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 Releases - Mostly Zinfandel
We recently tasted a set of New Releases, mostly Zins:
L'Escrime Napa Valley Sangiovese (14.2%, A Joe Montrachet Selection) '96: Med.light color; deep earthy/black cherry bit smokey/pungent nose; tart slight bretty/horsecollar attractive black cherry/earthy/dusty some Italian-like flavor; med.long some bretty/horsecollar rather deep black cherry/dusty finish w/ light tannins; a rather Italian style of Calif Sangiovese; these wine seems to have picked up some depth & character since it's release last winter.
L'Escrime Napa Valley Sangiovese (14.2%) '97: Med.light color; clean bright/spicy cherry/cherry cough drop spicy/zippy nose; tart very bright cherry/spicy/cherry cough drop flavor; med.long bright/vibrant spicy/cherry/Smith's cherry cough drop slightly dusty finish w/ light tannins; a really bright/vibrant/zippy sort of Sangiovese and demonstrates the aromatic qualities of that variety that I feel will someday make great wine in Calif when they eventually learn how to grow and vinify it.
L'Escrime Mendocino Cnty Riposte Rouge RTW (13.9%; 100% CabFranc) '96: Med.color; slightly corked rather perfumed/aromatic dusty/herbal/spicy perfumed talc some complex nose; med.rich light herbal/tomatoey slight musty/bretty/corked rather spicy/aromatic black cherry/herbal/earthy slight menthol flavor; med.long slight corked/musty attractive herbal/spicy/earthy bit chocolaty/tomatoe finish w/ light tannins; marred by a slight corked character but underneath an attractive fragrant light herbal CabFranc.
L'Escrime Napa Valley Merlot Moulinet Reserve (13.5%; 10% CabSauvignon) '97: Dark color; deep/ripe/smokey/perfumed/perfumed talc light toasty/oak rather Merlot/ grapey nose; soft bit tannic rather perfumed/perfumed talc/earthy rather Merlot/ grapey flavor; med.long bit tannic fairly rich/lush Merlot/grapey rather perfumed/ perfumed talc finish; needs a yr or two to soften; well made fairly lush/ drinkable Merlot.
L'Escrime Napa Valley Syrah Spada de Duello Reserve (13.8%) '97: Dark color; deep licorice/spicy/smokey/fragrant bit bretty some blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah slight menthol/oaked nose; fairly rich bit tart some blackberry/Syrah slight smokey/toasty/menthol/oaked bit pungent/earthy flavor; very long smokey/pungent bit menthol/oaked/roasted coffee some blackberry/Syrah/licorice finish w/ some tannins; a well-made rather interesting Calif Syarh w/ some Rhonish character; best L'Escrime yet.
Bonny Doon Vnyd Calif Syrah (80% SanBernabe, 20% Chequera vnyds; 13.5%) '98: Very dark color; strong fruity/blackberry/juicy/black cherry some herbal/dusty nose; rather soft juicy/earthy/blackberry/black cherry slight herbal/licorice flavor; med.long bit herbal ripe/juicy/blackberry/black cherry bit herbal/earthy/licorice chocolat finish w/ light tannins; tastes like whole-berry fermentation; lots of soft/juicy character but a bit lacking in structure; much like the J.Lohr or R.H.Phillips Syrahs in style.
Bonny Doon Vnyd Sonoma Mtn Pinot Noir (13.5%) '97: Med.color; very fragrant/black cherry/PN light toasty/smokey/oaked nose; tart rather lean/hard/tannic some black cherry/fragrant/earthy some toasty/oaked flavor; med.long light black cherry/ Pinot rather toasty/charred/oaked finish w/ some tannins; a very nice fragrant PN nose but a bit hard & lean on the palate; much like some of the Swans and a bit Burgundian in character.
