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.

 

Pinot Noir
Tasted a few Pinot Noirs the other day:
Calera Jensen Calif Pinot Noir TW '80: Light brick color; fragrant/smokey/pencilly/ oaked very Burgundian slight chile/herbal complex slight volatile nose; tart bit metallic/dried out some herbal/mushroomy Burgundian/pencilly flavor; med. short tart/metallic bit dried-out fragrant/mushroomy/herbal rather Burgundian/ pencilly/oaked/complex finish w/ no tannins; a lovely fragrant interesting nose but a bit dried-out on the palate; past its prime but not yet dead.
Tulocay Napa Valley Hayne Vnyd (13.4%) Pinot Noir '86: Med.color w/ some bricking; deep black cherry/very spicy/earthy some toasty/oaked/pungent complex nose; soft smooth earthy/black cherry/very spicy some toasty/oak/pungent/smokey flavor; long very spicy/pungent/toasty/oaked ripe/black cherry/black cherry cola/earthy finish w/ light tannins; a great example of a Calif Pinot that has really developed into a wonderful/mature wine; ready to drink.
Pepperwood Springs Anderson Valley Pinot Noir (12.5%) '91: Med.light color; bit toasty/ pungent some bright cherry/raspberry very spicy/fragrant complex nose; tart light cherry/soda pop spicy light toasty/pungent flavor; med.long tart spicy bright cherry/soda poop/raspberry light/delicate finish w/ no tannins; a lovely spich/cherry delicate nice-drink Pinot; drink up.
Skewis Anderson Valley Floodgate Vnyd (13.4%) Pinot Noir '95: Med.color; deep earthy/ mushroomy some toasty/pungent/smokey light black cherry/spicy nose; soft rich/ pungent/toasty/mushroomy some black cherry cola spicy/earthy flavor; long soft fairly rich deep/black cherry cola toasty/charred/oak some dusty finish w/ some tannins; needs a yr or two yet; fairly big & rich & more like RRV Pinot than AndersonVlly.
Cold Stream Hills Reserve Pinot Noir (13.5%) Yarra Valley '97: Med.color; rather toasty/ charred/pungent/oaked bit black cherry nose; tart toasty/charred/smokey/oaked some black cherry/spicy/violets flavor; med.long soft strong/toasty/oaked/ charred/pungent light black cherry cola finish w/ light tannins; one of the best Aussie Pinots I've had but pretty good but just that.
Mills Reef Hawkes Bay Pinot Noir (13%) New Zealand '96: Med.light color; strong dusty/earthy no fruit some somkey/oaked nose; tart/lean/thin very dusty/earthy/walnutty some toasty/oaked flavor; med.short lean/tart/thin earthy/dusty finish w/ little tannins; no fruit to speak of; a lean/citric character like their Sauvignon Blancs; overpriced at $17.50
Dry Creek Vnyd Sonoma Valley Pinot Noir (14.1%) '97: Med.color; fragrant very spicy/earthy cherry/black cherry slight pungent/oaked/evergreen/pencilly nose; tart pencilly/ buttery/oaked some dusty/earthy rather bright/cherry/cherry soda spicy/lush elegant flavor; med.long buttery/pencilly/oaked spicy/cherry/soda pop finish w/ light tannins; classic DCV lush/buttery oaked wine; a bit on the simple side of Pinot but very nice drinking; speaks more of DryCreekVnyds than of Pinot.
Capiaux Sonoma Cnty Demonstene Vnyd (13.5%) Pinot Noir '95: Light color; rather earthy/ pungent slight stinky/bretty light cherry nose; soft rather light pretty bretty/ horsecollar light cherry/fruit earthy flavor; med.long soft rather bretty/ horsecollar some dusty/earthy weak cherry/fruit finish w/ little tannins; not much fruit there and pretty unclean/bretty.
Brewer-Clifton Santa Maria Hills Pinot Noir (13.2%) '97: Light color; bit dusty/earthy/ walnutty strong pencilly/toasty/Burgundian/oaked/smokey light herbal/cherry nose; tart very spicy dusty/earthy/walnutty bit herbal rather pencilly/toasty/ smokey/oaked/Burgundian flavor; very long elegant/delicate dusty/earthy/walnutty some toasty/smokey/pungent/pencilly/oaked light black cherry/Pinot finish w/ some tannins; a lovely elegant rendition of SBCnty Pinot.
Ryan Santa Lucia Highlands Pisoni Vnyd Pinot Noir (13.9%) '96: Very dark color; intense blackberry/black cherry/Syrah-like light smokey/oaked/toasty nose; big extracted bit spritz blackberry/black cherry/cola bit stemmy light smokey/pungent/oaked flavor; very long big/ripe/extracted bit spritzy strong black cherry/cola/root beer finish w/ fair tannins; very unusual/eccentric big/extracted complex Pinot more like Syrah than Pinot.
Siduri Carneros Pinot Noir (13.5%) '96: Med.light color; lovely/fragrant black cherry/ cola bit earthy/smokey/pungent/oaked very spicy/Burgundian complex nose; tart bit earthy/dusty some Burgundian/toasty/pencilly/buttery/oaked rather strong black cherry/cola flavor; very long toasty/Burgundian/pencilly/pungent some cola/black cherry deep/complex bit earthy finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a gorgeous fairly rich somewhat Burgundian Pinot.
Flowers SonomaCnty Camp Meeting Ridge Pinot Noir (13.5%) '96: Very dark color; very intense black cherry/cola extracted earthy/truffly pencilly/oaked complex nose; big rich extracted/blackberry/cola/Syrah-like some earthy/dusty toasty/pungent/ oaked bit eccentric flavor; very long intense/extracted/black cherry/cola/ Dr.Pepper earthy/truffly/aromatic some pungent/toasty/oaked finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; a very big/extracted bit eccentric Pinot much like Syrah.
Flowers Perennial Calif RTW (13.8%) '96: Med.dark color; strong toasty/smokey/ pungent/oaked/charred some blackberry/black cherry/fruit bit dusty nose; tart somewhat sour earthy/pungent/smokey/toasty/oaked some blackberry/black cherry/ cola/Dr.Pepper flavor; med.long toasty/smokey/oaked/pungent light blackberry/ black cherry/cola bit herbal/Merlot-like finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a pretty big rather oaked rather interesting red wine.

