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. Heitz Cellars Napa Vlly Grignolino (12.5%) '98: Very pale near rose color w/ some orange tints; lovely very fragrant/perfumey/strawberry/floral/muscatty nose; bit astringent/ hard/tannic/metallic rather grapey/strawberry/muscatty flavor; med.long tart/lean/ astringent/tannic light grapey/floral/strawberry/muscatty finish w/ hard tannins; needs some age.
2. Ca'del Solo Monterey Barbera (14.5%) '98: Dark color; lush grapey bit herbal/smokey/ leafy/dusty nose; soft rather grapey/herbal/chocolaty spicy bit oaked flavor; med.long soft grapey/dusty/ herbal/chocolaty finish w/  little tannins; good tasty quaffable slightly herbal red wine w/ no Barbera character to speak of.
3. Renato Ratti Piemonte Barbera (13%) '97: Med.dark color; slight bretty/horsecollar some spicy sausage/dusty rather earthy nose; tart thin light weak spicy sausage little fruit slight bitter finish; med. tart/lean/thin rather dusty/earthy low fruit finish w/ some tannins; rather thin mean little Barbera.
4. Easton Shenandoah Vlly Calif Barbera (13.5%; 227 cs) Cooper Ranch '95: Very dark color; slightly corked(?)/funky/reduced/diaper pail slight volatile some spicy/fruity bit oaked nose; tart/sour rather funky/diaper pail some spicy/peppery light oaked flavor; med.long funky/diaper pail rather sour/tart some spicy finish w/ fair tannins; a rather strange/ funky/unclean character to this wine makes it hard to like what's good in it.
5. Coppo Camp du Rouss Barbera d'Asti (13%) '97: Med.dark color; dusty/earthy bit spicy/ black cherry slight metallic nose; very tart astringent rather spicy/black cherry/spicy sausage dusty/earthy flavor; med.long tart/astringent some oak/spicy/black cherry finish; needs some age.
6. Eberle Paso Robles Barbera (12.5%; Norman and Steinbeck Vnyds) '96: Med.color; rather strong herbal/dusty rather fragrant/cocoa/cinammon/cloves/oaked some spicy/spicy sausage nose; bit tart some herbal/dusty spicy/perfumed/cinammon/cloves/mocha flavor; med.long tart rather herbal some oaked/cinammon/cloves/spicy sausage finish w/ some tannins; needs a few yrs yet; rather strong herbal component.
7. Mascarello Barbera d'Alba Codana in Castiglionw Falletto (13.5%) '96: Very dark color; strong spicy/Barbera/cinammon/dusty/earthy/spicy sausage slight oak nose; very tart/acid very spicy/Barbera/spicy sausage some earthy/dusty fairly rich/full flavor; long tart/ acid very spicy/spicy sausage/dusty slight oak finish; best of the Italian ones; rather classic Italian Barberas.
8. Eberle Paso Robles Norman Vnyd Barbera (13.1%) '94: Med.dark color; beautiful/complex cinammon/cloves/oaked spicy sausage/dusty/spicy/black cherry/Zin-like lush/full nose; lush some tart very spicy/spicy sausage/dusty cinammon/cloves/oaked flavor; very long/ lingering very spicy/spicy sausage/black cherry lush/tart cinammon/cloves/oak finish w/ some tannins; a beautiful complex Barbera.
9. Prunotto Pian Romualdo Barbera d'Alba (13.5%) '88: Med.dark color; bit oxidized/burnt marshmallow/charred/toasty some espresso/spicy/earthy nose; tart some oxidized/toasty/ burnt marshmallow/pencilly/oaked/charred slight spicy/dusty flavor; med.short very tart some oxidized/burnt marshmallow/charred/oaked slight spicy finish w/ some astringence; seems to be a bit too old & tired.
10. Il Podere Bricco Buon Natale Santa Maria Vlly Bien Nacido Vnyd Barbera Riserva (13.5%; EB) '97: Very dark color; rather gamey/raw meat very plummy/black cherry/cola/Dr.Pepper lush oaked nose; bit tart rich/plummy/black cherry/black cherry cola lush some toasty/ oaked flavor; long light toasty/oaked rich/lush/plummy/black cherry finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; speaks more of Bien Nacido than Barbera.
