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.

 

California and French Rhones
Tasted last night some (mostly) White Calif/French Rhones.
Gristina North Fork of Long Island Andy's Field Chardonnay (13%) '93: Light gold color; fragrant/oaked/butterscotchy light earthy/melony slight herbal nose; soft fat slight plastic/hybridy light melony/earthy some butterscotchy/oaked flavor; med. short soft/fat/flat rather butterscotchy/oaked light melony/earthy finish; decent Chardonnay that's in pretty good shape.
Jackson-Triggs Niagra Falls Canada Chardonnay (12.0%) '96: Med.gold color; lean/stoney/ earthy slight herbal some Seyval-like nose; soft very flat light herbal/stoney flavor; very short flat weak stoney/earthy finish; decent NYState-like nose but not much on the palate.
Dehlinger Russian River Vlly Chardonnay Estate (14.2%) '97: Med.dark gold color; intense very fragrant/aromatic buttery/butterscotchy/toasty very lush/ripe/melony/Chardonnay beautiful nose; big intense ripe/melony/Chardonnay very spicy buttery/butterscotchy/ light toasty/oaked complex flavor; very long lingering very lush/ripe/melony/Chardonnay/ spicy rather buttery/butterscotchy oaked finish; a very big wine but everything is in incredible balance; fantastic stuff, almost enough to make me buy Chardonnay again; much better than any recent Kistlers.
Terre Rouge Shenandoah Vlly Calif Muscat Blanc (13%) '98: Med.dark gold color; lovely very fragrant/perfumey Muscat/Alsatian-like nose; fairly sweet (1.5%-2.0% r.s.??) very attractive/floral/Muscatty/aromatic very spicy/appley/pear flavor; very long very lush Muscatty/floral/pears finish; a beautifully done Muscat.
Martin Sepp 20 Jahre Zum Gruner Veltliner (12%) '98: Med.gold color; fragrant very spicy/peppery floral/aromatic perfumed nose; tart lush very black pepper/ spicy floral bit earthy flavor; med.long very spicy/peppery/floral finish; very interesting white w/ lots of cracked black pepper character.
Miner Calif(Lodi) Viognier (14.1%) '97: Light gold color; attractive pear/peach/ spicy fragrant varietal nose; very soft/fat attractive peachy/pear/floral/appley some spicy flavor; med.long very soft/fat spicy/pear/peachy/apple finish; a very nicely done varietally-correct Viognier; suprisingly good for Lodi grapes.
Beringer Napa Vlly Viognier (14.7%) '96: Dark gold color; very intense toasty/ charred/smokey/oaky slight high-toned fruit nose; some bitter very intense toasty/charred/butteryscotchy/buttery/smokey oak dominated flavor; long very intense toasty/charred/buttery slightly bitter finish; probably a good Viognier that's been totally obliterated by the oak; not even a good Chardonnay. Overpriced at $33.00
Alban Vineyards Edna Vlly Alban Estate (14.5%) Viognier '98: Med.gold color; fragrant pear/ spicy/light peachy/Viognier elegant slight toasty/oak/smokey nose; tart minerally/ earthy/spicy/pear light smokey/butterscotchy/caramel glycerined subtle flavor; very long/lingering spicy/pear/Viognier/minerally light earthy/smokey/butterscotchy complex finish; an elegant very well-made Viognier w/ some minerally/Condrieu character; needs a bit of age; atypical Calif Viognier.
Alban Vnyds Edna Vlly Alban Estate (14.8%) Roussanne '97: Med.dark gold color; beautiful fragrant very spicy/aromatic/lush/complex/fruit/apple/floral/honeysuckle slight pungent/burnt nose; tart very rich very spicy/complex/toasted almonds/floral/honeysuckle intense aromatic very glycerined flavor; very long lingering very lush/spicy/floral/ honeysuckle/toasted almonds tart finish; a beautiful aromatic white w/ great mouthfeel and plenty of flavor; terrific wine.
Qupe Edna Vlly Alban Vineyard Roussanne (14%) '97: Med.light color; some toasty/smokey/oak very spicy/floral/honeysuckle nose; soft light/toasty/oak low-key spicy/floral/apple blossom nose; med.long tart bit metallic/hard/lean rich floral/aromatic/honeysuckle finish; terrific nose but seems a bit closed/restrained on the palate; needs a yr or two of age.
Qupe Central Coast Roussanne (55% StolpmanVnyd, 45% MistralVnyd; 13.7%) '97: Med.dark gold color; slight sauerkraut/reduced slight smokey/toasty/oak very fragrant/spicy/ floral/honeysuckle/perfumed very Viognier-like complex nose; soft very lush/ripe/ honeysuckle/floral/peachy/spicy flavor; very long very lush/ripe/floral/honeysuckle fragrant/spicy light pungent/smokey finish; beautiful aromatics & mouthfeel; another terrific up-front Roussanne; great price at $22.00
Andrew Murray Santa Barbara Cnty Roussanne (13.5%/15.5%) '98: Med.dark gold color; very intense floral/aromatic/perfumed/Viognier-like/pear bit overripe/apple complex nose; huge intense floral/honeysuckle/very spicy/lush/peachy very glycerined flavor; very long lingering intense/pear/peachy/apply/floral/honeysuckle perfumed finish; an incredible fruit-bomb of a Roussanne of a wine like great Alsatian/Z-H PinotGris almost. Great price of $25.00
Rostaing Condrieu Viognier La Bonnette (13%) '97: Med.gold color; beautiful minerally/ stoney spicy/elegant light smokey/Condrieu nose; tart elegant stoney/minerally/spicy slight smokey very spicy/pear/Viognier flavor; long lingering elegant very spicy light smokey minerally/stoney/Condrieu finish; needs a couple of yrs; rather elegant/ restrained but very spicy/interesting character.
Montez Domaine du Monteillet Condrieu (14%) '97: Light gold color; rather smokey/ pungent/smokey hot dog/OscarMayerWeiner spicy very fragrant light pear/Viognier nose; tart/intense smokey/pungent/smoked hot dog very rich minerally/pear complex flavor; very long intense smokey/pungent/OscarMayer ripe pear/minerally/Condrieu very complex finish; very unusual variant of Condrieu but very good. Reasonable price at $41.00
Gangloff Condrieu (13%) '97: Med.gold color; beautiful/intense pure Condrieu/pear/ peachy/Viognier very spicy/complex light minerally nose; tart clean very ripe pear/ Viognier/peachy rich spicy light minerally flavor; long intense pear/Viognier/peach very spicy light minerally finish; a clean intense pure Viognier, almost Calif in style w/ its emphasis on purity of fruit.
Guigal La Doriane Condrieu (13.5%) '96: Med.gold color; beautiful complex very spicy very fragrant/aromatic/perfumey pear/Viognier rather minerally/smokey/OscarMayer nose; soft huge lush mouthfilling spicy/smokey/OscarMayer intense peach/pear/Viognier some minerally very ripe complex flavor; very long lingering very spich intense peach/pear/ Viognier very ripe/lush rather smokey/pungent/OscarMayer complex minerally finish; an incredible essence of Condrieu; this wine has it all.
Ch. d'Epire Cuvee Special Savennieres (13%) '96: Med.gold color; slight volatile bit oxidized stoney/earthy bit musty (not corked) slight honeyed nose; soft/fat bit oxidized/almondy/earthy/stoney flavor; med.long soft stoney/earthy/bit musty some oxidized finish; sticks out like a sore thumb in this group.

