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. Iron Horse Vnyds Alexander Valley Viognier (14.4%; 900cs) '99: Light gold color; fragrant pear/ peach/Viognier aromatic nose; soft/lush spicy/pear/peach/Viognier very attractive flavor; med.long soft/lush pear/peach/Viognier finish; very nice lush correct Viognier.
2. Sierra Vista ElDorado Viognier (13.5%) '99: Med.light gold color; light pungent/oaked bit earthy low-key pear/Viognier nose; tart/brisk very spicy low-key/Viognier/pear light pungent rather rich/textured flavor; very tart/brisk spicy light pear/Viognier light pungent/oak earthy slight citrusy finish; very interesting Viognier w/ a bracing acidity but still a rich texture to it.
3. Villa Mt.Eden Calif Syrah (13.5%) '98: Med.light color; rather pencilly/toasty/oaked little Syrah fruit nose; tart rather herbal light Syrah/blackberry light pungent/pencilly/oak flavor; short light/thin some herbal weak blackberry/Syrah light toasty finish w/ little tannins; rather dull & uninspired; tastes like SanBernabe Syrah. No bargin at $10.00
4. Fetzer Vnyds Calif Syrah (13.0%) '98: Light color; pleasant cherry/fruity light licorice Pinot-like nose; very light simple cherry/Pinot-like light oak flavor; med.short light cherry/Pinot finish w/ no tannins; pleasant/dull red w/ no Syrah character. Tastes like a Syrah made by a SunDial producer. No bargin at $9.00
5. Riverside by Foppiano Syrah (13.5%) '97: Med.light color; simple cherry/berry/fruity some Am.oaked rather Zin-like nose; soft some Am.oaked cherry/berry/simple fruity flavor; short light Am.oaked cherry/fruity/earthy finish w/ no tannins; dullsvillle; tastes like a Syrah made by a Zin producer. No bargin at $9.00
6. Valley of the Moon Sonoma County Syrah (13.5%) '97: Med.dark color; bit pungent/bretty/earthy low fruit nose; very sour very bretty little Syrah fruit dull flavor; med.long very sour rather bretty no fruit finish w/ light tannins; this is Syrah??? Stupid price at $23.00
7. Qupe Central Coast Syrah (13.5%) '99: Med.color; pleasant blackberry/Syrah slight pungent/ earthy/funky nose; tart light blackberry/Syrah/fruity slight earthy/funky flavor; med.long light blackberry/Syrah bit earthy/funky finish w/ light tannins; attractive good-drinking red w/ some Syrah character that will probably put on weight.
8. Qupe Central Coast Syrah (SFW & CFiesta label; 13%) '99: No essential difference that I could pick up.
9. Ravenswood Sonoma County Icon Red Wine (74% Syrah, 17% Grenache, 9% Mourvedre; 14.2%) '97: Very dark color; some funky/bretty pungent/oaked perfumed some blackberry/strawberry nose; soft rather funky/Rhonish/bit unclean some pencilly/yoasty/oak light blackberry flavor; med.long some funky/Rhonish/bretty light blackberry some pungent/toasty/oak finish w/ some tanins; interesting wine but just that.
10. Sierra Vista El Dorado Syrah Red Rock Ridge (12.5%) '98: Med.drak color; rather earthy/spicy/ Rhonish bit pungent/toasted/oak light blackberry nose; very tart almost shrill earthy/mushroomy some pungent/toasty/oak low fruit flavor; med.long very sharp/tart light earthy/funky some toasty/pungent/oak finish w/ some tannins; interesting ElDorado Syrah but an akmost shrill attack on the palate from the acidity.
11. E.Guigal Chateauneuf du Pape (13.5%) '98: Med.dark color; rather dusty/earthy spicy/strawberry/ clean little roasted nose; tart rather dusty/earthy some spicy/peppery low fruit light roasted/CdP flavor; med.long earthy/dusty light spicy/peppery finish w/ some tannins; pleasant CdP but expected lot more from a '98.
12. Qupe Santa Maria Valley Bien Nacido Hillside Estate Syrah (13.5%) '98: Dark color; very strong toasty/ pungent/smokey/oaked light blackberry/blueberry/Syrah nose; strong pungent/toasty/Fr.oak bit roasted/smokey low blueberry/Syrah flavor; long toasty/pencilly/Fr.oak/cocoa light roasted light blackberry/Syrah finish w/ some tannins; lots of pungent Fr.oak but a bit light on the palate and not the fruit it's had in the past.
13. Omrah Shiraz (53% Western Australia, 47% McLarenVale; 13.5%) '98: Very dark color; slight bretty rather minty/menthol/mushroomy/earthy pencilly/oaked low fruit nose; tart earthy/licorice/ plummy/mushroomy bit minty/menthol/oak low fruit flavor; long earthy/mushroomy/plummy some menthol/oak finish w/ some tannins; not a typical Oz fruit bomb, interesting, needs several yrs age. Fairly priced at $19.50
14. Lagier-Meredith Napa Valley Mt.Veeder Syrah (14.3%; Unfltrd) '98: Black color; beautiful/complex toasted/carroway/licorice very pungent some roasted very peppery very spicy cocoa strong blackberry/Syrah nose; huge/tannic very spicy very cracked black pepper dusty/old vines (they're not) some toasty/charred/pungent/Fr.oak very blackberry/Syrah complex flavor; very long very tannic very peppery/black pepper strong toasty/Fr.oak/pungent some roasted/coffee dusty strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah complex finish w/ ample tannins; needs age; incredible Syrah.
15. HortonVnyds Cotes d'Orange Orange Cnty Virginia (13.1%) Grenache/ Mourvedre/Carignane/ TintaCao/ Viognier '98: Med.slight browning color; rather roasted/NorthernRhone smokey/pungent bit herbal/green olive complex nose; tart green olive/smokey/pungent toasty/Fr.oak/Rhonish spicy flavor; long light spicy herbal/green olive/Rhonish complex finish w/ light tannins; very interesting rather Rhone-style red. Steve's mystery wine
16. Jaboulet Crozes-Hermitage Domaine Thalabert '94: Med.color; rather aged/tired/old wine bit musty little fruit some cheesy/meaty complex (?) nose; bit oxidized/tired/dried out old-Zin- like flavor; a tired old wine expired before its time. Kevin&Peggy's (she says Kevin's!!) mystery wine.
17. Boisrenaud Chateauneuf du Pape '98: Dark color; rather spicy/minty/oaked bit volatile cinammon&cloves slight medicinal/adhesive tape nose; soft rather spicy/cinammon/cloves hard/ tannic earthy some raosted/coffee low fruit flavor; med.long rather tannic earthy/oaked/ pungent bit roasted low fruit earthy finish w/ fair tannins; needs several yrs; very good but not killer CdP. $32.00

