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.

 

French and California Rhones
We tasted last night some French & Calif Rhones:
Newton Napa Valley Viognier (A Private Bttlg; 14.3%) '96: Med.gold color; rather strong toasty/smokey/oaked very light pear/Viognier nose; soft fat very strong toasty/ charred/Fr.oaked/smokey weak pear/Viognier flavor; med.long very toasty/smokey/ buttery/charred/Fr.oak somewhat bitter finish; any Viognier character is pretty well obliterated by the oak in this wine; decent price for a Newton Chard, stupid price for a Calif Viognier.
Bettinelli Napa Valley Viognier (14.0%) '97: Med.gold color; med. some cinammon/apple/ green apple/spicy weak pear/Viognier nose; soft/fat/flat textured light pear/ apple/green apple some bitter/earthy flavor; med.long green apple/appley/pear light spicy light earthy slight bitter finish; a pleasant simple low-key Viognier much like the R.H.Phillips.
Jean Michel Gerin Condrieu Coteau de la Loye (13%) '97: Med.dark gold color; lovely fragrant pear/Viognier/light peachy slight buttery/minerally bit toasty/oak/ volatile/perfumed nose; soft slight toasty/pencilly fairly lush pear/peach/Viognier slight minerally flavor; very long lingering pear/peach/Viognier light toasty/ pencilly some minerally/earthy finish; very attractive fragrant Condrieu w/ very light touch of oak.
Alain Paret & Gerard Depardieu Lys de Volan Condrieu (13.5%) '97: Med.dark gold color; very unusual floral/fragrant/perfumy/cheap perfume/toilette water light pear/ Viognier nose; soft rather bitter very perfumed/aromatic/cheap perfume/floral some earthy light pear/Viognier flavor; med. somewhat bitter/earthy weak Viognier/pear rather perfumy/cheap perfume finish; a rather unusual/exotic Condrieu that tastes much like a Preston Viognier; more like a Muscat than a Viognier; not worth $43.00
Joseph Swan Cotes du Rosa Russian River Valley RTW Frati Ranch Old Vines (14.5%) '97: Very dark color; slight volatile very dusty/old vines very intense grapey/very ripe blackberry/jammy complex nose; slight spritz off-dry very rich/lush/grapey intense jammy/blackberry dusty/old vines slightly hot flavor; very long dusty/old vines very intense grapey/blackberry/jammy/boysenberry off-dry finish w/ light tannins; obviously a stuck fermentation wine; lots of late-harvesty blackberry/black cherry cola character.
Fife L'Attitude Mendocino RTW (13.3%) '96: Med.dark color; lots of pencilly/Fr.oak some dusty/smokey some black fruit/cherry nose; tart some earthy/dusty lean lots of pencilly/Fr.oak bit washed out/light black fruit flavor; med.short dusty/earthy low fruit some pencilly/oaked finish w/ light tannins; a bit simple & washed out/ dilute but a pleasant quaff.
Cuvee Lestat Santa Barbara County Syrah (13.5%) '96: from Brian Babcock: Dark color; strong dusty gamey/Syrah some blackberry rather toasted/oaked deep/brooding nose; tart hard tannic dusty/earthy some toasty/oaked bit herbal some gamey/Syrah flavor; med.long hard/dusty/earthy some gamey/Syrah bit herbal finish w/ ample tannins; not the usual lushness of SB Syrah, seems like very cool-climate Syrah; a big and brooding wine that needs age of 3-7 yrs.
Fess Parker Santa Barbara Cnty Syrah American Tradition Reserve (13.5%) '95: Med.dark color; intense herbal/chocolaty/exotic some dusty/dill slight volatile borderline MontereyCnty veggy rather weird nose; tart very herbal/chocolaty bit dill pickle/ MontereyCnty veggy some blackberry toasty Fr.oaked flavor; very long intense herbal/ vegetal/bit pickle juice rather toasty/oaked finish w/ some tannins; very widely disliked because of the intense herbal/vegetal character.
Swanson Napa Valley Syrah (14.3%) '96: Very dark color; very intense blackberry/Syrah/ gamey/licorice complex some vanilla/oaked bit eucalyptus/menthol nose; tart rich dusty/licorice intense blackberry/blueberry/gamey/Syrah slight menthol/vanilla/oaked fairly tannic flavor; very long intense blackberry/gamey/Syrah slight eucalyptus/ menthol some vanilla/oaked finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-8 yrs; a big rich lush ripe Syrah w/ somewhat less oak than previous ones and more balanced.
