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.

 
1. JC Cellars Santa Barbara Viognier Rodney's Vnyd (13.9%; 71 cs) '99: Pale gold color; bit  metallic/steely/minerally rather grapefruity/floral/pear nose; bright/bracing/acidity  spicy/floral/Viognier light metallic/minerally flavor; med.long tart/bracing quite spicy/  floral/Viognier minerally/grapefruity finish; quite rich w/ a bracing acidity much  like a Riesling in character; interesting rendition of Viognier.
2. McCrea Yakima Valley Viognier Ciel du Cheval Vnyd (13.5%) '98: Med.gold color; rather  caramelized/butterscotchy/oaked some floral/Viognier/grapey/earthy nose; soft quite  butterscotchy/buttery/caramelized/butter popcorn rich/lush/mouthfilling bit botrytis(?)  weak floral/peachy/Viognier flavor; long soft lush caramelized/butterscotchy/buttery  oaked finish; not a lot of Viognier character & more like Chard; a rather strange  rendition of Viognier and tastes of very ripe/overripe/rotted/botrytis fruit overlain  w/ well-toasted oak; kinda liked the wine but not for a Viognier.
3. Pride Mountain Vnyds Sonoma County Viognier (14.3%;<600 cs) '99: Med.light gold color; lovely/  fragrant peachy/pear/floral/classic Viognier slight smokey/complex nose; huge soft/lush  peachy/pear/Viognier glycerined/mouthfilling slight metallic/bitter flavor; med.long  soft/lush some pear/Viognier bit smokey/complex slightly bitter finish; a really lovely  classic Viognier nose but doesn't quite deliver on the palate.
4. Gangloff Condrieu (14%) '98: Med.gold color; classic minerally/Condrieu very fragrant/spicy/  pear/Viognier complex/smokey slight volatile nose; rich/lush bit minerally/canned  sardines light floral/pear/Viognier bit smokey/complex flavor; long/soft rather  minerally/canned sardines floral/pear/Viognier/spicy finish; rather complex Viognier;  not that intense for Condrieu; a good Condrieu but not a great one.
5. JC Cellars Monterey Syrah Ventana Vnyds (13.8%; 110 cs) '98: Very dark color; spicy bit  earthy slight roasted/green olive very spicy/complex bit herbal some toasty/oaked nose;  tart somewhat lean/green bit smokey/toasty/oak some green olive/herbal bit roasted flavor;  med.long tart bit lean/hard some green olive/roasted/herbal bit smokey/toasty/oak finish  w/ some tannins; a very interesting nose but a bit green/herbal/underripe on the  palate.
6. JC Cellars Napa Valley Petite Syrah Freduani Vnyd (14.2%; 115 cs) '98: Black color; rather  strong smokey/oaked some blackberry/spicy/fragrant/fruity nose; rather tart/hard  blackberry/black cherry/spicy some smokey/toasty/oaked flavor; long tart bit lean/hard  rich/blackberry/black cherry cola/spicy some smokey/toasty/oaked finish w/ fair/hard  tannins; good acidity for PS and lots of black cherry/RussianRiver Zin-like fruit; one  of the best young PSs I've had of late.
7. Jim Barry McCrae Wood Clare Valley Shiraz '96: Very dark color; intense eucalyptus/rosemary/  piney bit blackberry/Shiraz/licorice nose; hard/tannic strong eucalyptus/rosemary classic  Oz Shiraz flavor; med.long tannic/hard strong piney/eucalyptus/rosemary some blackberry/  licorice finish; seems to be a bit hard & drying out; loaded w/ eucalyptus character;  Larry's mystery wine.
8. L'Escrime Napa Valley Syrah '97: Very dark color; strong complex/horsecollar/bretty/  some funky quite Rhonish smokey/pungent some blackberry/Syrah nose; tart/rich bit  hard/angular rather Rhonish/bretty/horsecollar some blackberry/Syrah complex earthy  flavor; long complex/dusty quite Rhonish some bretty/horsecollar/funky some  blackberry/Syrah finish w/ some tannins; needs 1-3 yrs yet; showing lots of Rhone  character now.
9. Elyse Napa Valley Syrah (13.6%) '97: Very dark color; strong blackberry/boysenberry/lush  fairly toasty/oaked bit wet dog fur nose; soft/lush ripe/blackberry/boysenberry light  toasty/oaked flavor; med.long tart toasty/oaked ripe/blackberry/Syrah finish w/ some  tannins; a very nice up-front/straightforward Syrah but very overpriced.
10. Behrens & Hitchcock Mendocino Syrah (14.5%; U/U) '98: Very dark color; intense blackberry/  boysenberry/loads of lush fruit rather smokey/oaked/buttery/butterd popcorn nose; tart  fairly buttery/oaked straightforward blackberry/Syrah/fruit flavor; med.long tart  perfumed talc rather lean/low fruit/blackberry rather buttery/oak finish w/ some  tannins; rather on the simple side w/ lots of buttery oaked; very overpriced.
