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. Garretson Paso Robles Fralich Vnyd / Spoon Hill Section (15.0%; 175 cs) Viognier '99: Med.gold  color; lovely/fragrant pear/Viognier/spicy/perfumed straightforward Viognier nose; fat/  lush/soft very glycerined elegant/pear/Viognier/spicy flavor; med. soft/lush/fat very  glycerined/oily attractive/spicy/pear/Viognier finish; big & soft Viognier for early  drinking.
2. Garretson Glimigrim Paso Robles RTW (100% Syrah; 504 cs) NV('77): Dark color;rich/spicy/Syrah/  blackberry slight bretty some smokey/roasted bit toasty/oak nose; tart very spicy/raspberry/  blackberry/Syrah some smokey/pungent/roasted bit funky/horsecollar flavor; med.long spicy/  Syrah/blackberry light pungent/smokey bit funky/bretty finish w/ some tannins; can use a  yr or two of age; very interesting quite Rhonish-style wine at a great price.
3. Tatachilla McLarenVale Grenache (78%)-Shiraz(22%) (14.0%) '98: Dark color; earthy/mushroomy  bit smokey slight blackberry some oaked/bretty nose; soft slight dishwater rather earthy/  dusty some smokey/mushroomy funky/Rhonish flavor; med.long earthy/dusty mushroomy bit funky/  Rhonish finish w/ some tannins; not a lot of fruit and more like a Languedoc red.
4. Tatachilla SA Grenache (55%)-Mourvedre (45%) (13.5%) '98: Med.light color; very fragrant/  Grenache/strawberry/spicy nose; soft very fragrant/spicy/strawberry/Grenache zippy flavor;  med.short spicy/very strawberry/Grenache finish w/ light tannins; a zippy/forward easy  drinking Grenache.
5. Martella Calif Syrah Hammer (14.6%; 89% Syrah, 7% PS, 4% CabFranc; 280 cs) '98: Med.dark  color; slight herbal some smokey/toasty/oak/roasted/espresso bit blackberry/Syrah nose;  soft/fat/lush some ripe/blackberry/Syrah/chocolaty slight herbal some milky/toasty/smokey/  oak flavor; soft/lush chocolaty/blackberry/Syrah bit herbal/earthy some toasty/charred/oak  finish w/ light tannins; tastes like SanBernarbe Syrah in Monterey; a pleasant/interesting  ripe Syrah some like the Clines or RHPhillips Syrahs; fairly priced at $18.00 
6. Bell Sierra Foothills Syrah Canterbury Vnyd (13.8%; 320 cs) '97: Very dark color; very strong  bright/blackberry/Syrah/jammy some roasted/smokey/toasty/oak complex nose; soft/fat bit  toasty/charred/oaked bit coffee/pungent/roasted very ripe/jammy/blackberry flavor; med.long  smokey/charred/toasty/oak slight roasted/coffee very ripe/blackberry/jammy finish w/ some  tannins; lots of ripe/jammy Syrah friot w/ lots of toasty/charred oak; pretty interesting  very ripe Syrah but not worth $31.75. 
7. Garretson The Aisling Paso Robles Syrah (13.8%; 442 cs) '98: Med.dark color; deep blackberry/  Syrah/boysenberry/black cherry cola bit smokey/coffee/toasty perfumed nose; tart very spicy/  racey blackberry/Syrah/black cherry cola light toasty/mocha flavor; long very spicy black  cherry cola/blackberry/Syrah light toasty/mocha finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs;  not a big Syrah but very well-made & very balanced.
8. Equs Paso Robles Syrah (13.5%) '97: Very dark color; deep blackberry/Syrah/ripe/boysenberry  light coffee/roasted/toasty complex nose; soft/rich very lush/very spicy black cherry/cola/  Dr.Pepper/blackberry/Syrah light smokey/toasty/oak some tannic flavor; very long rich/very  spicy/blackberry/Syrah/black cherry cola/Dr.Pepper light toasty/pungent/oak finish w/ some  tannins; needs several yrs; a very interesting Syrah w/ lots of black cherry/spicy  character; one of the best Paso Syrahs I've had; very fairly priced.
9. Tensley SantaBarbaraCnty Syrah AlisosCanyonVnyd (13.5%) '98: Black color; slight reduced/  sewer gas intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah bit green olive slight smokey/mocha/roasted/  pungent nose; rich bit reduced/sewer gas some green olive intense blackberry/boysenberry/  Syrah some coffee/toasty/smokey/oak flavor; long boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah some mocha/  toasty/pungent/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs. Terrific Syrah.
10. Mount Horrocks ClareVlly Shiraz (13.5%) '97: Black color; intense earthy/dusty/licorice/  chocolaty/boysenberry bit coffee/licorice some vanilla/oaked nose; soft bright blackberry/  boysenberry/licorice some vanilla/oaked bit earthy/dusty flavor; long some vanilla/oaked  straightforward blackberry/boysenberry slight minty/menthol finish w/ rather stiff tannins;  needs several yrs; good straightforward Oz Shiraz but a bit expensive at $30.95 
11. Tatachilla McLarenVale Shiraz (14.0%) '98: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/  boysenberry/Syrah/licorice/Dr,Pepper nose; tart intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah loads  of fruit slight vanilla/oaked flavor; long fairly intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/  spicy/licorice slight vanilla finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a very good fruit-  laden Shiraz at a good price.
12. Tatachilla Foundation McLarenVale Shiraz (14.0%) '96: Very dark color; intense smokey/  charred/pungent/slight eucalyptus bit funky some blackberry/licorice rather coffee/espresso/  burnt complex nose; tart fairly toasty/vanilla/oaked/bit eucalyptus some blackberry/licorice  bit smoother complex flavor; long slight funky/aged Syrah rather toasty/oak/vanilla/  eucalyptus fairly blackberry/licorice finish w/ fair tannins; not as much blackberry/Syrah  fruit and a bit of a funky/aged character that one wouldn't expect from a '96. Not quite  worth the price.

1. Garretson Viognier: I was quite struck by the similarity of Mat's Viognier and the one's  GaryEberle made from the same vnyd. More of a low-key/subtle Viognier in the nose and  not that intense on the palate but a very glycerined fatness to it. Almost a Pillsbury  DoughBoy style of Viognier. Mat's version seemed to have less oak and more of a spiciness  to it than the Eberle ones did. 
2. Equs Syrah: Equs is the name used by WildHorseWnry in Templeton for their top-of-the-line  Rhone wines. I've been very impressed with some of the Syrahs Kenny Volk has made from the  James Berry Vnyd in WestSide Paso. This Syrah is probably as good as any of those and as  good a Syrah as from anyplace else in Calif. 
3. Tensley Syrah: Joey Tensley is winemaker at BeckmenVnyds and clearly knows what he's doing.  This AlisosCnynVnyd is not quite as big & extracted as the ThompsonVnyd version we had a few  weeks ago, but it's close. He's a guy we need to keep our eye on for future great wines.  The AlisosCnynVnyd looks to also be another up&coming vnyd in SantaBarbara. Bob Lindquist  of Qupe has also been taking grapes from here and making some exceptional wines. It's located  up a small canyon south of AlisosCnyn road and just east of the Thompson vnyd. If memory  serves me correct, this is where Tony Austin had his wnry located. He was also making a  fair amount of speed there as well, and was busted a few yrs ago when he tried to outrun  a DEA helicopter in a beat-up pickup truck. He now lives not far from Randall Grahm's  vnyd, there in Soledad, in government housing.