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 Rhones
Tasted last night some New Rhones:
Cline Los Carneros Viognier (14.0%) '97: Med.gold color; attractive appley/pear/light Viognier some toasty/oaked nose; tart rather toasty/oaked light pear/floral lean flavor; long ripe buttery rather toasty/smokey/oaked light pear/appley floral finish; fair amount of toasty Fr. oak w/ an underlying lean pear/Viognier character.
Cline Los Carneros Viognier (14.0%) '98: Med.gold color; lovely/floral/pear/Viognier/perfumed light earthy nose; tart lean pear/Viognier/spicy/clean light floral flavor; med.long tart/lean/ sleek spicy/pear/floral finish; much less oak than the '97; a lean restrained style of Viognier.
Cline Los Carneros Roussanne (14.0%) '97: Med.gold color; rather strong toasty/pungent/Fr.oaked some appley/floral bit smokey/earthy nose; soft bit bitter floral/appley/aromatic some pungent/ oaked/toasty flavor; med.long pungent/smokey/toasty/oaked slight bitter some floral/appley finish; bit bigger & harder than the '97 Viognier but similar.
Foxen Santa Ynez Valley Viognier Rothberg Vnyd (15.5%) '98: Med.gold color; beautiful/aromatic/perfumey powerful pineapple/floral/pear/peach/honeyed complex bit minerally nose; tart rich powerful/ mouthfilling/lush intense/aromatic/floral/pear/peach/Viognier bit earthy/minerally flavor; very long tart rich/intense/pear/peach/Viognier/pineapple lingering finish; loads of SB character w/ some minerally/Condrieu character; stunning Viognier.
Domaine Clavel Terrior de la Mejanelle "Les Garrigues" (12.5%) Coteaux du Languedoc '97: Med. dark color; earthy/dusty bit metallic rustic light blackberry rather CdR-like nose; hard/ earthy/dusty bit metallic very rustiv tannic low fruit flavor; med.short hard tannic rustic/ earthy/dusty finish; needs age but why bother; a rough/tannic/rustic Languedoc.
Domaine Clavel La Copa Santa (100% Syrah; 13%) Coteaux du Languedoc '97: Very dark color; rather deep/gamey/Syrah/some blackberry bit dusty nose; hard rough/tannic rather gamey/sauvage/some blackberry some fecal/bretty/unclean some smoked/hot dog flavor; med. hard/tannic/rough some fecal/bretty/unclean/diaper pail bit blackberry/aromatic finish; lots of tannins & needs 2-5 yrs age; may become something pretty interesting; very interesting nose but rather hard & rough on the palate.
Dry Creek Vnyd Dry Creek Valley Petite Sirah (14.0%) '97: Very dark color; strong Am.oaked/buttery/ buttered popcorn perfumed/peppery very spicy nose; fairly rich/spicy/peppery/blackberry some buttery/Am.oaked blackberry/Zin-like flavor; med.long very spicy/fragrant/peppery some buttery/ A.oaked finish w/ fair tannins; lots of very spicy/DryCreekVlly character; lots of aromatics & spice for PS.
Fife Mendocino Syrah Old Yokayo Rancho (13.2%) Syrah '97: Dark color; very strong charred/toasty/ smokey/tobbacoy/pungent some blackberry/gamey/Syrah but dusty nose; soft rather strong charred/ toasty/smokey/pungent/Fr.oaked some spicy/gamey/blackberry some bretty/horsecollar flavor; med. long very charred/toasty/smokey rather spicy/gamey/blackberry/Syrah bit bretty/unclean finish w/ some tannins; needs couple of yrs; one of the best Mendocino Syrahs I've had but quite a bit charred Fr.oak.
Io Santa Barbara Cnty Red Wine (64% Syrah, 19% Grenache, 17% Mourvedre; 14.1%) '96: Very dark color; bit fecal/diaper pail some smokey/toasty/Fr.oak some earthy/gamey/peppery light blackberry/ Syrah more Mourvedre-like/clunky nose; soft pretty bretty/horsecollar lean/hard/tannic toasty/ Fr.oaked bit fecal/unclean light gamey/licorice/blackberry/Syrah flavor; med.long hard/tannic/ earthy/dusty rather smokey/Fr.oaked some bretty/funky/fecal bit thin/lean finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-5 yrs age but not a lot of fruit there.
Hartley Ostini Hitching Post Santa Ynez Valley Syrah Rodney's Vnyd (13.0%) '97: Dark color; classic HP/pencilly/tobaccoy/Fr.oak/toasty light peppery/blackberry/Syrah bit herbal/earthy nose; soft rather strong pencilly/Fr.oaked/charred some peppery/blackberry bit underripe/herbal slight bretty flavor; med.long lots of pencilly/toasty/Fr.oaked some blackberry/earthy finish w/ modest tannins; classic HP pencilly/oak character but not a lot of aromatics.
Cline Los Carneros Syrah (14.0%) '97: Very dark color; rather strong Am.oaked quite gamey some blackberry/licorice/Syrah/peppery some minty/menthol/eucalyptus ripe nose; soft quite gamey rather rich blackberry/licorice/boysenberry/Syrah somewhat earthy some minty/menthol flavor; med.long earthy/dusty very gamey some blackberry/Syrah bit menthol/minty finish w/ some tannins; lots of earthy/fruit but some of that Carneros/clunky character. Well-priced at $16.50.
