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. Mas de Daumas Gassac Blanc (13%) Chard/Viognier '99: Light gold color; rather earthy/stoney light floral/Viognier nose much like a Pay d'Oc Chard; soft/flat bit washed-out slight minty/ pepperminty some stoney/earthy/Chard light floral flavor; soft/flaccid/rather washed out light minty/stoney finish; pleasant enough nose for a cheap Pays d'Oc Chard but not much on the palate; little Viognier character; grossly overpriced. $39.00
2. Andrew Murray Vineyard Santa Barbara County Viognier (13.5%) '99: Med.gold color; rather floral/honey- suckle/overripe slight oxidized peachy/rotted fruit nose; tart bit minty very ripe/peachy/ Viognier light toasty/oaked slightly bitter flavor; med.long very ripe/overripe/peachy/Viognier light oaked slight bitter/oxidized finish; lots of overripe/rotted peaches character.
3. Andre Perret Condrieu (13.5%) '98: Light gold color; attractive pear/peach/Viognier bit over- ripe some Condrieu/minerally slight cabbagy nose; soft/lush very attractive peachy/Viognier racy/elegant flavor; very long/lingering elegant/racey very ripe/peachy/Viognier finish; a lovely/svelte Meryl Streep-Viognier.
4. Failla Jordan Edna Valley Alban Vineyard Viognier (14.3%) '98: Dark gold color; very strong toasty/ charred/buttered toast/toasted coconut/Fr.oaked almost Fino sherry aromatic/perfumed some minerally/Viognier/peach complex nose; soft huge rich mouthfilling minty toasty/charred/ caramelized/toasted coconut extracted very ripe peachy/Viognier flavor; very long/lingering toasted coconut/caramelized/toasty/oak very ripe/peach/Viognier mouthfilling/glycerined complex finish; loaded w/ a very strange Fr.oak but a very intense fruit buried in there; a very unusual/eccentric rendition of Viognier.
5. Guigal Hermitage Blanc (95% Marsanne; 13%) '94: Med.gold color; rather earthy/appley/stoney/ waxy bit metallic/caramelized light oaked bit floral/honeysuckle nose; soft/flat waxy/appley/ floral/honeysuckle bit oxidized/stoney/metallic flavor; med.long appley/stoney fat light floral/ honeysuckle slight aged/oxidized finish; lots of old/oxidized/hazelnutty old Marsanne character; seems to be aging pretty fast. Howard's mystery wine.
6. Henri Boiron Domaine des Relanges Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Vigneronne (13.5%) '98: Med.light color; rather earthy/dusty little fruit slight strawberry/Grenache slight roasted nose; tart/ thin rather washed out slight roasted rather earthy/dusty flavor; med.short washed out/dilute earthy/dusty slight roasted little fruit finish w/ little tannins; a flimsy effort and no bargin. $23.00
7. Tensley Santa Barbara Grenache/Syrah (74%/26%; 13.9%) '98: Med.color; lovely/fragrant strawberry/ Grenache quite spicy/aromatic cinammon nose; tart very spicy/cinammon strawberry/Grenache perfumed very varietal flavor; med.long spicy/cinammon forward strawberry/Grenache tart finish w/ light tannins; lots a fragrant/strawberry/Grenache fruit; tastes like Stolpman Grenache.
8. Beckmen Vnyds Santa Barbara County Syrah (13.7%) '98: Med.color; fragrant/spicy slight bretty dusty/ blackberry/Syrah some pungent/smokey nose; spicy/blackberry/Syrah bit pungent/coffee/oaked flavor; med.long spicy/blackberry/Syrah light oaked/toasty finish w/ light tannins; well-made mainstream SB Syrah; much like the Jaffurs SBCnty Syrah; very good value. $22.00
9. Beckmen Vnyds Santa Barbara County Estate Syrah (13.7%) '98: Very dark color; very strong pungent/ smokey/toasty very gamey/blackberry/Syrah complex light roasted/espresso nose; big rich smokey/ pungent/toasty/oak bit roasted intense gamey/blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry complex flavor; very long toasty/pungent/oaked/charred intense gamey/blackberry/Syrah slight roasted/espresso finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; terrific/first-class Calif Syrah; even better than the very good '97 version.
