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. Ojai Vineyard Arroyo Grande Vlly Chard Reserve (13%) Talley Vnyd '95: Med.dark gold color; rather toasty/ butterscotchy/pencilly/oaked some melony/Chard spicy/yeasty nose; soft rich butterscotchy/toasty/ bit metallic quite spicy/cloves/melony/celery/Chard flavor; med.long soft fairly oaked/toasty/ butterscotchy spicy/melony/Chard bit cloves/cinammon finish; fairly toasty/oaked Chard but still in great shape; very good tasty Chard.
2. Ojai Vineyard Calif Viognier Roll Ranch Vnyd (13%) '96: Med.gold color; fragrant honeysuckle/floral bit minerally/Condrieu/aged light oaked/butterscotchy nose; soft/fat rather spicy/floral/honeysuckle some earthy flavor; long light toasty/buterscotchy/oak some floral/honeysuckle spicy/minerally finish; becomes light butterscotchy/oaked very minerally/Condrieu-like w/ air; a very interesting rich some Condrieu-like Viognier that's developed some complexity.
3. Ojai Vineyard Calif RTW (13%) '95: Med.color; rather oaky/medicinal old Pinot-like complex/aged some toasty/oak nose; toasty/dusty/earthy rather bretty/horsecollar/Rhonish-like aged flavor; soft fairly bretty/horsecollar some toasty/oaked aged/Pinot/Rhonish some raspberry/Zin finish w/ little tannin; a bit aged & drying out some and some like an aged Rafanelli Zin from the mid-'80's; beyond its prime but some interesting & not at all unpleasant.
4. Ojai Vineyard Calif Syrah (13%) '94: Dark color; rather gamey/Syrah/earthy bit toasty/smokey some Rhonish/complex nose; tart some smokey/gamey/toasty/Rhonish bit charred/toasty/oak flavor; med.long rather spicy/gamey/Rhonish slight charred/toasty finish w/ light tannins; drying out a bit & not as much blackberry fruit as it once had; tastes more like a Paso Syrah than SantaBarbara.
5. Andrew Murray Santa Barbara County Syrah Les Coteaux (13.5%; 100% Syrah) '97: Very dark color; some volatile/fumey/ EA rather strong blackberry/Syrah some toasty/Fr.oak nose; tart bit hot/fumey/volatile strong blackberry/Syrah/extracted light toasty/oaked slight bretty flavor; med.long bit hot/fumey strong Syrah/blackberry fairly tannic finish; lots of blackberry/extraction but some volatile & over- the-top/Aussie in character.
6. Andrew Murray Santa Barbara County Syrah Les Coteaux (13.5%; 100% Syrah) '96: Very dark color; slight bretty very ripe/blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/chocolaty some toasty/Fr.oak/charred nose; tart rich extracted/ blackberry/Syrah/chocolaty light toasty/oak rather tannic flavor; long tannic menthol/toasty/Fr. oak strong blackberry/Syrah/extracted finish; good blackberry fruit but seems a bit hard & closed right now; needs 2-5 yrs yet.
7. Ojai Vineyard Apricots HallRanch/Upper Ojai (13%; 30 cs) '95: Very dark color; some bretty/horsecollar bit toasty/smokey/oak very strong licorice /blackberry/ Zin some smokey/ perfumey/complex nose; tart rather blackberry/chocolaty/perfumed bit menthol/ smokey/toasty/ oak slight bretty/ horsecollar fairly complex flavor; tart long perfumed/ blackberry/Zin/blueberry/ chocolaty some smoky/pungent complex slight bretty finish w/ some tannins; very interesting atypical Zin w/ good structure; sort of a RollRanch version of Zin; very very tasty now & moving right along.
