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.

Bruce Cass (North America editor for the Oxford Encyclopedia of Wine w/ Jancis Robinson) was here to look at NewMexico wines so had him for dinner (as a guest... not the main course; he's still alive & well!!) a few weekends ago. Brief notes on the wines:

1. Rhubarb Bellinis w/ Zardetto Prosecco Brut: Too weird for words. The Rhubarb puree did not mix well to make the Bellini and the rhubarb taste in a wine was rather strange. Will not revisit this concoction.
2. Conrad-Bartz Trarbacher Taubenhaus Riesling Auslese '92: Med.light gold color; beautiful Mosel/petrol/valve oil fragrant Riesling complex nose; bright lovely Mosel/valve oil/petrol slatey floral/Riesling flavor; very long petrol/Mosel valve oil finish; a beautiful classic Mosel Auslese.
3. HMR HoffmanVineyards San Luis Obispo Edna Valley Vineyards Late Harvest Johannisberg Riesling '79: Deep gold color; beautiful/complex buttery/earthy/pineapply/pencilly botrytis/peachy old Rheingau-like nose; sweet/rich/lush buttery/complex/old Rheingau/pencilly fat flavor; very long/lingering old Rheingau/complex/earthy/pineapply/peachy finish that goes on and on; very much like a 20 yr old Rheingau.
4. Alban Vineyards Estate Roussanne '97: Light yellow/gold color; rather tight/earthy light Fr.oaked floral/honeysuckle/spicy nose; tart/tight/lean rich honeusuckle/ almondy complex flavor; med.long tart honeysuckle/floral finish; a bit tight & hard but wonderful aromatics.
5. Bonny Doon Le Sophiste (81.25% Roussanne, 18.75% Marsanne) '90: Med.gold color; attractive perfumed talc/spicy some pencilly/oak low fruit/floral nose; soft/ diffuse spicy/floral some pencilly/oaked flavor; med.short floral/pencilly finish; rather low-key/diffuse pleasant aged white; hanging on but not going anywhere.
6. Horton Vineyards Orange County Virginia Syrah '98: Dark color; beautiful smokey/pungent/ roasted some blackberry/Syrah nose; big/rich hard lovely roasted/smokey/toasty/ pungent light blackberry/licorice/Syrah flavor; med.long pungent/smokey/toasty/ roasted some blackberry/tarry/licorice finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs.
7. Inglenook Napa Valley Charbono '82: Very dark color w/ little browning; strong earthy/ dusty/licorice/plummy/smokey rather strong oaked fairly complex nose; soft rather tannic/hard plummy/licorice/earthy/dusty some pencilly/cedary/oaked flavor; med.long bit hard/tannic plummy/licorice/earthy/mushroomy finish; still in great shape; much like an older PetiteSirah.
8. Preston Dry Creek Valley Barbera '85: Med.dark color; rather stronf spicy/Barbera/ pungent some pencilly/oaked bit cherry/fruit nose; tart very spicy/Barbera/earthy complex black cherry/cherry dusty some pencilly/oaked flavor; med.long tart bit hard/tannic very spicy/Barbera rather pencilly/oaked finish; drying out a bit & somewhat tannic, but holding up well.
9. Robert Pepi Colline di Sassi Napa Valley Sangiovese Grosso '89: Med.dark some browning color; very strong pencilly/toasty/oaked light cherry/Sangiovese nose; tart/thin/lean strong pencilly/toasty/oaked low cherry/fruit flavor; med.long rather hard/tannic very toasty/pencilly/oaked finish; too much oak & little fruit left; dried out & dying.
10. Preston Dry Creek Valley Muscat Brulee '87: Dark gold/bronze color; beautiful/complex caramel/brulee/coconutty fragrant/Muscatty nose; very sweet toasty/coconutey/ caramel/brulee some Muscatty/floral/butterscotchy flavor; very long lush/sweet coconutty/caramel/brulee some Muscatty/hair oil finish; a wonderful complex dessert wine that should go on and on. Some like Rhone Vin de Paille or old Georgian (Russia) Muscats.
11. Bonny Doon Vin de Glaciere Gewurztraminer '87: Dark gold color; rather grapey/floral/ some GWT/hair oil bit simple nose; very sweet soft/flat very intense grapey some GWT/floral flavor; very long soft/flat very intense grapey finish; lots of very intense grapey simple character & little developed complexity.
12. Sangre de Cristo New Mexico Ponderosa Vineyard Villard Blanc (18%) Ratafia '83: Dark gold color; strong alcoholic smokey/French cognac/Scotch-like some grapey complex nose; off-dry strong smokey/Cognac/alcoholic/toasty/pungent grapey/complex flavor; fairly long grapey strong pungent/smokey/charred/Cognac bit hot/alcoholic complex finish; very interesting apertif wine.
13. Calif Shendoah Vineyards Calif Old Cream Muscat NV: Dark gold color; very strong toasted coconut/oaked intense floral/Muscat/brulee/caramel slight oxidized nose; sweet strong toasted coconut/oaked/smokey intense Muscatty/caramel/brulee rather complex flavor; very long toasted coconut/oaked/pungent/brulee/complex finish w/ slight oxidation. Terrific dessert wine for its genre.

1. The HMR Riesling was very much a surprise to both Bruce & I. It had developed into a dead-ringer for a 20 yr old German/Rheingau Auslese; a wonderful/complex old Riesling. Calif should be making lots more of these wines.
2. BonnyDoon LeSophiste: This wine is, from most recent information, mostly Viognier and not Roussanne. It was like most of the older Viogniers I've had; interesting old white wine but not a lot of complexity has developed.
3. This is the second time I've had the Horton '98. Probably the most Cote-Rotie like Syrah I've yet had from the USofA. Wonderful wine.
4. The Inglenook Charbono was another big surprise. Still going strong and not going to die very soon. Bruce was really impressed w/ it; I merely thought it rather interesting/good/old red wine. Bit too clunky & clumsy for me.
5. The Preston Barbera was another surprise. This was made back when Preston was making some very good wine. Calif Barbera seems to age very very well and this one was no exception. Too bad the recent Preston wines are up to this calibre.
6. The ratafia was made by Richard Jones in Sapello,NM; a semi-amateur winemaker that used to write with his (then) wife Shirley Jones the Southwest Food & Wine Review. Ratafia is made like Angelica or Quady's Elysium and Essencia; take fresh grape juice and hit w/ alcohol to the 18%-21% level so it doesn't ferment. Richard het this Villard juice w/ some decent French Cognac before aging it. Shirley was here for this dinner so thought it was a good time to try the thing. I was expecting really bad things from this stuff. I found it very interesting and pretty good apertif wine, not really a dessert wine. Calif Angelica is reknowned for being able to age 100+ yrs. I see no reason that this one wouldn't do as well... just that I might not have been around to try it.
7. Lee Sobon has quite an interest in dessert wines. This wine was made from very old Muscat vines on the Eschen and (I recall) the Deaver Vineyard. Aged in small old oak barrels for a fair number of yrs. This would have been from grapes in the late '70's and early '80's and released in the late '80's. A beautiful example of old Calif Sherry.
8. I first met Bruce Cass back around '75 when he was holding a case of Ridge Zins for me at his home. We both. of course, look exactly like we did back then. I then ran into him again about 2 yrs ago at Hospices du Rhone but we didn't have much chance to visit then. It was great to get together over (adequate) food and good wines to share thoughts and reminiscences and recall long-ago friends & wine personna. THAT'S what wine is all about, not about getting the latest Colgin or Screagle. End of sermon.

TomHill

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