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 Rhones
Tasted last night some New Rhones:
Bonny Doon Calif Roussanne (13.5%) '98: Med.gold color; very fragrant/floral/perfumey spicy/cinammon rather Viognier-like/floozy some pungent/oaked nose; soft/lush/very floral/ perfumey/spicy slightly bitter flavor; long floral/spicy/aromatic finish; not quite as big & ripe & lush as the '97 but a lovely/aromatic Roussanne.
Alban Vnyds Edna Vlly Roussanne Alban Estate (14.8%) '97: Med.dark gold color; beautiful/ complex/floral/honeysuckle bit earthy/honeyed slight oxidized/pungent rather toasty/smokey/ pungent/Fr.oaked nose; tart rich powerful/lush spicy/toasted/smokey/oaked very floral/ honeyed/very spicy slight stony/earthy/oxidized complex flavor; very long some toasty/ smokey/Fr.oaked strong floral/honeyed complex/spicy/perfumed finish; a beautiful aromatic Roussanne w/ some toasty/oak & a bit of the slightly oxidized/Rhone character; not as tight & lean as the '96; killer wine and should age well.
Sine Qua Non San Luis Obispo Cnty WTW Twisted&Bent (AlbanVnyd; 60% Roussanne, 40% Chard) '97: Dark gold color; intense toasty/Fr.oaked/smokey/pungent/bit reduced slight metallic/ valve oil some floral/aromatic nose; tart huge/rich/lush/intense smokey/pungent/toasty/ Fr.oaked/caramel/charred very spicy some floral/complex/cinammon&cloves flavor; very long very intense smokey/charred/Fr.oaked/toasty slighht floral/honeysuckle finish; needs age; terrific huge oaked Chard-like white.
Robert Craig Paso Robles Syrah TW '97: Very dark color; rather buttery/grapey bit earthy/ licorice/smokey some interesting nose; soft clunky light earthy/licorice/charred bit dull flavor; med.short soft/fat clunky earthy/licorice/smokey/burnt finish w/ light tannins; some interesting hot-climate things therein but rather a dull Syrah. Way overpriced at $25.50
Jory Cucamonga Vlly Calif Old Vines Grenache (13.4%) '98: Dark color; very strong hot-climate spicy/cinammon/cloves cassis/peppery earthy bit pruney/raisened old-Calif-style red nose; very soft fat hot-climate spicy/cinammon/potpourri earthy/mushroomy rather strange flavor; med. soft/fat some raisened/pruney grapey/spicy/cloves earthy finish w/ little tannins; somewhat interesting but rather weird wine w/ little (usual) Grenache character.
Jory Calif Red Zeppelin Calif RTW (12.5%) '98: Med.dark color; strong grenache/floral/spicy/ strawberry/black cherry/juicy bit licorice/pungent/smokey nose; soft lush spicy/floral/ grapey/juicy some strawberry/black cherry/soda pop bit licorice/pungent flavor; med.long juicy/floral/grapey/spicy bit cherry/black cherry finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant/ forward/lush easy-drinking red wine.
Christopher Creek Russian River Vlly Syrah Reserve (14.3%) '97: Very dark color; rather dusty/ earthy slight blackberry/peppery some toasty/pungent/oaked rather bretty/horsecollar nose; dusty/earthy/pungent rather bretty/horsecollar slight peppery/blackberry bit Rhonish/ leathery flavor; med.long fairly bretty/unclean light blackberry/peppery rather earthy/ dusty finish w/ some tannins; needs some age; some Rhone character but rather unclean/ bretty and on the clunky/clumsy side w/ little fruit.
Beckmen Vnyds Santa Barbara Cnty Syrah (13.8%) '97: Very dark color; strong blackberry/juicy some spicy/dusty light/toasty/oak nose; soft juicy/blackberry/blueberry/Syrah spicy flavor; med.long ripe/juicy/blackberry/blueberry/boysenberry finish w/ light tannins; good Syrah/ blackberry wine w/ a lot of very juicy/grapey character much like Dolcetto or Zin; lots of fruit but not much structure; good drinking Syrah.