11. Scarpa Barbera d'Asti (12.9%) '82: Dark color w/ slight browning; old/tired/oxidized pruney/overripe tired nose; tart oxidized flavor; a dead wine.
12. Montevina Amador Cnty Barbera (12.5%!!) '77: Dark color; strong charred/bourbon/oaked/ toasty/walnutty bit alcoholic some dusty/spicy nose; tart alcoholic rather toasty/oaked/ vanilla/bourbon/charred complex some spicy/dusty flavor; med.long bit hot/alcoholic tart charred/vanilla/toasty/oaked/bourbon finish w/ some tannins; dominated by oak & char & drying out some but still a bit of spicy life there.

1. Grignolino: Another one of the worlds grapes that doesn't get the respect it deserves. It has a powerful perfume to it (too much for some people) but as a 100% varietal, it makes fiercely astringent/lean/tannic wines that are unattractive on the palate w/o food to accompany it. It seems to be a variety that would benefit from some creative blending or more skilled tannin management. Color extraction is another problem. But it sure has a nose to it.
2. I've followed Gary Eberle's wines from the very start, at Estrella River. In my first visit to meet the big guy, about '88, he was amazed that I had come by, interested in trying his first (in barrel then) Barbera (and Syrah). I was quite taken by the wine. Rather curious now as to what happened to that Barbera that was planted at Estrella, now Meridian. When his first Estrella Barbera ('76?) was released, my group bought over 20 cases of the stuff, nearly 10% of his entire production. NOBODY was interested in Calif Barbera & they were more than happy to find someone out there excited to buy the wine.
         Gary's Barberas, over the yrs, have been some of the best made in California. With that characteristic Eberle mocha/cinammon/cloves oak character, they have a lovely/ fragrant spiciness to them that's hard to describe. And they age quite well, thank you.
         Up thru the '98 vintage, Gary got Barbera from the Norman Vnyd up on the WestSide. Now the Norman Wnry keeps them all themselves (I've not tasted any of their Barberas yet). Gary gets his Barbera now from the SteinbeckVnyd. I'm not convinced (yet) that this is a vnyd that is capable of producing great wines; nice/pretty/fragrant wines, but great? As the vines mature, we shall see.
3. I was a believer early on in my wine perversion that Barbera and Syrah could make great/ world class wine in Calif. Syrah has clearly delivered; Barbera has not. Instead, we see from time to time glimpses of the greatness Barbera can achieve in Calif. It's a variety that more winemakers should persue in Calif. The early Montevinas and Estrella Rivers in the mid-to-late '70's were some of the best. Montevina still makes Barbera (by the Baron of Barbera... Jeff Meyers), but, like most current Montevinas, seems overworked & stripped in that Sutter Home style. Yet their Barbera is probably the best wine being made at Montevina these days.
         In the early '90's, there were some stunning Barberas made at Renwood (Linstead Vnyd) by Scott Harvey. I recently tasted his '98 and '99 Amador Barberas from barrel at Folie a Deux and was mightly impressed. In fact, I think AmadorCnty/ShenandoahVlly makes better Barbera than Zinfandel (I know.... heresy!!).
         But Barbera is a variety that just don't get no respect in Calif. What a pity for the wine world.
4. The wines were all served blind, in pairs. Once Howard Sherry correctly picked up on the Barbera theme, I passed out the list of wines & indicated that they were paired as Calif vs. Italy. The Italian ones were, generally, easily identified.
5. Italian Barberas: are one of my favorite wines. Like most Italian wines, I'm always frustrated when I serve them in tastings. They just don't show well. They badly need to be accompanied by food. Then they are absolutely delicious.
         The defining character of Piemonte Barbera is an ethereal spiciness and that bone- jarring, teeth-scouring acidity. The Italians refer to it as "salado", an acidity that gives the wine almost a salty character on the palate. Like Nebbiolo, it often has an astringency to it that makes the wine a bit harsh on the palate. A variety that can benefit from skilled tannin-management techniques, I feel. But it's also those characteristics that makes Italian Barbera so delicious w/ food.