Andrew Murray Santa Barbara County Esperance (Syrah/Carignane/Mourvedre; 13.5%) '98: Very dark color; strong/ ripe blackberry/Syrah/licorice very spicy some aromatic/cherry some toasty/pencilly/Fr.oak rather Aussie-style bit earthy/black cherry nose; tart rather hard/lean some spicy/toasty/Fr. oaked/pencilly rather black cherry/licorice/blackberry/chocolaty flavor; rather hard/tannic/ lean black cherry/cherry/licorice/blackberry/Syrah finish; needs 2-4 yrs; not the usual AM style.
Charles Comicky Gnarled Vine Grenache Barossa Vlly (14.4%) '97: Med.dark color; fairly intense boysenberry/blackberry/strawberry/OV grenache/licorice rather menthol/eucalyptus quite oaky nose; soft forward strawberry/Grenache/boysenberry Am.oak/eucalyptus/menthol lots of fruit flavor; med/long soft menthol/eucalyptus/oaky strawberry/boysenberry finish w/ light tannins; lots of strawberry/Grenache, lots of menthol/oak but not the richness & structure of the d'Arenberg.
Charles Cimicky Signature Syrah Barossa Vlly (14.5%) '97: Very dark color; very intense Am.oak/ blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry some pencilly/menthol/eucalyptus/Am.oaked soft/fat/flat licorice bit monochromatic flavor; soft/fat med.long blackberry/Syrah/licorice rather menthol/ eucalyptus/oaked finish w/ fair tannins; lots of Syrah fruit & lots of Am.oak but rather lacking in structure & extract.
Ch. de Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf du Pape (14%) '97: Med.light color; rather strong fecal/ stinky/diaper pail/mercaptan/skunky nose blows of to rather bretty/earthy/black cherry bit stinky/tarry nose; soft pleasant earthy/dusty low fruit slight black cherry bit roasted/ pungent flavor; med.long light soft earthy/dusty bit roasted/pungent light strawberry/black cherry finish w/ light tannins; nice CdP but just that; pretty underwhelming at $33.00
Swanson Napa Valley Estate RW Alexis (CabSauv/Syrah; 14.1%) '97: Black color; very strong pencilly/ Fr.oaked rather blackberry/black curranty/licorice/chocolaty interesting nose; big rich ripe blackberry/black curranty/licorice rather pencilly/Fr,oaked bit menthol flavor; soft long menthol/pencilly/oaked ripe licorice/black curranty/blackberry finish w/ some tannins; needs some 2-5 yrs; lots of Aussie style & lots of fruit but doesn't seem to have the power and structure and extract of previous ones. Good red at a fair price. $32.00

And the usual prattle from the bloody pulpit:
Dry Creek Vnyds Petite Sirah: Loats of fruit & aromatics for PS; a bit like the Coffaros but w/ more heft & tannins. One of the best DryCrekVnyds PSs that I've ever had.
Foxen Viognier '98: I was quite taken by this Viognier at HdR in June, thought it was one of the best ones shown. It still continues to impress. It has lots of richness and ripeness, yet plenty of acids & structure. A bit like some of the Alban Viogniers. Very impressive and at a very fair price. Lots of Condrieu-like character & very restrained use of oak.
The Io: This is the RobertMondavi entry into the world of Calif Rhones, made by Ken Brown. Not an auspicious debut. Rather lacking in fruit & pretty hard/mean kind of wine. It may be like the '96 TablasCreek Rouge and evolve into something pretty interesting, but I'm a bit skeptical. Especially at the usual $40 price tag. 'Ol Bob better try again.
The Clines: The whites are not the typical flamboyant/Dolly Parton style these wines often have in Calif. Lots of crisp acidity and a certain restrained/leanness to them makes them much better food whites than many. Nicely done wines. Their Roussanne probably comes from commercial vnyd sources and, there, is suspect as Roussanne and may be Viognier. I could not get a lot of that lush/honeyed character that I often find in true Roussanne but it may be their winemaking style makes it resemble their Viognier more than anything. The Syrah was, easily, the best Cline Syrah I've yet had. It has some of that earthy/clunky character I often find in Carneros reds, but it also has a lot of blackberry/licorice fruit in there, w/ some of that classic Cline eucalyptus overtones. Quite a well-made Syrah at a more than fair price. The Cline Rhone wines have continued to improve steadly over the last few yrs as the bring in their Sonoma vnyds. They're not the biggest & most powerful of the Calif Rhones; but they always are well-made, interesting, and fairly priced (which is few and far between these days).
AndrewMurray Esperance '98: This is Andrew's version of a Rhone blend and seems to depart from his previous Esperances in style. It doesn't have as much lush/ripe bit over-the-top style that they've had before. The Carignane seems to dominate the Syrah in the wine at this point in time, giving it some cherry-like aromatics but also a rather hard/edgey quality on the palate. It had NO noticible VA/EA/volatility that I could pick up. It's an interesting Rhone blend that I think will be better w/ a few yrs of age but, in the $15 price range, I think the Ravenswood Icon Rhone blend is a more serious/structured/ageable red.