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 and French Red Rhones
Tasted this week some New French/Calif Red Rhones:
Vacheeron-Pouizin Les Clos du Caillou Cote du Rhone Viellies Vignes (13.5%) '97: Med.color; rather spicy/cherry/dusty/slight roasted nose; tart/sharp/shrill light cherry/ roasted flavor; med.long cherry/strawberry/light roasted rather tart/shrill finish w/ some tannins; very nice nose but very tart on the palate; overpriced at $25.75
Tardieu-Laurent Vacqueyras Viellies Vignes (13%) '96: Med.dark color; rather toasty/ smokey/oaked slight roasted/dusty nose; soft some toasty/oaked light roasted/dusty/ earthy bit sour flavor; med.long rather toasty/oaked some roasted/dusty/smokey/pungent finish w/ some tannins; lots of oak and good smokey/roasted/Rhone character; somewhat overpriced at $27.00
Brusset Les Hauts de Montmirail Gigondas (13%) '97: Dark color; rather oaked/ fragrant/earthy/strawberry some menthol/toasty/oaked nose; tart bit lean/tannic some toasty/oaked/menthol rather Grenache/strawberry flavor; long hard/tannic bit lean/narrow some toasty/menthol strawberry/fruit finish w/ fair tannins; a rather big & hard Gigondas, needs 2-4 yrs.
Cartier Domaine Les Goberts Gigondas Cuvee Florence (13.5%) '95: Med.dark color; rather roasted/coffee/dusty/toasty some strawberry bit of brett some complex nose; soft lush bit tannic ripe strawberry/Grenache/fruit some roasted/coffee flavor; long rather toasty/roasted/coffee some strawberry/Grenache w/ some tannins; soft/ big/ripe & lush but a bit lacking in structure; a very good Gigondas.
Gilles Robin Crozes-Hermitage Cuvee Alberic Bouvet (13%) '96: Dark color; very strong/roasted/espresso/coffee/smokey classic NorthRhone nose; soft very strong pungent/roasted/coffee/espresso/spicy flavor; very long strong roasted/coffee/ espresso/smokey/pungent very spicy finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; loads of roasted/NR character; a steal at $18.00 in Boulder.
Tardieu-Laurent Crozes-Hermitage (12.5%) '96: Very dark color; rather toasty/oaked some roasted/smokey/pungent nose; tart rather toasty/oaked some roasted/pungent/ earthy flavor; med.long very toasty/oaked some tannic bit roasted/earthy/NR finish; needs 2-4 yrs; lots of toasty/oak & some roasted character.
Les Nobles Rives Cornas (12.5%) '95: Med.color; attractive fragrant/fruity light roasted/earthy/dusty slight minty/smokey nose; soft very spicy light roasted/ pepperminty spicy lots of fruit flavor; med. spicy/fruity light roasted/smokey finish w/ light tannins; an attractive up-front drinkable Cornas; the RHPhillips EXP Syrah of Cornas.
Kynsi San Luis Obisbo Cnty Syrah (13.8%) '96: Dark color; fragrant very lush/perfumed/blackberry/ Syrah/very framboise some candied nose; tart very lush/intense/framboise/very spicy/ perfumed ripe/lush flavor; long very spicy very framboise/blackberry/lush finish w/ light tannins; a forward/up-front Syrah w/ loads of framboise character; very good value at $20.00
Nadeau Family Vintners Paso Robles Syrah (13.7%) '97: Med.dark color; strong ripe/ blackberry/Syrah some earthy/dusty light pungent nose; tart earthy/dusty some ripe/blackberry attractive/floral flavor; med.long earthy some blackberry/Syrah bit Rhonish finish w/ light tannins; an attractive Paso Syrah; tastes like it's probably Eastside/ShellCreek/FrenchCamp grapes.
Dover Canyon Paso Robles Syrah (77% FrahlichVnyd, 23% ChecqueraVnyd; 13.8%) '97: mad. dark color; lots of oak very blackberry/jammy/spicy quite Zin-like nose; tart/brisk very spicy/jammy/raspberry/blackberry some oaked Zin-like flavor; long very Zin- like very spicy/raspberry some oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-4 yrs; a very bright very spicy wine w/ some jammy/Paso character; more like Zin than Syrah but very tasty/bright red wine.
Qupe Santa Maria Valley Bien Nacido Hillside Estate Syrah (14.5%) '97: Dark color; strong raspberry/blackberry/dusty slight herbal/smokey/pungent/Rhonish complex nose; rich intense/pungent/smokey/complex/spicy/blackberry light herbal/roasted/Rhonish flavor; very long very spicy smokey/blackberry light herbal/pungent/smokey finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; will be a great one; very well-made beautiful Syrah.