8. Ojai Vineyard Calif RTW Apricots (14%; Zin: Hall, Block vnyds, 35% RollRanch Syrah; Upper Ojai) '97: Med.dark color; deep blackberry/earthy/perfumed/chocolaty/apricotty(!!) very ripe some toasty/Fr. oak nose; soft bit overripe/Zin/blackberry/apricotty somewhat lean/hard/tannic bit toasty/oak flavor; very long very ripe/blackberry/Zin/chocolaty bit lean/hard/tannic finish; needs 2-5 yrs; lots of very ripe Zin character but a lean/hard/muscular backbone to it; a very very interesting wine that should be a good one; very atypical of Zin.
9. Glen Fionna Walla Walla Syrah (76% Syrah, 10% Cinsault, 3% GrenacheNoir; 13%) '95: Black color; strong smokey/toasty/pungent/charred/Fr.oak intense black cherry/chocolaty nose; soft intense smokey/toasty/charred/Fr.oaked/pungent some black cherry/Syrah dusty/earthy flavor; long lots of charred/smokey/toasty/Fr.oak some black cherry/Syrah/soda pop finish w/ some tannins; speaks more of WashState red than of Syrah; very interesting wine that needs more yrs.
10. Ojai Vineyard Santa Barbara County Syrah Stolpman Vnyd (14.5%) '97: Very dark color; rather fragrant black cherry/ blackberry/Syrah spicy/cinammon bit toasty/Fr.oak nose; tart/bright spicy/cinammon cherry/black- berry Syrah light oak/toasty flavor; long tart lean bright spicy/cinammon cherry/blackberry/Syrah finish w/ some tannins; not the depth or extract of the other Ojai Syrahs but a lot of bright/ very spicy/cherry character; almost a PinotNoir of Syrahs.
11. Ojai Vineyard Santa Barbara County Syrah Bien Nacido Vnyd (13%) '95: Black color; very intense/extracted blackberry/ boysenberry/Syrah/chocolaty/gamey/perfumed talc loads of fruit light toasty/oak nose; big rich lush intense blackberry/boysenberry/cassis/gamey light toasty/oak bit dusty/plummy flavor; very long/ lingering intense blackberry/boysenberry/black cherry/chocolaty/gamey extracted/tannic light toasty/ oak finish; big huge extracted essence of Syrah wine w/ yrs to go; lots more gamey character than BienNacido usually shows.
12. Ojai Vineyard Santa Barbara County Syrah Bien Nacido Vnyd (13%) '96: Black color; very intense juicy/blackberry/ boysenberry/plummy very perfumed rather toasty/Fr.oak aromatic lovely nose; hard/extracted some blackberry/plummy/slight gamey/licorice bit bretty/horsecollar light toasty/Fr.oak flavor; long hard/extracted/tannic slight horsecollar big/blackberry/blueberry light toasty/oak finish; big huge hard Syrah that needs 3-7 yrs, should become a killer Syrah.
13. Ojai Vineyard Calif Syrah Roll Ranch Vnyd (13%) '96: Black color; very intense blackberry/Syrah/licorice very gamey perfumed/complex/dusty/pungent very aromatic nose; huge licorice/pungent/complex/dusty/ smoky intense blackberry/blueberry/boysenberry very spicy/aromatic hard/tannic/extracted flavor; very long very spicy intense boysenberry/blackberry almost Hermitage-like hard/tannic finish; needs 4-10 yrs; very spicy/gamey/aromatic Syrah; incredible stuff.
14. Ojai Vineyard Henry Daniel Syrah (75% Thompson Vnyd, 25% Bien Nacido Vnyd; 15.5%) '97: Black color; very fragrant/perfumed/aromatic very spicy/plummy/black cherry/black cherry cola rather toasty/charred/ pungent/oaked nose; rich/intense very lush licorice/chocolaty/plummy/black cherry cola complex rather toasty/pungent/oaked flavor; very long very lush black cherry cola/plummy/licorice/chocolaty loads of fruit bit gamey/spicy very perfumed/aromatic rather pungent/charred/oak fairly tannic finish; huge very aromatic Syrah w/ more charred oak than usual for Ojai; a rather over-the-top SineQuaNon-style syrah; incredible stuff.
