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. Four Vines Paso Robles Zin (14.5%) '96: Med.color; lovely spicy/raspberry light toasty/oak  nose; tart bit lean/hard rather aromatic/spicy/raspberry/Zin bit chocolaty flavor; med.long  bit thin/lean very spicy/raspberry finish w/ light tannins; a lovely/spicy nose but a bit  pinched on the palate.
2. Coyote Creek Paso Robles Zin Westside (14.2%) '98: Med.dark color; rather toasty/pungent/  tobaccoy/coffee ripe blackberry/jammy very spicy nose; very acidic/citric tobaccoy/pungent/  oaked very spicy/blackberry/jammy flavor; long very acidic ripe/spicy/blackberry/jammy  finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; lots of ripe blackberry character but a rather  searing acidity on the palate.
3. L'Aventure Paso Robles Zin (14.7%) '98: Dark color; lovely very spicy/blackberry very perfumey  rather toasty/oaked complex nose; lovely very spicy/raspberry/blackberry light toasty/Fr.oak  perfumey/elegant flavor; very long pencilly/Fr.oak ripe/raspberry/blackberry very spicy  very fragrant complex finish w/ light tannins; a lovely/elegant/polished Zin in the Doug  Nalle style; seems more SonomaZin than Paso; one of the lovliest Paso Zins I've had.  Should age for 3-5 yrs. Stupid price at $58.00 
4. Linne Calodo CherryRed (66% Cherry Ranch Zin, 33% James Berry Vnyd Syrah; 15.8%) '98: Very dark  color; ripe very spicy blackberry/Zin/chocolaty light toasty/pungent/oak perfumed nose; very  rich very spicy ripe/blackberry/boysenberry light toasty/oak flavor; very long/lingering  very spicy/ripe/blackberry/boysenberry light toasty/pungent/smokey/oak finish w/ some tannins;  a classic Paso Robles ripe/blackberry Zin that carries the alcohol well w/ no signs of hotness  or raisened character; lovely/lovely Zin.
5. Zero Manipulation RTW Dry Creek Valley (63% Zin, 21% Carignane, 16% Mataro) PetersonWnry '98:  Very dark color; bit fecal/barnyardy pungent/burnt/tarry some diaper pail/sewer gas some  blackberry nose; rather fecal/diaper pail/sewer gas some blackberry/earthy bit oaked flavor;  rather hard/tannic rustic some diaper pail/sewer gas light blackberry/tarry/charred finish  w/ some tannins; really strange stuff; certainly has complexity to it.
6. Everett Ridge Dry Creek Valley Zin Old Vines (14.7%) '98: Med.color; very buttery bit volatile  very spicy/aromatic/perfumed oaked some blackberry nose; very buttery/buttered popcorn/oaked  very spicy/raspberry classic DCV/Zin flavor; very long buttery/buttered popcorn/oaked very  spicy/raspberry/Zin finish w/ light tannins; lots of buttery character but a very pleasant  Zin.
7. Wild Hog Alexander Valley Zin (14.7%) '98: Med.color; very fragrant lovely/ripe/raspberry lush  light Am.oak nose; soft/lush loads of fruit/raspberry/cassis spicy light oak flavor; long/lush  very raspberry/cassis light oak very spicy finish w/ light tanins; a lovely/forward very nice  drinking AV Zin at a very good price at $19.00 
8. Wild Hog Russian River Vlly Zin Porter-BassVnyd (14.4%) '98: Dark color; deeper blackberry/  boysenberry dusty/old vine some pungent/oak slight reduced/sewer gas nose; tarter more intense  blackberry/boysenberry some tannic some pungent/oaked flavor; long tart/lush ripe blackberry  some dusty/old vines finish w/ fair tannins; needs several yrs; a classic RRV Zin w/ good  structure and lots of blackberry fruit; good value at $19.00 
9. Hartford Court Russian River Vlly Hartford Vnyd Zin (14.7%; 454 cs; U/U) '98: Dark color; rather  blackberry/Zin fruit some perfumed talc/oaked/pencilly bit spicy nose; tart bit light spicy/  blackberry perfumed talc light pencilly/oak flavor; med.short light blackberry perfumed talc  light oak finish w/ light tannins; a nice/correct Zin but rather boring.
10. Hartford Court Russian River Vlly High Wire Vnyd Zin (14.7%; 778 cs; U/U) '98: Dark color; slight  fecal/stinky/burnt rubber/sewer gas pungent/blackberry/boysenberry nose; tart/tannic  boysenberry/blackberry hard bit closed somewhat funky/burnt flavor; long pungent/funky some  blackberry/boysenberry bit tannic some eucalyptus finish; needs several yrs; a bit more  interesting of the two wines.
11. Saxon Brown Sonoma Vlly Zin Casa Santamaria Vnyd (14.4%; 210 cs) '97: Black color; very intense  blackberry/jammy pungent/smokey/oaked licorice/chocolaty rather volatile/finger nail polish  complex nose; very hot/volatile/nail polish remover strong jammy/blackberry/overripe flavor;  long hot/volatile/burning strong blackberry/jammy some appley/acidified finish w/ some tannins;  some interesting things therein but a searing volatility to the wine.