Babcock Santa Barbara Valley Syrah Black Label Cuvee (13.6%; "Optimum Quad Possum":BWB) '97: Black color; very intense/pungent/licorice/smokey very gamey some roasted/ Rhonish intense blackberry fruit huge nose; huge intense blackberry/Syrah/ licorice pungent/smokey rather gamey bit herbal dusty flavor; very long tannic intense blackberry/ Syrah/ licorice smokey/pungent/dusty very gamey/spicy some roasted/ pungent finish w/ ample tannins; very gamey/Rhonish kind of Syrah; huge wine w/ structure for aging 4-10 yrs; stunning Syrah.
Swanson Napa Valley Syrah (14.3%) '96: Black color; intense blackberry/juicy bit herbal rather gamey some minty/eucalyptus complex nose; rich intense licorice/ pungent ripe blackberry/Syrah some menthol/eucalyptus bit vanilla/oaked flavor; very long very lush/blackberry/gamey some menthol/eucalyptus light vanilla/oaked complex finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; lovely lovely Syrah.
Swanson Alexis Napa Valley Estate Red Wine (14.3%; 45% Syrah, 33% CS, 12% CabFranc) '96: Black color; very intense licorice/ pungent/smokey very Aussie-like/oaked/ vanilla very ripe some blackcurranty/juicy nose; rich lush very vanilla/oaked/ licorice/blackberry/curranty some herbal/Cab smokey flavor; very long/lingering vanilla/pencilly/oaked very lush/licorice/spicy Cab/herbal/blackberry/blackcurranty finish w/ fair tannins; needs 3-8 yrs; very Aussie in style; beautiful wine; what wonders Syrah can do for Cabernet.

A the usual effluvia of a deranged mind from the bloody pulpit:
Dan Othman's (sp?) Kynsi Syrah '95 last yr I thought was quite a nice, well-made, fairly restrained Syrah. This '96 is even better; loads of Syrah fruit and framboise character. Located at the upper end of the EdnaVlly near SanLuisObispo, this is a wnry to keep your eyes on. Rather similar to the Alban Syrah w/o the big tannins & structure. Worth tracking down.
The Qupe Hillside '97 was a gift from BobLindquist during my recent visit there. It will be released around October. Not as deep & brooding as some of the previous Hillsides on their release and not some of the herbal character the Hillside sometimes shows; the wine is an absolutely wonderfully-crafted Syrah. "Seamless" (oy... a RP term!!) is the word that kept coming to mind. Another marvelous success in the string of Hillside Syrahs, one of my most favorite Calif Syrahs. If the earlier ones could be described as more Hermitage in character; this '97 seems more Cote-Rotie in character; more fragrant & perfumey & elegant (if a wine of this size can be termed elegant).
I had tasted the Babcock BlackLabel Syrah '97 at Hospice du Rhone, under not the best of tasting conditions, and was quite impressed with it. Tasted here under better circumstances; I was blown away by the wine. Just been released and very much worth tracking down; it's incredible Syrah. I had liked Brian Babcock's Syrahs in the past but they reminded me (like the LaneTanner and Hartley-Ostini ones) of Syrah produced by a Pinot producer. This '97 is of a totally different ilk and puts Brian Babcock right up in the the top tier of Calif Syrah producers. I have followed Brian Babcock's wines from the very start. They started out as very well-made very attractive wines. About the time he got married, the wines seemed to be not as exciting & interesting as they first were (that's just a time- line there; not meant to imply anything about his wife!!!). But the last 3-4 yrs, I have been mightly impressed, across the board, with the Babcock wines. Truly great SantaBarbara wines at, I think, reasonable prices. His early interest was in making great Alsatian GWT/Riesling wines in Calif; but I fear that the obstinacy of that market probably wore him down. But his other wines are absolutely first rate wines. This Syrah is probably the greatest wine Brian has yet made.
I have followed the Swanson Syrahs from the very start (guess I could say that about most any wnry in Calif) and have always been very impressed w/ them. This is an Oakville vnyd that Sean Thackery used to make his Orion Syrah from until Swanson bought the vnyd. The wines that Marco Capelli have made from these grapes are certainly different in style than those early Orions, but no less terrific. The early Swansons tended to have a lot more of the characteristic Swanson vanilla oak to them. Also a bit more of the eucalyptus character, which I find at a low enough level that it makes the wine very interesting. A neighbor to the vnyd had this stand of eucalyptus trees bordering the vnyd that Swanson recently paid him to have taken out, so, perhaps, the eucalyptus character will disappear in this wine. Nonetheless, maybe Marco's best Syrah yet. I've also followed the Alexis from the start. The Syrah for this wine comes from a newer Swanson planting down towards their Cabernet vnyd in Oakville. It's always been a wine I liked, but sorta felt it was a waste to blend Syrah in with Cabernet. This '96 version I liked quite a lot and thought it was easily the best Calif Syrah/Cab bland yet made, maybe not a waste of good Syrah grapes after all. Very Aussie in style, much like some of the Penfolds ones.