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.

 

New California & French Rhones
Tasted last night some New Calif/French Rhones:
Andre Perret Condrieu Clos Chanson (13.5%) '97: Light gold color; attractive fragrant fresh pear/Viognier light minerally nose; tart some lush bit metallic/ minerally light pear/Viognier flavor; long elegant bit lean fragrant/pear/Viognier finish; pleasant straightforward Viognier/pear varietal character but not a lot of Condrieu/minerally character; delicate elegant Condrieu.
Andre Perret Condrieu Coteau de Chery (13.5%) '96: Med.light gold color; very fragrant pear/peach/Viognier some minerally bit earthy nose; soft some glycerined spicy/minerally/Condrieu peachy/pear/Viognier bit earthy flavor; med.long some glycerined/minerally peachy/Viognier minerally/earthy finish; bit more richness & bigness w/ more Condrieu character but still not a very big blockbuster style of Condrieu; not worth the $53.00
Cold Heaven Santa Barbara County Viognier Sanford & Benedict Vnyd (13.5%) '97: Med.gold color; fragrant pear/pineappley/SBCnty bit stoney light oaked/pungent nose; tart lean bit stoney light pear/pineapple some toasty/oaked flavor; med.long tart/ stoney pear/pineapple lean/hard light toasty/pungent finish; not a lot of varietal/ Viognier character & rather lean & hard; not as lush & opulent as Morgan's Viogniers tend to be.
Villard Coteaux de Poncins Condrieu (13.5%) '97: Med.gold color; lovely light/ fragrant pear/peach/Viognier aromatic some minerally/Condrieu bit smokey/pungent rather interesting if light nose; soft rather minerally/Condrieu some smokey/ pungent/complex light pear flavor; med.long light smokey/pungent light minerally/ Condrieu finish; not as big & rich as Villard's Condrieu tend to be but a very nice/intriguing/complex smokey/minerally character; fairly priced at $30.00
Kendall-Jackson Sonoma Valley Syrah Durell Vnyd (13.6%) '88: Med.dark color; rather oaked/pungent burnt/licorice slight gamey rather decayed/rotted/vegetal bit tired nose; tart bit thin pungent/tannic/oaked decayed/vegetal flavor; med.long pungent/smokey/charred dried-out toasty decayed/rotted/vegetal finish w/ little but tannins; dried out & pretty dead w/ too much oak.
Unali Hillside Estates Mendocino Syrah (14.6%) '97: Dark color; rather buttery/ oaked Mendocino/tomatoey earthy/grapey some oaked/toasty nose; soft buttery/oak tomatoey/Mendocino/grapey some blackberry/Syrah flavor; med. soft buttery/light oaked bit chocolaty/grapey Mendocino/tomatoey finish w/ light tannins; pretty nice red w/ lots of Mendocino character but not a lot of Syrah.
Chave St.Joseph Offerus (12.5%) '97: Dark color; rather strong pungent/roasted/ Rhone/espresso meaty/gamey some blackberry/dusty bit green/green olive nose; very tart/hard/acid strong pungent/roasted/smokey gamey/dusty low fruit flavor; med. very tart/acid rather pungent/roasted/smokey/gamey/meaty rather underripe/ green olive finish w/ some tannins; needs age; a classic great NorthernRhone/ roasted nose but rather hurtey on the palate.
Jean-Luc Colombo Cornas Les Ruchets (12.5%) '96: Dark color; some toasty/pencolly/ oaked/smokey light roasted/earthy little fruit bit green olive nose; tart rather pencilly/toasty/oaked earthy/dusty low fruit flavor; med.long pencilly/toasty/oak low fruit light pungent/roasted finish w/ some tannins; plenty of oak & more like a big RedBurg than Rhone. Overpriced at $40.00
Clos du Bois Alexander Valley Shiraz (13.4%) '96: Med.dark color; rather buttery/Am. oaked slight pungent/blackberry/Syrah nose; soft/fat Am.oaked/buttery bit sour light fruity/blackberry simple/dull flavor; med.long soft/buttery/Am.oaked light pungent/blackberry finish w/ little tannins; absolutely dullsville. $12.60
Voss Vnyds Napa Valley Syrah (13.5%) '97: Med.dark color; somewhat medicinal/adhesive tape light blackberry/gamey nose; soft rather menthol/eucalyptus light gamey/ blackberry slight medicinal flavor; med.long rather pungent/eucalyptus/menthol some adhesive tape soft fat light blackberry finish; a pleasant Aussie-style Syrah but badly overpriced at $28.00
JC Cellars Mendocino Cnty Eaglepoint Ranch Syrah (14.1%) '97: Dark color; rather ripe/ tomatoey/Mendocino light blackberry/Syrah slight volatile/aromatic slight toasty/ coffee/pungent nose; soft spicy/tomatoey/Mendocino red light blackberry light toasty/oak flavor; med.long tomatoey/Mendocino/spicy light pungent/oaked/earthy finish w/ some tannins; lots of spicy/tomatoey character more like Mendocino Zin than Syrah; nonetheless a very tasty/good red wine.
JC Cellars Santa Barbara County Syrah MesaVnyd (14.2%) '97: Dark color; lovely blackberry/ Syrah/gamey/blueberry pungent/smokey some toasty/oak nose; tart rather gamey/ blackberry/Syrah very spicy some toasty/pungent oaked flavor; med.long spicy classic SBCnty blackberry/blueberry/Syrah light smokey/pungent finish w/ some tannins; needs a yr or two; reminds me of the '94-'96 Qupe CentralCoast Syrahs.
Sunstone Artiste Santa Barbara County Syrah (13.5%) '97: Dark color; rather volatile/ fragrant/slight pickle juice rather blackberry/Syrah/juicy/boysenberry nose; soft bit herbal slight hot/volatile/pickle juice rather juicy/blackberry/boysenberry bit gamey flavor; med.long slight hot/pickle juice/volatile some juicy/blackberry finish w/ some tannins; too volatile lots of juicy fruit & way overpriced. $30.00
McCrea Yakime Valley Syrah (13.6%) '97: Very dark color; slight reduced/skunky rather spicy/pungent/smokey/earty interesting/complex nose; tart very spicy/ elegant some coffee/pungent/smokey some bretty/horsecollar light Syrah almost PinotNoir-like flavor; med.long lighter/elegant some coffee/herbal/smokey/pungent some bretty/horsecollar finish w/ light tannins; interesting & on the light side but overpriced at $28.00
Jory Syrah Santa Clara Valley LionOaksRanch "Sangre de Donohoe" (14.3%) '97: Black color; very dusty/gamey/complex very ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/juicy/jammy some roasted/eucalyptus/oaked/pungent nose; rich intense blackberry/boysenberry/ juicy/jammy soft/lush/full some dusty/gamey/smokey/eucalyptus flavor; long rich/ lush juicy/jammy/blackberry/boysenberry pungent/dusty/smokey bit eucalyptus finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; lots of stuff going on in the wine; rather pricey at $44.00
Richard Hamilton McLarenVale Reserve OldVine Shiraz (13.5%) '97: Very dark color; very earthy some menthol/eucalyptus ripe blackberry/cassis/framboise some complex/ earthy/roasted nose;soft very strong blackberry/framboise/boysenberry some eucalyptus/oaked/menthol/smokey flavor; long soft/ripe blackberry/eucalyptus/ menthol rather dusty oaked finish; not up to the '96 but very good Aussie Syrah for $17.00

