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 Zinfandel
Tasted last night some New (mostly) Zins (mostly):
Ridge Calif Zinfandel Monte Bello (12.6%) '73: Med.light color w/ slight bricking; beautiful cedary/old Bordeaux/tobaccoy/cigar box bit mushroomy/earthy/dusty/ fragrant nose; tart bit lean dusty/cedary/cigar box/old Zinfandel complex flavor; very long elegant bit lean/hard/tart complex/cedary/tobaccoy slight bretty/ horsecollar finish w/ light tannins; a lovely complex old Zinfandel
Ridge Calif Zinfandel Lytton Springs (96% Zinfandel, 4% PS; 12.8%) '73: Med.color; complex dusty/pungent/licorice/cigar box/cedary some blackberry nose; soft smooth lush elegant/raspberry/cigar box/cedary/pungent/licorice/complex bit oaked flavor; very long lingering some spicy/raspberry complex/licorice/pungent/ cedary/cigar box finish w/ light tannins; a beautiful shape, a lovely old Zinfandel.
De Loach Russian River Valley Zinfandel Estate (13.6%) '84: Med.dark color; rather strong Am.oaked light spicy/blackberry some pungent/licorice/smokey nose; soft smooth round slight raspberry/spicy light licorice/pungent/toasty/perfumed talc bit tannic flavor; short soft round smooth light raspberry/spicy some pungent/smokey/licorice rather Am.oaked/toasty bit astringent/drying-out finish; not a lot of complexity & drying out a bit but a pretty nice drinking mature Zinfandel in very good shape.
Preston Dry Creek Valley Sonoma County Barbera (13.5%) '85: Very dark color; very pungent/licorice/spicy sausage bit milky/Am.oaked earthy complex/very perfumed nose; very acid/tart/almost shrill/citric very spicy/spicy sausage/perfumed talc/aromatic/esthery hard flavor; very long very acid/tart perfumed/aromatic/ esthery spicy/spicy sausage complex finish w/ some tannins; very acid but some really great things in this wine.
Clayton Lodi Calif Zinfandel (15.1%) '96: Med.dark color; strong earthy/Lodi/ stewed tomatoes bit tobaccoy/blackberry nose; soft bit flat/dull rather dusty/ Lodi-earthy/stewed tomatoes light blackberry flavor; med.long light blackberry/ earthy/Lodi dusty finish w/ light tannins; a bit flat but a pretty tasty rather classic Lodi Zinfandel; one of the better Lodi Zins I've had.
Kempton Clark Lopez Ranch Cucamonga Zinfandel (14.5%) '97: Med.dark color; strong fragrant very jammy/juicy/grapey/blackberry/boysenberry nose; very soft/fat very jammy/grapey/juicy ripe blackberry/raspberry flavor; med.long soft/fat rather grapey/juicy/jammy/blackberry finish w/ some tannins; needs a yr or two yet.
Toad Hollow Cacophony Sonoma County Zinfandel (13.6%) '97: Med.light color; attractive raspberry/Zinberry slight bretty some buttery/Am.oaked nose; soft light rather buttery/Am.oaked bright raspberry/Zinberry/DCV Zinfandel flavor; med. rather attractive/light buttery/Am.oaked Zinberry/DCV finish w/ light tannins; a very nice drinking classic DCV Zinfandel at a great price. $13.00
Vinedos Agapito Rico Carchelo (50% Monastrell, 30% Tempranillo, 20% Merlot) '98: Med.dark color; very lush/fragrant/aromatic/grapey CM/Beaujolais nose; soft very lush/grapey Beaujolais/CM flavor; actually a pretty tasty wine better than most Beaujolais at a good price. $11.00
Hart's Desire Russian River Valley PonzoVnyd Zinfandel (15.3%) '96: Med.light color; pleasant blackberry/raspberry some Am.oaked/earthy nose; tart simple light blackberry/raspberry slight dusty some Am.oaked flavor; short tart simple raspberry/dusty Am.oaked finish w/ little tannins; a simple little Zinfandel that's pretty boring. Overpriced at $18.00
Easton Amador County Zinfandel (14.5%) '97: Very dark color; strong blackberry/briary/ Amador Zinfandel/jammy/grapey nose; tart ripe blackberry/briary/jammy lush very light oaked flavor; med.long tart ripe jammy/Amador briary/blackberry Zinfandel finish w/ light tannins; lots of ripe Amador/briary/Zinfandel character; a very tasty Amador Zinfandel at a great price. $10.00
Blockheadia Ringnossi NapaVlly Zinfandel (14.5%) '97: Near black color; intense pungent/licorice/PetiteSirah slight volatile/aromatic/fragrant blackberry/ dusty some Fr.oaked/pencilly nose; tart rich intense big blackberry/boysen- berry very spicy some dusty/old vines very juicy light pencilly/Fr.oaked flavor; very long some tannic very strong blackberry/boysenberry/ripe light Fr.oaked finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; a terrific Zinfandel much like the Turley's in style w/o all the oak; Michael's best wine yet.
