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.

 

Older California & French Rhones
Tasted a few (mostly) older Calif & French Rhones last night:
Phelps Napa Valley Viognier (13.0%) '92: Med.gold color; some minerally/floral/ Viognier perfumed talc bit caramalized/oxidized/oaked slight WhiteBurg nose; tart lean metallic/steely slight minerally bit caramalized/oxidized flavor; med.long lean/steely/metallic some oaked/caramelized/oxidized toasty finish; interesting nose but pretty lean & hard on the palate; some old WhiteBurg character.
Georges Vernay Condrieu Viognier '83: Med.dark gold color; strong pungent bit stinky/oxidized tobaccoy/smokey some old WhiteBurg nose; soft somewhat piney tobaccoy/pungent/oxidized very minerally some stoney flavor; long bit steely/stoney some oxidized/pungent/tobaccoy/smokey complex/minerally finish; lost that effusive Viognier fruit but still some Condrieu/mineral character; much like an old WhiteBurg.
Joseph Swan Russain River Valley Mourvedre (12.5%) '96: Med.dark color; strong plummy/dusty/tobaccoy light oaked nose; tart astringent plummy/dusty pungent/ earthy/licorice flavor; long dusty lean/astringent/acid tobaccoy/pungent/ plummy/Mourvedre finish w/ ample tannins; a very attractive nose but a bit hurtey on the palate; needs some time; a bit of greenness to this wine.
Ridge Calif Mataro Pagani Vineyard (75% Mataro, 25% Zin; 13.8%) '96: Med.dark color; very strong buttery/buttered popcorn/oaked some plummy/Mourvedre/ bit pungent nose; soft buttery/Am.oaked rather dusty/old vine/pungent some Pagani/funky/complex flavor; long lots of buttery/Am.oaked pungent/dusty/ mushroomy/Mourvedre complex finish w/ light tannins; doesn't have the structure & tannins of cool-climate Mourvedre but a very interesting wine w/ some of that characteristic Pagani funkiness.
Bonny Doon Clos de Gilroy Calif Grenache '87: Med.light color; some dusty/ tobaccoy old Zin pungent nose; light thin washed-out bit strawberry/Grenache some dusty/pungent flavor; short tart thin bit pungent/dusty finish w/ no tannins; a survivor but just that.
Bonny Doon Le Cigar Volant Calif RW (77% Grenache, 18% Syrah, 5% Mourvedre; 14.2%) '85: Med.dark color; beautiful lovely complex cloves/cinammon fragrant complex gamey perfumed nose; rich plummy/tobaccoy aromatic/cinammon/cloves smokey light strawberry/Syrah complex bit dried out flavor; very long complex cinammon/cloves/spicy pungent/gamey light strawberry/Syrah bit bretty finish w/ light tannins; drying out a bit on the palate but a beautiful complex aromatic nose; definitely NOT ChatneufDuPape but a lovely Calif red wine.
Eberle Paso Robles Syrah (12.6%) '91: Dark color; lovely licorice some black- berry/Syrah/strawberry dusty/gamey spicy/cloves complex nose; attractive spicy/strawberry/cinammon/cloves/light oak dusty/licorice flavor; very long cloves/spicy/cinammon complex gamey/strawberry/Syrah finish w/ light tannins; much like Gary's older EstrellaRiver Syrah but more extract & bigger; a really beautiful complex Syrah.
Duxoup Sonoma County Syrah (12.6%) '82: Very dark color; interesting licorice/ dusty smokey/complex black cherry nose; tart thin old Zin pungent/dusty/ licorice black cherry rather astringent & dried out flavor; med.long astringent/dried out licorice/black cherry/chocolate finish; a rather interesting nose but dried out & astringent on the palate. $9.00
Domaine de Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneu Du Pape '82: Med.light some browning color; bit strawberry/old Rhone dusty some roasted/complex nose; tart thin dried out dusty/roasted/old Rhone earthy flavor; med.long dried out/thin dusty/roasted/earthy astringent finish; an interesting old Rhone nose but pretty dead on the palate.
Auguste Clape Cornas '80: Dark color; lovely fragrant dusty/walnutty/herbal some strawberry/Syrah complex nose; tart astringent walnutty/herbal pungent/ dusty bit strawberry/Syrah flavors; long astringent/tart/tannic complex walnutty/herbal/dusty finish; a beautiful complex nose but dried out on the palate; fades pretty fast in the glass.
Paul Jaboulet Cote-Rotie Les Jumelles '83: Med.dark color; some smokey/ old Rhone bit roasted/coffee some strawberry/Syrah nose; tart lean strong roasted/ espresso smokey/complex/dusty some dried out flavor; long dried out/astringent some roasted/espresso complex finish; still nice Cote Rotie character & a very attractive nose but drying out on the palate.
Guigal Cote-Rotie (Brune et Blonde) '83: Med.dark w/ slight browning; strong unpleasant musty/mousey slight corked some pungent/roasted nose; soft pungent toasty smokey/hot dog light roasted/espresso flavor; med.long soft round pungent/smokey bit roasted/espresso finish w/ light tannins; needs to breathe; bit corked on the palate but much better on the palate.
Emile Champet Cote-Rotie '78: Med.dark color; beautiful bacon fat/roasted/ espresso smokey/pungent/dusty very complex aromatic nose; smooth bit dried out lovely bacon fat/roasted/espresso/pungent toasty/smokey spicy complex flavor; very long lingering elegant/complex roasted/espresso/bacon fat complex/dusty finish w/ light tannins; a beautiful lovely complex old lady; this is what mature CoteRotie is all about.
Henschke Keyneton Estate Barossa Valley (65% Shiraz, 25% CabSauvignon, 10% Malbec) '85: Med.dark color; strong pencilly/toasty/Fr.oaked earthy/pungent complex/dusty nose; tart pungent/funky/earthy licorice toasty/oaked/smokey dusty flavor; long bit dried out pungent/dusty/earthy some toasty/oaked finish w/ some tannins; more like a Southern Rhone than Oz; a very interesting complex red that needs another 3-6 yrs yet.
Elderton Barossa Valley Command Shiraz (14.5%) '92: Very dark near black color; very strong Am.oaked/dill/milky pungent/licorice/toasted coconut strong blackberry/Syrah nose; soft ripe rich intense milky/vanilla/Am.oaked/dill toasted coconut licorice/blackberry/Syrah/chocolaty flavor; very long tannic intense vanilla/milky/Am.oaked slight hot/volatile intense pungent/licorice blackberry Syrah finish w/ ample tannins; needs 6-10 yrs; a huge rich extracted oaked Shiraz w/ the stuffing to last.
Ravenswood Icon Sonoma County (92% Syrah, 8% Grenache; 13.9%) '96: Very dark color; strong toasty/pencilly/Fr.oaked bit menthol rather berry/Zin/Syrah nose; tart rich very toasty/pencilly/Fr.oaked berry/blackberry some tannic flavor; long astringent strong toasty/pencilly/oaked menthol/minty berry/ blackberry ripe finish w/ fair tannins; needs 3-6 yrs; speaks more of Ravenswood than of Syrah; much like OldHill Zin; should be a good wine w/ age.
The Monterey Vineyard San Luis Obispo Cnty Botrytis Sauvignon Blanc Dessert Wine Special Selection (15.5%; SaH: 29%; RS: 7.6%) '78: Very dark some browning color; bit herbal slight pickle juice strong botrytis/peachy rather pencilly/ oaked some earthy nose; sweet tobacco/vanilla/pencilly/oaked some herbal/dusty complex peachy/botrytis flavor; very long bit herbal/pickle juice strong toasty/tobaccoy/pencilly/oaked peachy/botrytis earthy bit bretty finish; a very interesting complex dessert wine; more like Monbazillac than Sauternes.
Joseph Phelps Delice du Semillon Napa Valley (13.0%; RS: 10.3%; 96% Semillon, 4% sauvignonBlanc) '85: Med.dark gold color; bit volatile/aromatic beautiful complex vanilla/oaked/pencilly strong peachy/botrytis ripe/figgy bit earthy very Sauternes nose; sweet very rich vanilla/oaked/toasty rather ripe/figgy strong peachy/botrytis complex aromatic/perfumed flavor; very long lingering figgy/Semillon/ripe rather vanilla/oaked/creamy complex finish; a beautiful complex Sauternes much like Rayne-Vigneau or Rieussec; Calif can make great Sauternes; will last another 10 yrs.

