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. Mt. Veeder Winery Mt.Veeder/Napa County Cabernet Sauvignon '74: Med.color slight bricking; attractive/complex rather cedary/pencilly slight minty/blaclcurranty nose; soft very smooth/round some cedary/pencilly/tobaccoy slight metallic some minty light blackcurranty complex very elegant flavor; very long smooth/elegant some cedary/pencilly slight blackcurranty finish w/ light tannins; a very elegant/graceful old lady that still has plenty of zip in her.
2. Mt. Veeder Winery Mt. Veeder/Napa County Bernstein Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon '75: Dark color w/ little bricking; bit earthy/tobaccoy slight bretty rather pungent/licorice/peppery some blackcurranty/ Cab complex nose; soft/smooth/round elegant bit pungent/cedary/tobaccoy light licorice/ pungent slight bretty complex flavor; long soft/smooth light pungent/licorice slight tobaccoy/cedary finish w/ little tannins; a bit more intensity & pungent than the '74 w/ a slight hint of brett; lovely old/elegant lady.
3. Mt. Veeder Winery Mt. Veeder/Napa County Bernstein Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon '76: Dark color; complex cedary/pencilly bit smokey/pungent/toasty light blackcurranty/dusty complex nose; some lush smooth licorice/ pungent/smokey rather cedary/pencilly/Fr.oak elegant/complex flavor; soft/round very smooth some lush licorice/pungent light blackcurranty/Cab finish w/ light tannins; a lovely/elegant/ smooth/mature Calif Cab; still has life & fruit,
4. Mt. Veeder Winery Mt. Veeder/Napa County Bernstein Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon '77: Very dark color; intense minty/menthol/ eucalyptus pungent/smokey/bit tarry complex slight blackcurranty nose; rich/pungent some minty/ menthol/toasty some bretty/horsecollar very smooth/round flavor; very long/lingering intense minty/menthol/tarry/pungent/toasty/eucalyptus slight blackcurranty/Cab finish w/ light tannins yet; a terrific/mature pungent Calif Cab.
5. Mt. Veeder Winery Mt. Veeder/Napa County Bernstein Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon '78: Med.dark color; some toasty/tobaccoy/pungent some complex smokey buttery/oaked very slight blackcurranty/Cab nose; soft bit dried out cedary/ tobaccoy/pungent very slight bretty/horsecollar slight minty/menthol bit thin flavor; med.short light cedary/tobaccoy bit menthol finish w/ little tannins; interesting/mature Cab but a bit on the thin/hollow/dried-out side; going downhill.
6. Mt. Veeder Winery Mt. Veeder/Napa County Bernstein Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon '79: Very dark color; fairly intense some earthy/ herbal tobaccoy/dusty some pungent/smokey little fruit nose; rather hard/tannic rather herbal/Cab bit tobaccoy/menthol flavor; long rather tannic/hard somewhat herbal/Cab/weedy light toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; a different beast from the others; much more herbal/Cab (CabFranc/PetitVerdot?) and rather younger in character; needs a few yrs yet but will not be up to the others.
7. Mt.Veeder Meritage Napa Valley RTW '89: Dark color; rather fragrant/tobaccoy/toasty/Fr.oaked some blackcurranty/Cab; soft rather charred/Fr.oaked/toasty bit blackcurranty/Cab bit tannic rather mainstream/simple Cab flavor; med.long light toasty/charred/Fr.oak light blackcurranty/Cab/herbal finish w/ some tannins; still can use a few yrs; a rather boring/mainstream Calif Cab.
8. Mt.Veeder Napa County Mt.Veeder Vnyds Zin (14.6%) '82 : Med.color; rather earthy/dusty/pencilly bit pungent/charred slight burnt rubber nose; tart/smooth/spicy toasty/pungent/charred slight raspberry fruit flavor; long some toasty/pungent/charred menthol/complex light raspberry finish w/ light tannins; a lovely mature Zin w/ some fruit left; smooth & great drinking.
9. Milano Hopland Mendocino Sanel Valley Vnyds (13%) Cabernet Sauvignon '77: Black color; intense earthy/dusty/Am.oaked/ peppery/pungent/charred low fruit nose; slight bretty/horsecollar big earthy/dusty/Am.oaked pungent/peppery earthy/Cab atypical flavor; long soft bit fat/underacid pungent/charred/Am.oak rather tough/rustic finisg w/ ample tannins; still a young Cab; big & extracted earthy/Mendocino Cab that needs more age.
10. Milano Sanel Valley Mendocino County Sanel Valley Vnyd (14.7%) Cabernet Sauvignon '78: very crumbly cork; Very black color; very burnt/charred bit pungent/stinky slight volatile rather licorice/peppery bit alcoholic very pungent some complex nose; soft bit underacid very licorice/pungent/sewer gas bit Port-like hard/tannic flavor; long hard/tannic pungent/smokey/dusty/earthy very licorice finish; lots of extract; lots of huge tannins; may never come into drinkability; a big huge wine almost like some of the dry Portos from the Duoro.