10. Tensley Santa Barbara County Syrah Thompson Vnyd (13.5%) '98: Very dark color; very perfumed quite pungent rather green olive/roasted rather strawberry/Syrah/gamey bit mushroomy/dusty rather charred/pungent/toasty/oaked slight bretty slight volatile very aromatic complex nose; tart big/rich/mouthfilling intense gamey/green olive/blackberry/Syrah/strawberry toasty/pungent/oaked flavor; very long tart pungent/dusty strong green olive/gamey/blackberry/Syrah toasty/roasted/ charred/oak very spicy/black pepper finish w/ fair tannins, needs 2-6 yrs; very controversial wine, many thought it too pungent & overdone; lots of that bit underripe/Syrah character like in the Qupe HillSide; I thought it a stunning Syrah.
11. Andrew Murray Vineyard Santa Barbara County Syrah RoastedSlopeVnyd (13.5%) '98: Black color; very intense licorice/blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry slight pungent/sewer gas fairly aromatic pungent/roasted/ oaked nose; tart bit lean/hard strong blackberry/boysenberry/licorice/Syrah menthol/oaked some charred/roasted very spicy bit hot/alcoholic flavor; very long strong blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah very pungent/charred/toasty/roasted finish w/ some tannins; lots of roasted/espresso character w/ loads of blackberry fruit; another terrific AndrewMurray Syrah.
12. Gilles Robin Crozes-Hermitage Cuvee Alberic Bouvet (13%) '96: Very dark color; very intense coffee/espresso/roasted/charred/pungent/toasty/oak rather metallic/green olive bit sewer gas very roasted complex nose; tart/metallic very charred/burnt/oaked/pungent/smokey lean quite roasted/green olive classic if a bit overdone NorthernRhone flavor; very long/tart/metallic very charred/toasty/oaked very roasted/espresso/green olive some sewer gas/pungent finish w/ some tannins; a rather overdone NorthernRhone that most people disliked quite a bit but I thought was very interesting/terrific; a NorthernRhone wine like Ehren Jordan would make; great C-H for the price. $25.00
13. J.L.Chave St.Joseph Offerus (12.5%) '98: Very dark color; attractive blackberry/Syrah fragrant slight roasted/smokey rather Calif-style nose; soft dusty/earthy some ripe strawberry/blackberry/ Syrah light roasted flavor; med.long soft blackberry/Syrah light roasted/dusty finish w/ light tannins; nicely done Calif-style of Rhone.
14. Reynaud Chateau de Fonsalette Syrah Cotes du Rhone (14%) '97: Dark color; rather smokey/chocolaty some bretty/horsecollar rather dusty slight roasted little fruit nose; quite bretty/horsecollar some green olive/dusty/earthy light blackberry/Syrah flavor; med. very bretty/horsecollar rather dusty/earthy weak blackberry/Syrah finish w/ some tannins; pretty heavy w/ brett; another weak Fonsalette Syrah effort; grossly overpriced at $42.00
15. Failla Jordan Sonoma Coast QueSyrahVnyd (13.2%) Syrah '98: Very dark color; very intense blackberry/boysenberry some roasted/toasty/oaked nose changing to a very intense roasted/pungent/ espresso/mocha/coffee pungent/smokey NorthernRhone/complex nose; very tart/acid some green olive very roasted/espresso/coffee/mocha/tobaccoy/toasty/oak intense blackberry/boysenberry complex flavor; very long/lingering espresso/roasted/coffee/mocha/toasty/oak very tart cranberry/ boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah  some SantaCruzMtn/dusty finish w/ fair tannins; spectacular very NorthernRhone/roasted nose but hard/lean/tart on the palate; incredible Syrah.
16. OjaiVnyd Calif Syrah Roll Ranch (13%) '95: Black color; very intense blackberry/boysenberry/ black cherry/Syrah some toasty/oaked/smokey slight leafy/stemmy bit alcoholic nose; rich mouthfilling black cherry/blackberry/boysenberry/black cherry cola very spicy some toasty/oaked flavor; very long very black cherry cola rather blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/cassis light tobaccoy/oaked/toasty finish w/ ample tannins; seems to be showing less spicy/dusty RollRanch character and more BienNacido/black cherry character; a bit hard & angular now but should evolve into a terrific Syrah. Larry's mystery wine.