Say, what.... not ANOTHER bloody pulpit:
The two Aussie Shiraz, compliments of Howard & Rhoda Sherry, were terrific. With age, the Henschke, according to Howard, has lost most of the overwhelming oak that those wines tend to display. The Elderton..... dynamite stuff; and still very young.
Do Viogniers age??? Stupid question, though the authorities, whoever they are ('tain't I!) all seem to believe they do not. Depends upon, I think, what you expect of an older Viognier. If you expect that effusive floral fruitiness of young Viognier/Condrieu; then you'll be disappointed. I find in some older Viognier a very interesting caramelized/nutty/slightly oxidized character much like what you find in old WhiteBurgundy.... a wine the authorities DO know can age well. Perhaps they should be a bit more opened-minded when it comes to older Viogniers. The Phelps was not very attractive on the palate, but it was by no means a dead wine.... a bit Chablis/Loire-like in character. The Vernay was awfully interesting old white wine.
The Duxoup Syrah: This winery started in 1981, making Gamay, Syrah, and Zin. The seem to do a lot of whole-berry fermentations & produce very grapey/fruity types of wines; their winemaking pretty much obliterates their varietal character of teir wines, I find. When this wine came out (mid-'80's), we had had glimpses of future greatness in Syrah from the '77-'78 EstrellaRiver Syrahs by Gary Eberle, but not yet seen a really great Calif Syrahs (the first Qupe was coming out then, also). So I was excited to try this Duxoup when I stumbled across it. Major disappointment.... loads of grapey Beaujolais character & not much Syrah. So I had very low expectations going into this tasting for this Duxoup. It had held up much better than I expected, but still nothing great.
Some pretty incredible complex mature Rhones here in this tasting. The Eberle, the Cigar Volant, the Clape Cornas, the Champet Cote-Rotie, the two Aussies.... all pretty amazing juice. You'all shoulda been there.