11. Domaine la Monardiere Vacqueyras Reserve des 2 Monardes (13.5%) '98: Med.color; pleasant  bit dusty/earthy simple strawberry/Grenache nose; soft some strawberry/Grenache bit  earthy/dusty simple/Rhone flavor; med.short pleasant/strawberry/Grenache rather dusty/  earthy finish w/ light tannins; a simple Cotes du Rhone, not nearly as good as the  Guigal CdR '98.
12. Tardieu-Laurent Crozes-Hermitage '96: Very dark color; beautiful roasted/espresso/  toasty/smokey/peppery bacon fat bit bretty some toasty/oak nose; hard/tannic very toasty/  oaked astringent/charred peppery/underripe flavor; long hard/tannic little fruit strong  roasted/charred/burnt/oaked astringent flavor; great nose but a hard/mean wine on the  palate; loaded w/ charred oak; needs much age but iffy potential.
13. Gangloff Cote-Rotie (13%) '97: Very dark color; lots of bacon fat/Viognier-perfumed/  complex/roasted/espresso very aromatic nose; beautiful/complex some roasted/espresso  classic NorthernRhone perfumed/elegant/spicy complex flavor; long roasted/espresso/  bacon fat fragrant/perfumed/complex finish w/ some hard/lean tannins; seems to have  a perfumed/Viognier character in it; lovely complex/elegant C-R. Too bad about the  price.
14. Gangloff Cote-Rotie La Barbarine (12.5%) '97: Black color; beautiful/complex roasted/  espresso/smokey/pungent classic C-R mose; hard/tannic dusty/earthy/roasted/espresso  bit thin/lean flavor; long hard/tannic rather roasted/espresso/C-R bit dusty/earthy  finish; needs some age; not the lass of #13.

1. JC Cellars Viognier: A very unusual rendition of Calif Viognier that I liked quite  a bit, as did most of the other tasters. I tend to like my Viogniers more in the  DollyParton style.... big/floozy/ripe/buxom/fat/somewhat overblown. This JCCllrs is  more of a JuliaRoberts style of Viognier. It had lots of richness&texture but a  bracing acidity that gave it lots of zing. Most such wines often taste a bit thin and  eviscerated. This Viognier most definitely did not. Much more of a food-friendly  Viognier than most. Reminded me some of John Alban's Estate Viogniers. Good stuff. 
2. Pride Viognier: I was expecting great things from this wine based on a lot of great  'Net reviews I'd seen. It was a bit disappointing and didn't deliver all I had hoped  for. Liked the '97 or '98 version better. It's good Viognier but just that. Seems a  bit overpriced to me. 
3. JC Cellars Ventana Syrah: Another unusual rendition, this time of Syrah. It has some  of that green olive/herbal character you sometimes get from underripe NorthernRhone  Syrah. It also had a unique spiciness, much of the same I find in the various Pisoni  Pinots. Most Calif Syrah fans will not like this but I found it quite interesting.  I remember trying Doug Meador's VentanaVnyd first Syrah and finding some of that  same character in it. At the time, Doug was on the forefront, as he is wont to be,  by planting Syrah in cold MontereyCnty. At the time, I thought him loony to be planting  a warm-climate variety in such a cool area. He was, of course, right and we're now  finding that cool/cold climates can make some very interesting Syrah. This JJCllrs is  one of them. I've also had some very good/interesting VentanaVnyd Syrah from RiverRun  Wnry over ib Gilroy. 
4. L'Escrime Syrah: This is the negociant operation in SoCal run by Diane Harder. L'Escrime  is the French term for fencing. A portion of the sales of these wines goes to the  UnitedStates Fencing Association, which means it benefits epee-guys like myself. Worse  yet, it also benefits sabre guys as well (buys more banannas for them, I guess!!).  This '97 Syrah is my favorite of the L'Escrime line. It's been developing a very  interesting funky/Rhonish quality and has evolved quite nicely since its release.  The '98 version is to be released emminintely. 
5. JC Cellars: Jeff Cohn is the winemaker at RosenblumCllrs and has had a large responsibility  in the dramatic improvement in the white wines that has ocurred over the last few yrs  there. He makes his wines under the JCCellars label there at Rosenblum's. I've been  mightly impressed w/ the first 3 vintages he's made. This trio of wines only enhanced  that opinion. The '98 PetiteSirah is one of the best young PSs I've had in some time. 
6. The Gangloffs: The Gangloff wines were mightly impressive at this yr's HdR. This trio  of Gangloffs, 2 of which wre at HdR, were not quite as impressive. Very very good, but  not worth the price.