David Bruce Central Coast Petite Sirah (13%) '97: Black color; deep earthy/dusty some herbal/PasoRobles low fruit bit licorice nose; very soft/fat lush dusty/earthy herbal/licorice some toasty/oaked flavor; med.long bit herbal/dusty/earthy/licorice some toasty/oaked finish w/ light tannins; a rather clunky PS but pretty tasty/ ready-to-drink wine.
Jean-Michel Gerin Cote-Rotie Champin le Seigneur '96: Very dark color; very strong roasted/toasty/smokey/charred/pungent some blackberry/Syrah bit bretty/barnyardy slight oaked complex nose; tart rich dusty/earthy/espresso/roasted/smokey/pungent some bretty/barnyardy/unclean flavor; long some bretty/barnyardy/funky strong smokey/dusty/roasted/charred/espresso light blackberry/Syrah finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-6 yrs; an elegant/racy/stylish C-R w/ good roasted character & some funkiness.
Michel Ogier Cote-Rotie '95: Very dark color; beautiful classic C-R/espresso/ roasted/dusty/smokey/pungent meaty/gamey/Syrah complex C-R nose; tart dusty/smokey/ roasted/pungent/espresso/tarry spicy classic C-R flavor; very long roasted/espresso/ smokey/pungent/charred dusty/earthy light blackberry/gamey/Syrah balanced finish w/ fair tannins; not a huge blockbuster wine but extremely well-made w/ lots of classic C-R character; terrific stuff.
Gallet Cote-Rotie '95: Med.dark color; very intense classic C-r/espresso/pungent/ roasted/bacon fat/smokey some gamey/Syrah nose; soft rich intense roasted/dusty/ espresso/bacon fat/pungent/complex rather hard/tannic flavor; very long soft roasted/pungent/bacon fat/espresso finish w/ some tannins; beautiful complex C-R that needs 2-6 yrs.
Cuilleron Cote-Rotie Coteau de Bassenon '94: Dark color; strong blackberry/Syrah/ gamey slight dusty/roasted/complex some toasty/new Fr.oak nose; tart lean hard intense dusty/smokey rather blackberry/Syrah/gamey slight bretty rather perfumed/ floral complex flavor; med.long tart hard lean some gamey/blackberry/Syrah some toasty/Fr.oaked finish; needs 2-6 yrs; lots of pure Syrah fruit and less classic C-R character; rather hard & lean on the palate.
Gentaz-Dervieux Cote Brune Cote-Rotie Cuvee Reservee '87: Med.color w/ slight bricking; some fragrant/dusty/earthy/Rhone complex elegant slight smokey/charred roasted nose; lean elegant bit dried-out spicy/smokey/dusty/charred/roasted/complex flavor; med.long complex slight smokey/pungent/dusty/roasted finish w/ light tannins; still good classic C-R character; drying out a bit on the palate but a fully mature C-R in great shape for a poor yr. Howard&Rhoda's mystery wine.

And the same old pontifications from the bloody pulpit:
The Swan Cotes du Rosa: This is Rod's red wine from a bunch of unidentified mixed red varieties on the Angelo Frati Ranch behind the wnry. It's always been a favorite of mine for an interesting inexpensive red wine. This one is no exception but; however; will not appeal to everyone. Clearly from very overripe grapes and a stuck fermentation, it is, nonetheless, very exotic stuff and must be tasted w/ an open mind. Clearly, a Rhone-style red it is not. Not yet released at the wnry, only to the futures buyers. Rod Bergland recommends a few months of age afore trying it, but I couldn't resist.
Fess Parker Wnry: This is one wnry that has always perplexed me. Prime vnyd site; some terrific wines made from these grapes by other winemakers. Their early Syrahs tended to be very overdone on the toasty/French oak. Same for their Pinots and Chards. Actually, the White Riesling is a pretty nice wine. I hadn't noticed when I bought this that it was the '95 vintage. The '96 vintage that they poured at Raisin'Rhones last summer was much better, one that I liked quite a bit in fact. Another under-achiever of a winery that has a lot of potential, once they figure it out.