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. Yeringberg Yarra Valley Marsanne/Roussanne (13.0%) '99: Med.gold color; fragrant/almondy/appley bit floral/earthy no oaked nose; tart/lean/hard appley bit floral/metallic/earthy/stoney/hard flavor; very tart/hard/lean metallic/stoney bit appley/floral finish; larts of Marsanne character; may be a terrific wine in 10-20 yrs but a real leap of faith; stupid price. $34.50
2. Charles Melton Barossa Valley Rose of Virginia Grenache/CS (12.5%) '00: Med.light red color; fragrant Grenache/strawberry very perfumed/spicy loads of strawberry/floral nose; soft very floral/spicy lush loads of Alpine strawberry flavor; very long very lush intense strawberry/Grenache/floral finish w/ light tannins; delicious light red loaded w/ alpine strawberry character; this is what the Phelps Grenache should be like; good value. $14.00
3. Hongell Barossa Valley Grenache Biscay Vineyard (13.8%) '98: Med.color; bit herbal rather black cherry/cola/ pepperminty/strawberry bit dusty minty/oak nose; soft candied cherry cola bit licorice some sour some minty/Am.oaked flavor; med.long sweetish/candied cherry cola some minty/oaked finish w/ little tannins; lots of cheap Christmas candy character; overpriced. $18.50
4. Twelve Staves McLaren Vale Grenache Gary Wait Vineyard (14%) '99: Med.color; very intense strawberry/Grenache/ peppery very spicy/fragrant nose; rich very peppery/spicy/strawberry some Am.oaked flavor; long very spicy/strawberry/peppery rather Am.oaked finish w/ light tannins; lots of peppery/strawberry character; very tasty Grenache.
5. Clarendon Hills Old Vines Grenache Clarendon Vineyard (15.0%) '98: Med.dark color; very strong fragrant/ strawberry/Grenache some pencilly/toasty bit earthy/eucalyptus nose; rich/sour/quince/bitter strawberry/ Grenache some eucalyptus/oaked flavor; long ripe strawberry/Grenache minty/menthol/eucalyptus/oaked some sour/bitter finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; more bright/overripe character & not as extracted as the other.
6. Clarendon Hills Old Vines Grenache Kangarilla Vineyard (13.5%) '98: Med.color; rather earthy/dusty/gamey/spicy rather strawberry/Grenache some Rhonish bit Am.oaked nose; tart very spicy earthy/dusty some strawberry/ Grenache some Am.oaked flavor; med.long gamey/strawberry/Grenache rather earthy/dusty/Rhonish finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; more clunky/Rhonish & less intense but more interesting.
7. Charles Melton Barossa Valley Grenache (15.0%) '98: Med.dark color; very intense/pencilly/Am.oak/menthol licorice/strawberry/Grenache nose; rich very pencilly/Am.oaked/menthol/buttery strong strawberry/Grenache loads of fruit flavor; very long Am.oaked/buttery/pencilly very strong spicy/strawberry/Grenache finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-5 yrs of age; loaded w/ Am.oak but loads of strawberry fruit.
8. Torbreck Barossa Valley Woodcutter's Red (13.5%) '99: Very dark color; strong minty/menthol/oaked very perfumed/ blackberry/strawberry very spicy complex nose; intense sour blackberry/strawberry some menthol/Am.oaked tart lots of fruit flavor; long bit sour/tart strong blackberry/strawberry ratherr menthol/Am.oaked juicy/ jammy bit bretty/horsey finish; a ripe juicy/jammy red; good value. $22.00
9. The Hattrick McLarenVale Red Wine (50% Grenache, 45% Shiraz, 5% CS; 15.0%) '99: Black color; very intense strawberry/blackberry gamey/Syrah eucalyptus very spicy intense nose; very strong blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah very fragrant/spicy some minty/eucalyptus/oaked flavor; very long/intense boysenberry/jammy/ blackberry/Syrah/strawberry spicy/aromatic loads of fruit finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-6 yrs; loaded w/ very intense/ripe fruit w/ some eucalyptus/oak.