15. Eberle Paso Robles Syrah Frahlich Vnyd (13.8%) '95: Med.dark color; bit bretty/horsecollar/Rhonish dusty/black cherry/menthol/cheap Christmas candy/very spicy/cloves nose; tart bright very spicy/ cloves/cinammon bright cherry/strawberry light pungent/oak some bretty flavor; long slight bretty/ horsecollar very bright/cherry/spicy/cloves light pungent/oak finish w/ slight tannins; ready to drink; classic Eberle Syrah more like Grenache than Syrah; lovely wines.
16. Stringy Brae Clare Vlly Shiraz (CottageBlock, Machine Harvested; 14.5%) '97: Near black color; intense blackberry/boysenberry/licorice/cassis loads of lush fruit nose; soft menthol very ripe blackberry/boysenberry/Shiraz loads of fruit bit Am.oak flavor; very long very lush blackberry/ boysenberry/licorice/cassis loads of fruit soft finish w/ light tannins; very well-done soft drinkable forward attractive Oz Shiraz. Larry's mystery wine.
17. Rosemont Balmorah Syrah McLaren Vale (13.8%) '97: Very black color; strong minty/menthol/milky/Am. oaked strong licorice/blackberry/boysenberry/Shiraz nose; soft rich strong licorice/blackberry/ boysenberry/Shiraz rather menthol/Am.oaked/milky some tannic flavor; med.long strong milky/Am.oaked blackberry/boysenberry/licorice finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; not the powere & complexity of the '96; a bit weak for Balmoral but a lovely Aussie Shiraz; not worth the $40.00

The alcohol levels indicated above should be taken w/ a grain of salt.

1. Eberle Syrah: Gary Eberle was my (first) epiphany when it comes to Syrah in Calif. Back in 1977 or '78. I had tried the first 2 Phelps Syrahs (from badly virus-infected vines) and found them..... unthrilling..... more like heavily-toasted oaked Calif PinotNoir than Syrah. Nonetheless, I felt that Syrah should do very well in Calif. I had read (Nate Chroman's book) that Gary Eberle was growing Syrah so arranged a visit with him at EstrellaRiver Vnyd. He was probably the first premium winemaker in Paso. His reputation was for his Cabernet & Chard so, upon meeting this big guy, he was very much taken aback when I asked to taste his Syrah (and Barbera). But boy did he brighten up when I asked and it was clear I had touched the right button and found where his passions lay. The groundwork was lain for a good friendship that has developed over the ensuing years. The wine had loads of very bright/vibrant/lush strawberry/Syrah fruit w/ a fair amount (maybe too much) spicy/pencilly/Fr.oak. But it was an eyeopener & I knew then that Calif could produce very good, perhaps great, Syrah. It was very much different from the huge/intense/extracted Syrah that are the hallmarks of many of the great ones nowadays in Calif. Gary is still very much true to this style. Lots of bright/vibrant/very spicy fruit; more elegant & restrained than most. It's still a style of Syrah that I love and tasting an Eberle always brings back a smile inside to that day over 20 yrs ago when we were all a bit younger!! And the Barbera..... also terrific. Still one of Calif's best Barberas.
2. The Ojais: These Fall releases from Adam&Helen Tolmach are as good as anything we've had thus far. As I taste & retaste the Ojai wines, I'm beginning to settle on the RollRanch as my favorite vnyd in Adam's repetoire. It has less overt Syrah fruit and a more complex/gamey/spicy/dusty character than the others. And plenty of tannins for the long haul. Second, and close behind, would be the ThompsonVnyd. Huge powerful Syrahs. The BienNacido (from the Hillside block) has more up-front obvious Syrah fruit. I was quite taken by the HenryDanial. Thought it had more toasty/charred Fr.oak than Adam usually has in his Syrah; more in a SineQuaNon style than an Ojai style. Incredible stuff, will be a great one w/ age.