11. Milano Sanel Valley Mendocino County Sanel Valley Vnyd (15.0%) Cabernet Sauvignon '79: Black color; intense earthy/dusty very pungent/charred/smokey very ripe some complex nose; soft lush pungent/charred/oaked dusty/earthy very ripe some blackcurranty/Cab flavor; very ripe soft/lush pungent/charred/ licorice/oaked dusty/earthy some complex some blackcurranty/ripe/Cab finish w/ some tannins; a very interesting Cab that's still doing well.
12. Milano Mendocino County Sanel Valley Vnyd (14.5%) Cabernet Sauvignon '80: Black color; beautiful/complex smokey/ toasty/oaked bit volatile/aromatic loads of blackcurranty/blackberry essence-like nose; soft very intense/licorice/blackcurranty/overripe/licorice bit hot/volatile some toasty/oaked complex flavor; very long very ripe/overripe licorice/pungent/blackcurranty somy toasty/charred complex finish w/ light tannins; a bit of an over-the-top Cab but very interesting and aging very well; almost an essence-like Cab; easily my favorites of the Milanos.
13. Milano Mendocino County Sanel Valley Vnyd (13.8%) Cabernet Sauvignon '81: Very dark color; very ripe dusty/earthy blackberry/boysenberry/almost Zin-like slight leafy/herbal/Cab nose; rather tart lean/earthy light blackberry/cranberry some toasty/pungent/oaked flavor; fairly long lean/hard light blackberry/boysenberry light toasty/pungent finish; more restrained & less overripe Cab; holding well but not going to get much better.
14. Milano Calif Cabernet Sauvignon Calif Reserve '82: Cellared&bttld by; Med.light bit browning color; rather funky/wet dog fur/Lodi-like earthy very tomatoey nose; soft flat hot-climate Lodi-like rather washed-out/LouisMartini-like little fruit some wet dog fur/funky flavor; short tired/washed-out funky finish w/ no tannins; clearly not a wine like the above ones & no Mendocino character; tired & dead.
15. Milano Mendocino County Petite Sirah (15.0%) PaciniVnyd '80(?): Black color; strong earthy/peppery/ licorice/PS dusty complex bit reduced/sewer gas nose; intense peppery/earthy soft huge/mouth- filling bit alcoholic some pungent/oaked very spicy/complex flavor; very long bit skunky/sewer gas/pungent/reduced very peppery/spicy/PS some pungent/oaked complex finish w/ some tannins; one of the best old PSs I've had & still going strong.

1. The Mt.Veeders (the original ones) were always impressive wines in their youth. I happened to be in Calif when their first two wines were released ('73 Cab & '73 LongVnyd Chardonnay), tried them, and was blown away by them & made an immediate appointment to visit Mike & Arlene Bernstein the next week up in TheValley. I followed their wines into the '80's when they seemed to lose the intensity & interest that they had early on. Once Mike&Arlene sold the property to Franciscan, I didn't find much of interest in the Cabs. Some of the Zins that Peter Franus made up there, afore he left to do his own label, were pretty good, though. All of these Cabs had matured, mostly, into lovely/mature/elegant old ladies. Alas, this tasting pretty much wiped out my stocks.
2. I had had a couple of the early Milano Zins and were quite impressed with them (this was back when there were some terrific Zins coming from Mendocino from Fetzer/Edmeades/Milano) so made it a point to stop at Milano on my only visit to Mendocino in the late '70's or early '80's. It was a cold/rainy miserable/gloomy November day & I remember running across a slate/cinder parking into this funky tasting room. Jim Milone happened to be pouring & we had a very nice visit. I was still mightly impressed w/ his wines. In their youth, these were huge/extracted/black/massive Cabs; ones that I were sure would live forever. The wines seem to be doing very very well, though I don't think I'd want to hold onto them much longer. The SanelVllyVnyd was planted in the mid-'60's, entirely Cabernet, all on their own roots. The vnyd has since been replanted by Jim due to phylloxera, with other Bordeaux varieties now included. The founding partners of Milano were Greg Graziano (who left in '79) and Jim Milone, hence the combined name of Milano. The name has now been changed to Milone Family Wnry, but I must admit I've not had any of Jim's recent wines (so much wine/so little time!). Mendocino Cab is a tough one for me. It doesn't seem to have the lush/ripe fruit that is found in areas to the south... more like SantaCruzMtn Cabs than anything. They seem to have a restrained fruit component to them and an earthy/dusty character that gives them a sort of rusticity; not too unlike Languedoc Cab. But I've had some killer ones. When the Pacini PS was released, it was one of the biggest/hugest PSs I could recall; of the likes of the FreemarkAbbey & Ridge York Creek PSs from the early '70's. This wine, unlike many of them, has gone on to develop into one of the best old PSs I've had; terrific stuff. One more btl left.
3. Mendocino County: This is one area that I feel doesn't get the respect it deserves; other than whites & Pinots from the AndersonVlly. I've had some Cabernets and Zins from Mendocino in the mid/late-'70's that were absolutely stunning (some of which still are); every bit as good as anything from further south. Yet I've also felt that Mendocino has been sort of an under- achiever in the wines they've been producing over these later yrs. The quality of the fruit is there, I feel, it's just that I don't see that many great Mendocino red wines (again, not talking the AndersonVlly) coming from there. Don't think the JedSteele/K-J run as done a whole lot for Mendocino. It's an area I need to pay more attention to and go back for a revisit.