10. Goundrey Mt.Barker/ Western Australia Shiraz Reserve Selection (14.0%) '97: Very dark color; lovely earthy very meaty/gamey/Syrah very peppery/cracked black pepper spicy/complex Rhonish nose; tart intense black pepper gamey/meaty/Syrah earthy/dusty complex bit funky/Rhonish flavor; very long very black pepper/ spicy meaty/gamey/Syrah bit earthy/funky finish w/ fair tannins; needs several yrs; very interesting/ complex Syrah w/ lots of black pepper; great value.
11. Pirramimma McLarenVale Shiraz Stock's Hill Vineyard (14%) '98: Black color; very intense boysenberry/blackberry very licorice/chocolaty hugely fruity rather Am.oaked/vanilla nose; soft very intense blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah jammy/licorice/pungent gamey vanilla/oaked flavor; very long very intense chocolaty/boysenberry/ blackberry/Syrah/licorice ripe/jammy rather vanilla/Am.oaked finish w/ fair tannins; loads of intense Syrah fruit but good structure for aging; a steal at $19.00
12. Hewitson L'Oizeau McLaren Vale Shiraz (14.1%) '97: Dark color; intense blackberry/Syrah/peppery/gamey very spicy complex bit volatile/aromatic nose; tart rather dusty/earthy spicy/blackberry/Syrah complex bit bretty flavor; long some menthol/oaked/medicinal dusty very spicy/gamey/Syrah/blackberry some minty bit bretty finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; pretty interesting Syrah at a good price. $22.00
13. Hewitson L'Oizeau McLaren Vale Shiraz (14.0%) '98: Very dark color; more intense blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah loads of forward fruit vanilla/Am.oaked nose; soft loads of blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah some vanilla/oaked flavor; long/lush loads of blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah some vanilla/oaked finish w/ some tannins; bigger/riper/more intense than the '97 but not worth the price increase. $32.00
14. Charles Melton Nine Popes (54% Grenache, 44% Shiraz, 2% Mourvedre; 14.5%) '98: Dark color; very strong blackberry/boysenberry/licorice some menthol/eucalyptus/oaked rather spicy fragrant nose; tart very menthol/ eucalyptus/oaked very spicy/boysenberry/blackberry/jammy/ripe complex flavor; very long tart strawberry/ blackberry/blueberry/strawberry some menthol/eucalyptus/Am.oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a very good rich/ripe/deep Grenache.
15. Charles Melton Barossa Valley Shiraz (14.5%) '98: Black color; very intense ripe/chocolaty/licorice intense boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah loads of intense fruit complex/perfumed/aromatic nose; soft/rich/lush very intense boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/licorice/chocolaty complex some Am.oaked bit gamey flavor; very long very intense/licorice/boysenberry/Syrah some Am.oaked/vanilla gamey/complex/spicy finish w/ fair tannins; needs 3-8 yrs; loads of intense ripe Syrah fruit w/ nice touch of oak.
16. Luigi d'Allesandro Podere Il Bosco Toscano (13%) Syrah di Manzano '98: Very dark color; intense green olive/ pungent/charred/toasty/oaked rather blackberry/Syrah some NorthernRhone/smokey/pungent nose; tart green olive/ bit blackberry/Syrah earthy toasty/oak/pungent/smokey flavor; long/tart green olive/blackberry/Syrah rather toasty/charred/pungent/Fr.oaked mocha/smokey finish w/ some hard tannins; lots of charred/oak but very interesting Syrah character.

1. Grenache: I continue to be mightly impressed w/ the Grenaches coming from Australia. World class wines; some of the best in the world. They're consistently greater than those from France and, certainly, Calif. The Alban Grenache is the only one to come close, but look for a '99 from AdamTolmach/Ojai to be close. But Calif will catch up in 10 yrs, I'm convinced, with the Aussies.
2. Oak: This tasting was a continuation of the trend I've been noting over the last yr or so; a more modest usage of oak by the Aussies. They used to give everything a big shot of oak, whether the fruit was there or not. I'm seeing less of that. The ones that are strongly oaked seem to have a pretty intense fruit to carry all the oak. A trend I hope continues.

TomHill