And the usual banal blatherings from the bloody pulpit:
The Terre Rouge Muscat was advertised as being an Alsatian-style Muscat. It was very much that in the nose, but I found it much too sweet on the palate to be called Alsatian. Nonetheless, it is a huge mouthfilling beautiful Mescat w/o the attendant bitterness one often finds in Muscats, Calif or otherwise. From the very rich glycerined textureon the palate, I would guess it to be over 15% alcohol also. But another terrific wine from Bill Easton.
The Austrian Gruner Veltliner was brought as a mystery wine by Diane Weir from her recent trip to Vienna. I thought is was probably Chardonnay, but a very unusual one because of the strong black pepper character. Of the some 10-12 Gruner Veltliners I've had, this was by far the best.
Roussanne in Calif: I've been singing the praises of Roussanne in Calif for the last 3 yrs, even stating that it probably will be a better varietal than Viognier. At the Roussanne panel at HdR last month, many of the Roussanne producers (who all also produce Viognier) were of the same opinion, that less assertive in stating it, that Roussanne may be better than Viognier. The latest Calif Roussannes (AndrewMurray, Alban, Qupe, Bonny Doon) are all killer white wines. Better than the few French versions I've had by light yrs. World class white wines. I'd even go as far as to label the Andrew Murray '98 the greatest Roussanne ever produced. Definitely a grape to watch.
Alban Vnyds: I can't say enough about the quality of the wines JohnAlban is growing and producing these days. The new Viognier is sort of atypical of Calif Viognier in that it is more subtle & restrained than most, yet plenty of structured. His new Estate Roussanne is probably his best white wine ever; incredible stuff. The key here is probably the quality of his grapes, which is really what he's proud of. And all the other folks who use is grapes (Lindquist/Qupe; the Krankls/SQN; Morgan Torel/ColdHeaven) also make first-rate wines from them.
Andrew Murray Vnyds: Another producer who just keeps getting better and better. His new Roussanne is absolutely amazing in its intensity of flavor & aromas. Much like some of the Great Zind-Humbrechts. Yield on the wine was down below 1/2 ton/acre, which is why its incredible concentration. His new '98 Viognier is a little more restrained and less intense but also a terrific white.
Qupe Vnyds: Obviously, not much left to be said about Bob Lindquist that hasn't already been said. These new whites are some of his best ones yet. His Alban Roussanne was one that was very slow to finish up M-L and was not bottled until early this yr. I liked his CentralCoast version more, but the Alban may eventually be the better of the two.
I've never done an all-white Rhone tasting 'cause I would have trouble getting a group of tasters together (the crowd was a bit sparser than usual). It turned out to be an incredible tasting; some thought it was the best white wine tasting I've ever done, even better than my legendary SutterHome WhiteZin vertical tasting. It is really instructive to taste a bunch of Roussannes and Viogniers together. The diversity in winemaking styles and terriors make for a tasting far more interesting than any Chardonnay tasting. As excited as I get about the continued improvement in quality and character of Calif Viognier, when you taste a bunch of Condrieus, you realize that it's still the gold standard when it comes to Viognier. But, yoikes, the prices!! I'd had the Guigal LaDoraine at release & was not all that impressed by it. Another bottle last February was much more impressive. This mystery wine, brought by Kevin & Peggy Hubbard was quintessential Condrieu, about as perfect as it gets.