Folie a Deux OldVine Fiddletown Zinfandel EschenVnyd (13.5%) '96: Dark color; very strong blackberry/boysenberry/black cherry cola slight menthol/oaked nose; soft bit tannic big ripe black cherry cola/blackberry/briary some oaked/menthol flavor; soft ripe lush blackberry/briary/cherry light oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a big rich ripe Amador Zinfandel w/o the usual Eschen hardness on the palate. $27.00
Dry Creek Vnyds Sonoma County Zinfandel Reserve (13.5%) '91: Med.dark color; pungent/ smokey/toasty/Fr.oaked/charred some blackberry/toasted coconut nose; soft lush some toasty/Fr.oaked/charred/pencilly licorice/pungent/blackberry/spicy buttery bit alcoholic slight wet dog fur/musty flavor; med.long toasty/charred/ pungent/Fr.oaked/buttery licorice/pungent/blackberry slight hot finish w/ light tannins; fully mature & nice drinking Zinfandel w/ still a few yrs ahead of it.
Ravenswood Napa Valley Zinfandel Dickerson Vnyd (13.8%) '87: Med.dark bit murky color; rather strange/musty/goat pen/Italian-like/earthy/pungent charred/toasty/oaked nose; sour/earthy/bit goat-pen/pungent some astringent/dried-out rather charred/toasty/pencilly/oaked flavor; med.long bit menthol/dusty/earthy/goat-pen strong toasty/pencilly/charred oak finish; no fruit to speak of and drying out; strange Italian-like wine (that is NOT a compliment!) $Howard & Rhoda's mystery wine.
Ridge Lytton Estate Zinfandel (86% Zinfandel, 7% PS, 7% Carignane; 15.4%) '91: Rather dark color; fairly strong gunpowder/H2S/SO2/stinky nose clears to strong blackberry/boysenberry/stewed tomatoes Am.oaked bit pungent/toasty nose; ripe lush blackberry/boysenberry/dusty Am.oaked/toasty/pungent soft flavor; soft ripe/lush blackberry/boysenberry/raspberry/spicy pungent/Am.oaked finish w/ light tannins; really stinky at first but cleared into a very nice tasty Mr.Ridge that will go on another few yrs.
Ojai Calif Syrah (14.5%) '97: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/Syrah/ black cherry/cola some smokey/toasty/oaked nose; tart bit lean ripe black- berry/boysenberry/Syrah dusty/smokey/pungent/oaked/pencilly flavor; long ripe blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah light toasty/oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; terrific Syrah.

And the usual blatherings from the bloody pulpit:
The two old Ridges came from John & Adele Hopkins in my group. The MonteBello, in its youth, was a typical MB Zinfandel; not particularly attractive, rather on the hard & lean side, not the lush fruit of their other Zins, that typical SantaCruzMtn dusty/earthy hardness to it. The wine is still a bit hard & lean but has a beautiful elegant complexity to it; a lovely old Zinfandel. I was very impressed w/ the LyttonSprings. It still had some spicy raspberry fruit to it. The one I had in LosAngles at the big Ridge vertical I thought was drying out & a bit tired. This one was in far better shape, very soft & round & smooth on the palate w/ no signs of astringincy or drying out on the palate.
Preston Vnyds: Back in the mid-'80's, when Kevin Hamel first came on board as winemaker at preston; they made some very impressive wines.... Zins, Barberas, Sirah/Syrah and others. Thru the '90's, they seem to have lightened up their style a lot; towards a more commercial/drinkable kind of wine. They're good and very fairly priced, but I don't find them nearly as interesting as they once were. This Barbera was a great example of that former style. Most people in my group found it much too acidic. I liked it for exactly that reason and, with food, think it would show much better. But with all that acidity, I can only think it's going to develop some wonderful aromatics over the yrs.
Kempton Clark: This is a new procucer & I thought it showed a lot of chutzpah to use such classy/up-scale packaging on a ...... Cucamonga Zinfandel. Who'da thunk that Cucamonga could make such a tasty Zinfandel. The back label is a little strange in that it rambles on a bit about the guy's love for Zinfandel, Basque sheepherders, and their little lambies; totally irrevelant to the wine in the bottle. But it was made up in Esparto (Dunnigan Hills/Yolo County) area, hence the Basque connection. Interesting stuff.
Toad Hollow: I've had some awfully nice-drinking wines over the yrs from this wnry a great prices. It's owned by Todd Williams, whose brother Robin has made sort of a name for himself in alternative endeavors. They have an Apropos Pinot Noir that also very nice... and cheap. Good winery, neat labels.
Just got the Ojai Calif Syrah in the day before & couldn't wait to expose it to my group. It seems not quite as big & lush as the '96 but it's still a pretty terrific Syrah; lots of SantaBarbara character. It's gone up a few $$'s but, at $18, I think it's fairly priced. Another success from Adam & Helen Tolmach.