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. The Ojai Vineyard Ojai White Calif TW (13.5%) NV: Med.gold color, attractive melony/Chard bit floral/ spicy light/oaked nose; tart light/pencilly/oaked med.lush melony/Chard some spicy/floral/Viognier flavor; med.long Chard/melony finish; attractive pleasant Chard w/ nice perfume character; very good for the price. $12.00
2. The Ojai Vineyard Ojai Red Calif TW (14.0%) NV: Med.color; rather dusty bit blackberry/Syrah/black cherry/ Pinot some toasty/oak attractive nose; slight bretty bit tart/lean dusty some blackberry/Syrah light pungent/toasty flavor; med.short tart/dusty bit blackberry/Syrah/black cherry finish w/ light tannins; simple drinkable red a bit short on fruit.
3. Andrew Murray Vineyards Central Coast Tous Les Jours Syrah (13.5%) 2000: Med.color; attractive blackberry/ Syrah bit dusty/earthy/old-vine bit perfumed talc/chocolaty nose; tart some earthy/dusty Carignane/ black cherry some blackberry/Syrah light toasty/oak flavor; med.long dusty/earthy some blackberry/ Syrah finish w/ light tannins; the Carignane gives it a strong earthy/dusty character; pleasant Cote du Rhone-style wine; one of the better Tous Les Jours. Bit pricy at $16.00.
4. Babcock Santa Barbara County Syrah (13.7%; Optimum Quad Possum) 2000: Med.dark color; deeper rich blackberry/Syrah bit simple very light oak nose; soft light simple blueberry/Syrah slight tannic flavor; med.short simple blackberry/blueberry/Syrah light oak finish w/ a bit of tannins; a  rather simple/pleasant Syrah; not worth $22.00
5. Delectus Mendocino Syrah (Unfltrd; 13.5%) 1998: Med.color; classic tomatoey/Mendocino little Syrah more Zin-like slight earthy bit simple nose; tart pungent/toasty/oaked bit tomatoey slightly unclean little Syrah flavor; med. clunky/Syrah rather pungent/charred/oak finish w/ little tannins; mostly Mendocino/Zin in character w/ litle Syrah character; not worth $33.00.
6. Dehlinger EastFace Syrah Russian River Valley (EB; 14.5%) 1998: Med.dark color; beautiful/fragrant some blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah perfumy/perfumed talc complex/pencilly nose; tart very spicy/ blackberry/Syrah light pencilly/Fr.oak very spicy/perfumed flavor; very long spicy/pencilly/Fr.oak fragrant/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah slight gamey finish w/ some tannins; needs a yr or two; lots of Syrah character but very Dehlinger in style; beautiful/fragrant nose but not quite the punch on the palate I expected.
7. Domaine Chandon Carneros Pinot Meunier (14.4%) 1999: Light color; attractive/fruity bright cherry/ fragrant nose; tart cherry/black cherry simple/fruity light oaked bit earthy flavor; med.short simple cherry/earthy light oaked finish w/ little tannins; rather simple and not nearly as good as the '97. Way overpriced at $28.00 
8. Chalone Vineyard Chalone PN (#6992 of 76,927; 14.2%) 1999: Light color; some Burgundian/toasty some cherry/Pinot/fruity bit simple nose; tart simple bright cherry/Pinot light Burgundian/toasty/oak flavor; med. tart cherry light toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; disapponiting pleasant/simple  Pinot but way overpriced at $32.00.
9. failla-jordan Sonoma Coast PN (13.5%) 1999: Med.dark color; beautiful pungent/toasty/oaked very spicy/blueberry perfumed/aromatic/complex rather Burgundian nose; tart/rich very Burgundian very spicy floral complex pungent toasty/Fr.oak very black cherry/Pinot/perfumed bit tannic flavor; very long very spicy floral/violets/black cherry/Pinot toasty/Burgundian bright/spicy finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a dead-ringer for a great Burgundy; killer Pinot.
10. Sine Qua Non OX Oregon PN Shea Vineyard (14%) 1999: Med.dark color; lovely/beautiful very aromatic/ perfumed bright/Oregon/cherry/black cherry light pungent/oak nose; tart very bright/cherry/Pinot/ black cherry very spicy light/pungent/Fr.oak perfumed/aromatic flavor;  very long bit tannic bright/ spicy/cherry/black cherry light pungent/oak finish; needs a few yrs; a lovely Pinot w/ lots of purity of Oregon fruit.
11. Dehlinger Gold Ridge Vineyard PN Russian River Valley (EB; 14.3%) 1999: Med.light color; beautiful/fragrant/ perfumed bright cherry/floral very Burgundian some pencilly/Fr.oak complex nose; tart very bright/ cherry/black cherry very floral very spicy violets very Burgundian/pencilly flavor; very long/ lingering very floral very spicy bright/cherry/Pinot finish w/ light tannins; a terrific Pinot loaded w/ aromatics and very balanced; terrific drinking.
12. The Ojai Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Pisoni Vineyard PN (14.5%) 1999:  Med.dark color; deep toasty/Fr.oak  slight herbal/perfumed black cherry/Pinot gamey/earthy some pungent/smokey nose; big/rich/tannic hard some gamey/herbal/black cherry some toasty/pungent/oak flavor; long rather tannic strong black cherry light herbal toasty/pungent/Fr.oak finish; needs 2-5 yrs; a big rich powerful Pinot; less herbal & more black cherry/Pinot than previous Pisonis; should be a good one w/ age.
13. Caernarvon Cellars SanLucas Monterey County PN (13.7%) 1999: Light color; aromatic/fragrant slight VA/ lift some earthy/dusty spicy/Pinot/earthy celery seed/spicy bit Fr.oaked nose; tart some herbal/ licorice/spicy light pungent/oaked bit dusty flavor; med.long light herbal/pungent/dusty/earthy some black cherry/plummy/licorice light oak finish w/ soft tannins; nicely done interesting Monterey Pinot; big soft plummy & drinkable.
14. Caernarvon Cellars SanLucas Cuvee Frank Zin (14.5%) 1999: Med.color; deeper dusty black cherry/ boysenberry quite spicy light herbal/plummy light toasty/oak nose; soft/rich plummy/black cherry slight boysenberry some spicy very interesting flavor; long soft plummy/black cherry light toasty/ oaked light herbal/spicy finish w/ light tannins; almost more like Pinot than Zin.
15. Ridge Calif Zin LatePicked Nervo (92% Zin, 8% PS; 16.2%; 38 brls; SaH: 29.8%; RS: 0.22%) 1999: Very dark color; very ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Zin very vanilla/oaked very jammy/blackberry rather Paso Robles-like chocolaty nose; off-dry very ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/ chocolaty/jammy/grapey some spicy vanilla/Am.oaked flavor; med.long very ripe jammy/blackberry/ chocolaty some vanilla/oaked finish w/ light tannins; pushing the levels of ripeness but doesn't overstep into the over-ripe/raisened level.
16. Saintsbury Carneros Pinot Noir Reserve 1995: Med.light color; strong oaked some black cherry/plummy almost Zin-like slight horsecollar/bretty/tobaccoy bit charred/toasty/pungent some complex nose; tart rather pencilly/Burgundian/oak some black cherry Zin-like floral/Pinot flavor; light/elegant developed some floral/black cherry some toasty/charred/Fr.oak finish w/ light tannins; nicely done Pinot; needs to be drunk up. Larry's mystery wine.
17. Rosemont Balmoral Syrah McLaren Valley 1992: Very dark/black color; slight earthy/barnyardy/funky blackberry/licorice/ripe/Syrah some charred/vanilla/Bourbon/Am.oaked bit complex nose; soft very strong Bourbon/vanilla/Am.oaked ratherr licorice/blackberry/Syrah bit tannic flavor; very long strong Am.oak/vanilla/Bourbon some licorice/blackberry/Syrah finish w/ drying/hard tannins; a terrific nose loaded w/ Am.oak but seems to be drying out on the palate a bit. Howard&Rhoda's mystery wine.