Ridge Napa Cnty Claret Howell Mtn RTW (68% Zinfandel, 24% PS, 8% Carignane; 27 brls; Park- Muscatine Vnyd) '81: Med.color w/ little browning; lovely complex/cigar box/ cedary dusty/smokey bit bretty/horsecollar nose; smooth attractive cedary/cigar box old Zinfandel fragrant spicy/dusty/charred/smokey/pungent complex bit dried out flavor; long complex cedary/cigar box/old Zinfandel dusty/charred/smokey finish w/ light tannins; terrific complex nose but starting to dry out a bit on the palate.
Santa Barbara Winery Beaujour Calif Zinfandel (14.5%; 50% whole-berry fermentation) '98: Med.color; bit skunky/stinky strong grapey/Beaujolais-like light raspberry bit simple nose; tart simple Beaujolais-like grapey light raspberry flavor; med.short grapey/Beaujolais bit dusty finish w/ little tannins; nicely done Beaujolais as good as any of the DuBeoufs.
Miner Napa Valley Zinfandel (14.0%) '97: Med.color; rather buttery/butterd popcorn/Fr.oaked bit toasty spicy/Zinberry/raspberry/perfumed talc/very fragrant nose; tart bright/ spicy/Zinberry/raspberry bit exotic rather buttery/butterd popcorn/diacetyl some toasty/Fr.oaked flavor; med.long very buttery/Fr.oaked bright very spicy/Zinberry/ raspberry light dusty finish w/ light tannins; lots of bright zippy Zinberry fruit w/ fair amount of diacetyl; much in Nalle or Biale style; good value at $17.00
Ridge Calif Zinfandel Nervo Vnyd (14.7%; 9% PS; 39 brls; 116 yr old vines) '97: Med.dark color; strong blackberry very spicy bit pungent/toasty/oaked slight bretty nose; fairly rich very spicy/raspberry bit licorice/toasty/oaked/pungent slight bretty flavor; long very spicy/raspberry some dusty/old vines bit pungent/toasty/oaked finish w/ light tannins; a classic lovely Ridge Zinfandel much like the LyttonSprings but a bit richer & bigger. Good value at $20.00
Ridge Calif Alicante Bouschet Pagani Ranch (75% Alicante, 25% Zinfandel; 35 brls, 14.5%) '97: Black color; deep earthy/pungent/dusty/licorice some blackberry/black cherry cola some toasty/pungent nose; soft tannic very rich licorice/chocolaty/blackberry/ black cherry cola/Dr.Pepper pungent/smokey some oaked flavor; long pungent/charred licorice/cola/blackberry smokey/pungent finish w/ ample tannins; a classic Pagani Ranch wine and great value at $16.00
Ridge Lytton Springs (60% NortonRanch, 40% ValleyVistaVnyd; 80% Zinfandel, 10% PS, 6% Carignane, 4% Grenache; 13.8%) '90: Med.dark bit browning color; strong pungent/ toasty/licorice complex bit ripe/raisened light blackberry very complex nose; soft lush pungent licorice spicy light blackberry some toasty/oaked/pungent/smokey complex flavor; long pungent/smokey/licorice complex bit charred/toasty/oaked light blackberry finish w/ light tannins; probably as good as it'll ever be; a lovely delicious mature Zinfandel.
Spenker Wnry Lodi Zinfandel (14.5%) '97: Med.dark color; classic Lodi/dusty/mushroomy/ earthy licorice/Alicante-like some blackberry bit skunky/rubber boot nose; very soft blackberry/earthy/Lodi/dusty slight charred/rubber boot spicy flavor; med. long earthy/mushroomy/dusty/Lodi rather blackberry/spicy finish w/ light tannins; lots of rich blackberry/pungent fruit for Lodi Zinfandel; very good value at $12.00
Seghesio Alexander Vlly Zinfandel San Lorenzi Vnyd (14.6%; + PS & Carignane) '97: Very dark color; very fragrant/aromatic raspberry/boysenberry/blackberry dusty/old vines slight volatile nose; tart very rich very fragrant/floral/aromatic spicy/blackberry/ boysenberry slight Am.oaked/pungent flavor; long tart rich intense boysenberry/ blackberry dusty/old vines finish w/ fair tannins; needs several yrs of age; perhaps the best Seghesio Zinfandel I've had; terrific stuff.