Ravenswood Icon Sonoma Cnty Red Wine (14.2%; 74% Syrah, 17% Grenache, 9% Mourvedre) '97: Very dark color; very strong pungent/smokey/aromatic slight volatile strong blackberry/old vines light toasty/oak nose; rich strong toasty/Fr.oaked/ripe loads of fruit juicy/blackberry/ plummy spicy/complex flavor; very long some/toasty/Fr.oak ripe/juicy/Syrah/blackberry/ boysenberry/plummy very spicy some dusty/old vines finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; a pretty terrific Rhone blend at a great price. $15.00
Swanson Napa Vlly Syrah (13.5%) '97: Very dark color; intense blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah bit minty/menthol some toasty/Fr.oaked nose; soft ripe/lush blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah spicy bit minty/menthol light toasty/Fr.oaked bit tannic flavor; long ripe/juicy/ blackberry/Syrah light minty/menthol light toasty/Fr.oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs.
Alain Voge Cornas Cuvee Vieilles Vignes (12.5%) '94: Med.dark color; very strong olive some earthy/dusty bit fragrant/grapey/cherry nose; soft bit dilute some earthy/dusty rather black olive lean bit thin flavor; med.long very black olive light cherry/fragrant rather earthy/dusty bit lean/thin finish w/ light tannins; interesting Cornas but little fruit and pretty strong black olive character. Larry's mystery wine.
Domaine Bernard Chave Hermitage (13%) '96: Dark color; rather herbal near vegetal some aspargras intense roasted/smokey/espresso/pungent bit fecal toasty/oaked complex nose; tart rather herbal/bit vegetal/aspargras strong roasted/espressy/smokey bit lactic/sour flavor; long herbal/vegetal/aspargras intense roasted/pungent/smokey sour/lactic finish w/ some tannins; loads of roasted/espresso character but a bit too thin on the palate and pretty strong herbal/vegetal component. Not worth $28.00
Guigal Cote-Rotie Chateau d'Ampuis (13%) '95: Very dark color; very unclean/bretty/ horsecollar/wet wool/unattractive slight blackberry/Syrah little roasted some toasty/oak nose; tart bit lean/thin fairly bretty/horsecollar/unclean light smokey/pungent no fruit flavor; med.long thin/tart/lean/austere pretty bretty/horsecollar/unclean light smokey/ pungent/oak finish w/ some tannins; grossly overpriced at $65.00
Alban Vnyds Lorraine Alban Estate Syrah Edna Vlly (14.0%) '97: Black color; very intense blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry light smoky/toasty/Fr.oak very spicy very juicy nose; rich lush intense blackberry/blueberry/Syrah/loads of lush fruit low-key toasty/Fr.oak flavor; very long very juicy/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah light toasty/Fr.oak finish w/ some tannins; very forward & drinkable but needs 2-5 yrs; killer Syrah.
Alban Vnyds Edna Vlly Alban Estate Syrah Lorraine (13.6%) '96: Black color; very intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah strong toasty/smoky/pungent/Fr.oak some coffee/roasted very spicy/peppery complex nose; big rich/extracted complex/peppery/very spicy strong toasty/ smokey/pungent/Fr.oak/charred very intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah complex flavor; very long/lingering very spicy intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah rather toasty/smokey/ charred/Fr.oaked peppery/complex finish w/ ample tannins; stunning/dynamite Syrah; this is how Guigal (the world's most genuis winemaker according to RP) would make Chateau d'Ampuis if he could!!

And the usual provactive/inflamatory thoughht from the bloody pulpit:
Roussane?... or Viognier?: Since the belief that much of the Roussanne planted in Calif may, in fact, be Viognier; I was very interested in tasting these two side-by-side in an attempt to get a better grasp at what Roussanne varietal character is. The Alban Roussanne is certified true Roussanne. The Randall Grahm Roussanne is suspect as being Viognier, and is probably/likely not certified. The BonnyDoon "Roussanne" had much of the very same aromatics/perfumes I do find in many Calif Viogniers. From the nose, it is very plausible Viognier. Yet on the palate, though it did have much Viognier character, it also had a sort of hardness that I often associate w/ Roussanne. So, all-in-all, I CAN see that BonnyDoon as actually being Viognier. But whatever it is, it's pretty delicious white wine at a very good price. OTOH, the Alban Roussanne is killer stuff. It has very similar aromatics, rather floral- like, to Viognier; but a different can of floral/honeysuckle perfume. And it also has this slightly oxidized/earthy character I find in most of the great Rhone Blancs. It'll be interesting to watch this wine evolve.
Twisted&Bent: My tendency/preference is to serve the RhoneBlancs at a somewhat warmer temperature than most white wines, which I did with this one. Still, it came across more as a huge/powerful/oaked Chard (and a terrific one at that) w/ a little bit of high-toned character coming in the nose from the Roussanne. I felt that the Roussanne had been obliterated by the oak level and the Chard. But when I went back to it later at room temperature; THERE was all that amazing fragrant floral/honesuckle perfumey Roussanne character intertwined w/ much less dominating charred/Fr.oak. A stunning wine at room temperature; not for the faint-of-heart. Probably a lot of folks will dismiss this as another over-oaked Calif cult wine; but I was highly impressed with it. It'll be fun to watch this wine, too, evolve.