And then to celebrate the return of Mike&Debbie Payne from LasVegas to the real world; we had a few stickies from Steve Sterbenz:

1. Paumanok NorthFork of LongIsland Riesling Late Harvest (11.3%; RS: 9.4%; SaH: 31Brix) 1998: Dark gold color; slightly oxidized intense grapey/perfumed bit VA very figgy/candied nose; tart very ripe very grapey very caramelized/figgy/pineapply some apricotty/botrytis complex sweet flavor; sweet very caramelized/figgy slightly hot/volatile very grapy some apricotty finish; lots of overripe grapey/caramel/fig character; interesting dessert wine.
2. Chateay d'Yquem Lur-Saluces Sauternes (13.5%) 1988: Med.gold color; intense toasty/coconutty very botrytis/peachy/apricotty/creme brulee/flan very oaked complex nose; very tart very sweet creme brulee/flan/apricotty/peachy very coconutty/coconut cream pie toasty/oak complex flavor; extremely long/lingering creme brulee/flan toasted coconut/oak finish; incredible dessert wine that'll go for another 20-30 yrs.

1. Optimum Quad Possum: This is a fine-print notation that Brian Babcock puts on some of his labels. My understanding is that it refers to the four dead possums he tosses into each fermenting vat in order to optimize the protein content of the must, making the wines much easier to clarify. His wines have really been on a roll the last few yrs, so it must be working.
2. Caernarvon Cellars: This is the new effort of Larry Roberts (Dr.Fermento). He makes his wine in leased space up at HiddenMtnRanch. I've followed Larry's wines from the very start, first as a home winemaker, then his short stint at Rio Secco  Cellars. After a two year absence from the commercial scene, he's now back as Caernarvon, making wines just as good as ever. I hope he'll be around a whole lot longer this time. Very good winemaker, two very good wines. The Zin I found particularly interesting. You don't often see Zinfandel from Southern Monterey  County (at least, not admitted to on the label!). This vnyd is just over the boundary of SanLuisObispo/Monterey counties. It's a growing area I think should be explored more. Some really huge vnyds in that area. 
3. failla-jordan: This is the first Pinot I've had from Ehren Jordan & his wife. The Syrahs have been stunning. This Pinot is right up there with them.

TomHill