1. Whadda surprise.... low-end Syrahs taste like.... low-end wines. Maybe the magic is gone from the variety. Maybe all we have to look forward to now is.... SutterHome WhiteSyrah?? Arrrgh.... the thought of it all!!
2. Qupe CentralCoast Syrah '99: This wine is traditionally released first in NewMexico for the SantaFe Wine&Chile Fiesta, with a special Fiesta label; a little too-early a release IMHO. The last 3 vintages have seemed rather dilute & washed out & lots of hot-climate character (French Camp/Paso Syrah and Zin&Carignane from old-vine Lodi stuff); and then puts on weight over the next 2-3 months. I fully expect that to occur with this '99 version. The Fiesta-label and the regular Qupe label are supposedly the identical wines. Knowing this, I was struggling to find a difference in the two, but was unable to. The Fiesta label was served as a mystery wine, beside the regular label, to the rest of my tasting group. Many (but not all) were finding differences in the two wines. Ahhhhhh, the humbling experience of blind tastings. Hate 'em!! Up until the '96 vintage, this was one of my very favorite Syrahs, at a great price. Partly in order to keep the price so reasonable, Bob has been using less SantaBarbara Syrah in it and blending Paso Syrah (French Camp, on far eastside... owned by the Millers who also own Bien Nacido) and some wonderful old-vine Lodi Zin and Carignane. It has perturbed the purity of Syrah in the wine and moved it towards more of a Cote-du-Rhone-like Syrah. Still, nonetheless, mighty fine drinking. At a good price.
3. Ravenswood Icon: This is the Ravenswood CdP blend; roughly the 3rd edition I believe. I keep expecting Joel to hit a home run on this wine one of these times. Alas, the '97 is not it. Good wine, but not the killer I keep hoping for.
4. Qupe Hillside '98: I have followed this wine from the very start. It has always been one of my very favorite Calif Syrahs. This yr's version seems a bit on the light/dilute side and not the fruit to go along w/ all the oak that it's had in the past. It's good Syrah, but not quite up to my expectations. Bought a few btls anyway to follow.
5. Lagier-Meredith Syrah: I've followed the Lagier-Meredith wines from the very start (this is the start!!). I first started picking up rumblings about this wine from a number of folks on WCWN, so bought a few btls, sight unseen. Gambled and one BIG TIME on this one. There have been two Calif Syrahs of the '98 vintage I've been blown away by; this one and the Fallia-Jordan. It reminds me a bit of the JadeMtn ParrasVnyd (also Mt.Veeder) Syrahs but w/ much more oomph and complexity. Obviously absolutely first-rate Syrah grapes coupled w/ very talented winemaking. Killer killer Syrah. It'll be fun following this wine long into the future. Alas, sold out at the winery but floor-stacked at Corti Bros.

TomHill

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