And the usual pontifications from the bloody pulpit:
L'Escrime is a (fairly) new line of negociant-label wines from Diane Harder, who owns a distributing company in SoCal that distributes Turley, Havens, and others. She used to be the SoCal marketing director for RidgeVnyd in a previous life. Using her contacts up north, she has been buying small select lots of wines and releasing them under the L'Escrime label. Thus far, I've been rather impressed w/ the wines that she's been able to search out. In particular, the Syrah is a very interesting Syrah & reminds me a lot of the EdmundsSt.John Calif Syrah or the Havens or the JadeMtn/HudsonVnyd Syrah. Diane is also the partner in the Unalli wines, whose Syrah I also happen to like. L'Escrime is French for the sport of fencing, so, obviously, I have a soft spot in my heart for these wines. The "Riposte", "Moulinet", and "Spada de Duello" terms on the label all refer to various fencing movements or actions, a few of which I could even demonstrate the next time you catch me w/ sword in hand. Diane is using the L'Escrime line to help finance her son Sean's fencing career. He is a young 11 yr old fencer who is currently ranked #16 (out of 35) in the Nation of Youth-12 bracket who compete nationally.
Ridge Claret '81: I was quite struck by the lack of browning and the dark color when I decanted this wine. Although (back then), this was legally a Zinfandel (50% requirement for a varietal label), Ridge chose not to call it such for stylistic reasons. My guess it had a fairly high (15% or more) alcohol level. This was made back during a period Ridge (and others) was strugling mightly w/ brett infections in their wnry. I recall most of their Zins in that period were rather badly horsecollary/barnyardy in character. This wine came thru in flying colors and shows no signs of that problem. A beautiful classic old Zinfandel nose, it's starting to dry out a bit on the palate, but still a wonderful bottle. So much for the claim that Zins don't age.
The Other Ridges: I've always been mightly impressed w/ the Alicantes that Ridge makes from Pagani Ranch. This '97 is another winner, almost as good as the legendary '93, and one of the best Ridge ATP '97 releases (the DusiRanch LatePick being my other favorite). Actually, I thought the Pagani Zinfandel '97 was a bit on the straightforward Zinberry/raspberry side & not as big & rich as previous vintages. Perhaps a little more of this Alicante in the Zinfandel would have made for a Pagani Zinfandel more to my liking. Not that I would EVER think of telling Paul Draper how to run his winery operations!!
Paul has always espoused making the most complex wines that he can from the grapes he has to work with. When he started making the Ridge wines in '70, I sort of equated that statement to making lighter & more elegant wines and whined to him incessantly about that, feeling he was moving too far away from the huge blockbuster wines that David Bennion made and that I cut my teeth (literally) on. Now, after almost some 30 yrs of following Ridge wines, I think I'm beginning to see what he was/is aiming for (slow learner here; the TomHill elevator, though it DOES go all the way to the top, is not always the FASTEST elevator to the top!!). Has we were tasting the '90 LyttonSprings, I was struggling mightly to describe the wine. I'd find all sorts of distinctive things in it, and then one of my tasters would mention something and I'd find "oh yeah, that's in there, too". It's the same thing when I see people's posted note on a recent Ridge wine I've had and read their discriptions... "oh yeah, that's what that was in that wine". Oftentimes, all I can come up with is "the Draper perfume" that George T. likes to use and, I believe, invented. Anyway, almost never do I have a Ridge wine that I would ever label as simple. Perhaps Paul Draper knows a bit more about making wine than I orginally gave him credit for some 25 yrs ago.