1. DaumasGassac Blanc: This Chard/Viognier blend has been one that I've consistently liked over the yrs; some have been exceptional. This '99 version is not one of them.... dullsville!! This is a wine from Martine's Imports so I should have been very suspect of its quality if it was available in NewMexico; we only get the stuff that's not good enough to sell to her good customers in Calif. Which means the '97 Fonsalette Syrah will be here any day!!
2. Failla Jordan Viognier: This is one pretty eccentric/over-the-top wine. Most of my tasters soundly villified the wine for its excess of very strange oak. Underneath all the oak was some pretty intense/rich fruit but you had to struggle to find it. I pretty much liked the wine for its eccentricity. It reminded me of only one other wine; the Swan Estate Chard '75. This was the curmudgeonly Joe Swan's first Chard. Not one to lavish $$$s on the winemaking equiptment; Joe bought some used bourbon barrels for next to nothing, broke them down & shaved out the insides himself, then put them back together. The Chard, loads of very intense fruit, picked up this slightly oxidized/bourbon flavor from the barrel. Joe was convinced that he had tanked his first Chard release and, so, sold it for a song. Despite its eccentricity, it was packed with flavor. At 10 yrs of age, it actually shed a lot of that bourbon character and turned into a pretty interesting wine. I'm not sure what Ehren's model or vision was in making this Viognier. Certainly it wasn't Condrieu. It's very much in the Manfred Krankl style of white wine, yet has a very peculiar oakiness to it that I can't quite identify, other than like the Swan. The wine almost makes me think that ol' Ehren is just funnin' us. Push the wine to the outer limits, go where no other winemaker has gone before with Viognier, make it the most eccentric Viognier ever... and see if RP STILL goes ape over it!! I doubt that that's really the case, but I would be interested in Ehren's thoughts behind this wine. It's not for the faint of heart, for sure.
3. Tensley & Beckmen: Joey Tensley is the winemaker at BeckmenVnyds. Clearly someone we should be keeping our eyes on. He used to make wine at FessParker and, apparently, was responsible for the only really good Syrah to come from there. I was quite impressed by the '97 Beckmen and this '98 Estate is even better. But his '98 Tensley Syrah is a killer Syrah, though controversial. I kept finding all sorts of things in the wine. A great debut effort here; though it's not like Joey's never done this before!! He also has an AlisosCanyon Syrah I've not yet tried.
4. Failla Jordan Syrah: When this was served on the Syrah panel at HdR; I was blown away by its very strong roasted/NorthernRhone character. As it warmed in the glass, this character really came out on this tasting as well. Easily the most NorthernRhone Syrah from Calif I've yet had. Some Calif Syrahs seem to use a well-charred oak character to simulate that NorthernRhone character. This Syrah seemed to achieve that more from the terrior (I would guess) than from the oak. Many tasters here did not care for this wine acause of its high acidity. I think that will alow this Syrah to age into an incredible wine down the road. It reminded me a bit of some of the EdmundsStJohn Durell's on an acid high. Stunning Syrah not for the faint of heart.
5. Cool climate Syrah: Probably the original impetus for Syrah in Calif was the (not so accurate) belief/impression of the Rhone as a warm climate area and, hence, here was a grape that would do well in Calif warmer climes. And it does make quite a good wine from the warmer areas, like lower Monterey/PasoRobles eastside/ContraCosta. But, for me, the most interesting Calif Syrahs are coming from really cool areas; like Carneros/SantaMaria/SantaCruzMtns. I expect some terrific Syrahs from the very cool western SantaYnezVlly, out by Babcock and Foley. This Failla Jordan Syrah come from the SonomaCoast area, out beyond Occidental. Pinot and Chardonnay country. Some of the terrific Ridge/Eric-Ross/SeaRidge Zinfandels were produced out there.... very intense fruit w/ loads of acidity. Wines that can age incredibly well. Also an area where they oftentimes could not ripen the crop to adequate sugar levels to make a palatable Zin. It's going to be VERY interesting to follow the evolution of Syrah grown out in this area. Likewise with Mourvedre. It would seem that some of the cool climate Mourvedre are making very interesting wines and as more is planted in cool areas, we're probably going to see some terrific Calif Mourvedre... wines they would die to make in France.