12. Michael-Scott Russian River Vlly Zin Old Vines (13.5%; 300 cs) '98: Med.dark color; rather toasty/  pencilly/oaked perfumed slight reduced/sewer gas some blackberry/dusty nose; hard/tannic  appley/underripe blackberry/RRVZin some pungent/oak flavor; long/hard/tannic strong  boysenberry/blackberry rather appley/acidified/underripe finish; needs 2-5 yrs age to soften;  pretty interesting RRV Zin.
13. Hanna Sonoma Vlly Zin Bismark Ranch (16.0%; U/U) '98: Med.dark color; intense chocolaty/  blueberry/boysenberry/jammy some toasty/pungent/smokey/oak complex nose; tart/hard blackberry/  boysenberry rather tannic buttery/Am.oaked/pungent flavor; bit tannic boysenberry/blackberry  rather buttery/Am.oaked finish; needs yr or two; much like some of the DryCreekVnyd Zins at  twice the price; nice Zin but just that; stupid price at $40.00 
14. Ravenswood Old Hill Sonoma Vlly Zin (14.8%) '98: Very dark color; beautiful/complex dusty/old  vine some French/toasty/oak nose; tart bit lean/hard/tannic some menthol strong blackberry/  boysenberry menthol/Fr.oak/pungent black cherry flavor; long some hard/tannic dusty/old vine  blackberry/boysenberry pungent/menthol/oak finish w/ fair tannins; terrific classic OldHill  nose but a bit lacking in lushness; should improve some w/ age.
15. Mayo Family Winery Russian River Vlly Old Vines Ricci Vnyd Zin Port (19.8%; U) '99: Very dark color;  very intense cassis/blackberry/boysenberry loads of intense/ripe Zin/fruit bit alcoholic nose;  very sweet tobaccoy/pungent intense grapey/boysenberry/blackberry/cassis flavor; very long  very sweet intense boysenberry/blackberry/cassis light pungent/smokey finish w/ some tannins;  less like a Port than a Zin Essence; huge fruit but not that alcoholic or fortified in  character.
16. Rocco Schiavilla Apulian Primitivo (Bttld in NewPort News, VA) NV: Med.light slight browning  color; some spicy/blackberry/chocolaty bit hot climat/unclean slight pungent/sewer gas nose;  tart bit unclean/barnyardy light blackberry/chocolaty earthy/dusty flavor; med.short  unclean/barnyardy earthy light chocolaty finish w/ light tannins; typical unclean Italian  Primitivo. Tastes like a 3-4 yr old wine.
17. Balagna Winery New Mexico Zin (Hrvstd on Aug 25 at 27 Brix; 16%) '00: Dark color; very strong  chocolaty/blackberry very black cherry/Cherry Mash angel food cake loads of fruit nose;  tart/tannic/hard/raspy strong blackberry/black cherry cola flavor; med.long hard/raspy  very strong blackberry/black cherry finish w/ ample tannins.

1. The L'Aventure Zin was as fine a Zin from Paso Robles I've yet had. Loads of fruit, very  elegant, not the usual jammy Paso chjaracter (which I happen to like), nice touch of French  oak. A flawless/seamless Zin. Alas, to price this at $58/btl indicates somewhat totally  out of contact w/ reality. It's a perfectly good $25-$30 Zin; but not recommended at $58.  I doubt that Ehren Jordan will price HIS first Pesenti at that sort of price. He also has  a Syrah '98 priced at the same price. I'm fearful of what the prices are going to be like  when his Estate grapes come on line. But the wine is damn good Zin. 
2. WildHog Winery: Two more winners from WildHog. Every one of their wines I've had over the yrs  I've liked quite a lot. Including their Pinots. A small wnry that doesn't seem to receive the  attention they deserve. I need to make a vist there sometime. 
3. Rocco Schiavilla: Not a commercial wine. He's a physicist back in VA who's a good friend of  one of the theoretical physicists in my tasting group. Every yr he has his mother down in  Apulia buy some wine in bulk from a local wnry and then ship it over to him in a stainless  steel tank. The shipping (clearly NOT the cost of the bulk wine) must make for a pretty  expensive house wine... but if you gotta have the stuff from the home country, this is as  good a way as any!! 
4. BalagnaWnry Zin: John Balagna has followed the TomHill wine tastings from the very start, in  1972!! Long a home winemaker, he bacame a commercial wnry when he retired from being a  radio-chemist about 1990. His wines have been showing a continual improvement over the yrs,  but the NewMexico fruit is not Calif fruit, which can be a problem. This yr he got very  ripe Zinfandel from down in Deming. The must was very underacid, but he acidified w/ tartaric  acid so it's got good acidity now. It's got a raspyness on the palate that some age and  judicious fining some ameliorate. But it's the first NewMexico Zin that has classic Zin  fruit. Best NM Zin I've ever had. Looking forward to the finished wine.