And the usual effluvia from the bloody pulpit:
The Condrieus were a bit on the disappointing side, given the (typical) prices. The Perrets were more or less true to form; I find them typically on the light/ elegant/delicate side; well-made but not the intensity I like in great Condrieu. Same story on the Villard; not the power and intensity his Condrieu tends to have.
I had liked the Unali a lot when I had it out in Calif in June. It seemed a pretty big & structured wine, though w/ not a lot of Syrah character. This one seemed much more soft & forward and spoke mostly of Mendocino red.
I had bought the K-J Durell '88 recently at Liquorama in Upland to see what it had become. Not much.... pretty tired & dried out. When it was young, as Jed Steele's wines tend to be, it had a lot (a $hitload as we say in Kansas) of toasty/oak. That and astringent tannins are about all that's left now. Fortunately, the Durell Syrah grapes are no longer wasted on K-J.
I had had the Chave Offerus '97 several months ago and found it excruciatingly acid on the palate ("searing acidity" is the term RP uses... as applied to Cline Zins... but this is a "natural acidity" from underripe grapes and, therefore, is perfectly acceptable to his palate); but had seen some other very positive reviews on the 'Net, so wanted to try it again. It's a beautiful NorthernRhone nose but on the palate..... it's like sticking your tongue into the jaws of a vise and torquing that sucker down!!! Not at all pleasant. It shows some of that green olive character I sometimes find in Bob Lindquist's Hillside Syrah. Nonetheless, my hunch is that w/ 3-6 yrs of age, this'll be an awfully good St.Joseph. Just a hunch.
The current Voss SauvignonBlanc '97 is a very lovely wine, so Iwas expecting great things from their first Syrah here. Alas, it was not to be.
With these two Syrahs, we've now tasted thru all of Jeff Cohn's (JC Cllrs) '97 releases (Zins/PetiteSirahs/Syrahs). He had a good year; the wines were all well- made, tasty, delicious reds. They didn't have as strong a toasty/Fr.oak character that his '96's did. And they seemed a bit softer/rounder and less tannic than the '96's, perhaps because of the crop level in '97. But a winemaker to keep your eye on..... a bit off-scale at times... but he knows what he's doing.
The first SunStone Syrah '94 was a killer Syrah. Alas. none they've made since then have measured up to that first effort. This '97 is a flawed wine.
This McCrea Syrah was a bit disappointing. I've liked Doug McCrea's wines quite a lot at Hospice du Rhone and he showed some there in June that were terrific. This one was a bit light & unthrilling, though somewhat interesting.
This is the first Jory Syrah, from vines grafted over to Syrah at the Lion Oaks Ranch. It has a kind of jammy/juicy fatness to it that seems characteristic of the wines from this part of the Central Coast. Though it has ample tannins to it, it doesn't seem to have the big/hard/structure to it that indicate a long life ahead. Nonetheless, it's a complex Syrah w/ lots going on in it. Winner of the Vintner's Club Syrah tasting. Great stuff.