at in Calif for white wines. Sutter Home & K-J may even figure it out in 10 yrs. Actually, a K-J'd (leaving a tad of residual sugar) Roussanne might not be that bad at all, not unlike Zind-Humbrecht. The '96 Bonny Doon Roussanne was one of the finest Roussannes I'd ever had last year. The new '97 version is even better; big rich lush and very perfumey/aromatic. It's hard to drink this wine and not think a big Alsatian Tokay/Pinot Gris like Zind-Humbrecht or Weinbach. Calif has done so miserable in (Alsatian-style dry) GWT and Riesling. Here's a clear success in that style of wine. Keep your eyes on this variety; it's going places. And the prices are still very reasonable.
The Qupe Bien Nacido Cuvee '95: The early versions of this wine have not particularly jazzed me. It seemed typical Qupe Chard (slightly volatile) but didn't see that the Viognier brought anything to this wine. Now the wine seems much less Chard-like and has some really beautiful aromatic high toned notes, not obviously (to me) as Viognier. Quite a complex wine.
The Rosenblum LePaws Mourvedre: Not as rich & Mourvedre-like as his previous ones. There was just something about this wine that I couldn't put my finger on that was just a little..... different... strange. A sort of an "artifical" character to the wine I couldn't identify, like Kent had used not his normal techniques to make it. Nice drinkable wine at a good price but not my cup of tea. But it should sell well at that price.
The Hamel Syrah: I had seen a few reviews of this wine that had described it as "lighter" than previous ones. I would hardly term it that at all. It is is a very big extracted huge Syrah. I would say that perhaps, like in Zin, the '96 vintage brought a bit of leaness & racy character to the wine. It seemed to have some high-toned aromatics (Zin-like) to it that I didn't find in his previous two. And not as rough and rustic as the previous ones. But it's a terrific Syrah that will be fun to watch age. Maybe their best one yet. Another superb effort from Kevin & Yvonne Hamel. Keep your eyes on these folks!
The Ojai Calif Syrah '94: This wine was sooooooooooooo good. It was a Larry Archibald mystery wine & I guessed it to be a Qupe LosOlivosCuvee from the '90 or '91 vintage. It has really developed a good complexity but still has the structure to improve another few yrs and hold for ???? As I see all the frenzied activity of people chasing Colgin, Bryant Family, Screaming Beagle, etc... for feel sort of smug knowing that I can drink Ojai Calif, Edmunds St.John Calif, and Qupe Central Coast Syrahs at prices below $20/btl. Not as profound, maybe, as those above Cabs, but just (to me) as good drinking.
Horton Vineyards: I'd had a few of the Horton Vineyards wines (Viognier, Norton) wines from Virginia before and always thought "These are awfully good wines for East Coast wines"!! Now my thought is just "These are awfully good wines" Period. The first Horton Viognier I had had was the '94 and was mightly impressed with it; not Calif Viognier, not Condrieu, but pretty good Viognier. Both the '95 and '96 Viogniers didn't impress me much. But this '97 is absolutely first rate Viognier w/ some interesting Condrieu/minerally-like character. The Syrah..... easily the best East Coast red I've ever tasted and every bit as good as most of the Calif Syrahs in that price range. Dennis Horton grows a plethora of varietals trying to identify what works best in Virginia. Clearly Viognier & Syrah are two such. I'd like to try some of his other varietals. Impressive wines that should not be dismissed just 'cause they come from back East.