And an unusually brief bloody pulpit:
This was my first exposure to Adam & Dianne Lee's Siduri Pinot. I was most impressed. I am not a very big fan of Carneros Pinots. I find them, in general, a bit on the earthy/clunky side & not much fruit or brightness. This Siduri was one of the best Carneros Pinots I've had in some time. Loads of black cherry fruit more typical of RussianRiverVlly than Carneros but still some of that Carneros earthiness. Good handling of the oak. An outstanding effort.
Also my first exposure to the Flowers wines. Also quite impressed with those wines for the bigness and extract. It'll be interesting to see how they evolve.
Pisoni Vnyd: The property, up in the Santa Lucia Highlands on the west side of the Salinas Valley seems to be very much on the fast-track to becomming one of the great Pinot vnyds in Calif. Every Pinot I've had from here (Ojai, Nichols, Ryan, one other I forget) has been very impressive for its intensity and extract and its spiciness & complexity. A vnyd to keep your eyes on.
Pinot in Calif: As I tasted the Ryan and the Flowers Pinots; it is easy to get blown away by their size and their extract. Also true of many of the Ojai Pinots. One wonders if this size comes from over-enthusiastic use of saignee or if that's the kind of wines the grapes are (I hate to say "naturally") just giving. Sometimes I wonder if these huge Pinots are a bit eccentric and an abberation, a perversion of the variety. They remind me a bit of these oiled guys you see on the front of these body-building magazines (not that I'm ordinarily reading that kind of literature, but you can't avoid seeing them on the newsstands). You are kind of in awe and amazement that they can create a body that looks like that but you wonder, deep-down, if they could actually wield an epee or shoot a jump shot like all the rest of us?? Likewise on some of these huge Pinots. They're interested to drink & you're in awe of their size and their extract, but you have to wonder if they're going to have the balance and what it takes to mature into a wonderful old Pinot. They'll be interesting to follow.
TomHill (eschewing the thought of bringing up the topic of Dolly Parton & silicone in the above Pinot mini-rant!!)