RobertCraig Syrah: I've had a number of rather impressive RobertCraig Cabs, so had very high expectations for his first effort at Syrah. It is a rather pedestrian/dull version of Syrah; not as good as the $12 Qupe CentralCoast. It tastes like it is probably from FrenchCamp Vnyd; not the best source of Syrah grapes in the world. At $12-$14/btl; this would be a mildly interesting Syrah. At $25, a big PASS on this wine.
Jory wines: These two btls were given to me by Dan Lewis for our group to try. The Cucamonga Grenache comes from this very old, 100+ yrs, vnyd down near the Ontario Airport. That's one of the sad things about flying into Ontario is to look out the plane window and see all these scattered blocks of abandoned vnyds. So sad. However, this is probably NOT an area for growing primo grapes. It's pretty hot down there and this Grenache showed a lot of that hot-climate character that you often find in Lodi Zin. The dusty/old vine character was definitely there. But it also had a lot of that sort of thick old Calif-red style of wine to it. It's a rather interesting wine and shows what a good winemaker can do w/ less-the-prime grapes. I was, it must be mentioned, much more forgiving of this wine than others in our group. I liked it for what it was.... an expression of very old Grenache grown in Cucamonga... exactly what it advertises itself to be. The RedZep (mocking Randall's Cigar Volante) is another good effort in a string of good RedZeps. Good tasty easy-drinking red wine.
ChristopherCreek Syrah: Despite my less-than-enthusiastic review of this wine; I actually thought this '97 Reserve was the best ChristopherCreek wine I've yet had. This is a fairly old planting (for Calif) of Syrah, where the wine was first produced in the early '80's as Rancho Sotoyome (pretty dull & ordinary wines). So CC has some very good (presumably) grapes to work with. The Wasermans hired a new winemaker a few yrs ago, but his expertise is slow in changing the wines, as far as I can tell.
Ravenswood Icon: This is the Ravenswood Rhone blend. The '96 was a tasty red but spoke more of Ravenswood winemaking than of Rhone wine. This '97 version is far, far better wine. Loads of ripe/juicy fruit; very well made red that will benefit from some ageing.
Swanson Syrah: I've followed Marcco Capelli's Syrahs from the very first when they acquired this vnyd (formerly went into the Thackery Orion Syrah) and have always liked them. This '97 version is much in the same mold of the previous ones. It was released some 6 months earlier than usual for some reason. This '97 shows all the ripe Syrah fruit that previous ones did, but seems a bit more restrained and balanced, not as intense and tannic and structured, less new Fr.oak than any yet. It still has a bit of that characteristic minty/menthol character that it always has. There is (was) a stand of eucalyptus trees on the neighbor's property adjacent to this vnyd. Marcco has been concerned by the minty/ menthol character in this wine as being too strong (I always found it there, but pretty moderate in intensity), so a few yrs ago Clarke Swanson paid the neighbor to take down most/all these eucalyptus trees.
Guigal Chateau d'Ampuis: what a ripoff is this wine!! No fruit to speak of, very unclean/ bretty; little roasted Cote-Rotie character; thin & austere on the palate. All the regular Brune&Blondes from Guigal I've had have been far better than this wine. It almost seems to be a wine contrived for folks that want to spend big $$'s on a fabled Guigal Cote-Rotie but can't find the single vnyd stuff. I wouldn't pay over $20 for this wine.
Alban Lorraine: named after John's wife; from a part of his lower Syrah block that lies to the south and has a stoneier/rockier soil than where the Reva comes from. The first Lorraine was a barrel of John's Syrah that John bottled up and apparently most was consumed at his wedding to this lovely Irish lass, and little made it out into commercial channels. This was the '95 vintage. The '96 version was a bit more available and seems to be evolving into one of the best Calif Syrahs I've had. Amazing stuff. The '97 version strikes me as a bit more rounder & lusher & forward than the '96 was as this point in time. In the '96 vintage; his Lorraine was clearly one big step above his Reva Syrah. In the '97 vintage, the difference in the two Syrahs doesn't seem as striking. But just picking nits here, they're both pretty amazing Calif Syrahs. And wait'll the Seymour vnyd starts producing Syrah in a yr; it's going to be a killer wine.