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. Domaine de Fauterie Cotes du Rhone Blanc (12%) '98: Med.gold color; pleasant appley/stoney/ earthy bit fragrant/floral nose; some hard/stoney/earthy/appley/Marsanne light floral/pineapply flavor; med.long stoney/appley earthy finish; nice RhoneBlanc for the price; classic appley Marsanne wine; needs several yrs age.
2. Ch. La Nerthe Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc Clos de Beauvenir (13.5%; 60% Roussanne, 40% Clairette) '98: Med.gold color; fragrant butterscotchy/hazelnutty lovely floral/spice cake complex slight earthy nose; soft hazelnutty/butterscotchy/earthy/caramel bit oxidized floral bit metallic flavor; very long hazelnutty/caramel/butterscotchy/earthy bit oxidized/stoney lovely floral/ perfumed finish; lovely complex/hazelnutty wine; one of the best CdP Blancs I've had.
3. Domaine Clape Cotes du Rhone (12.5%) '99: Very dark color; intense earthy/dusty slight bretty/ barnyardy little fruit slight roasted rather rustic nose that develops a little licorice/Syrah/ floral/violets nose; hard/tannic/earthy/dusty rustic low fruit bit brett flavor; med.long hard/ tannic quite dusty/earthy bit bretty finish w/ ample tannins; loads of hard tannins but can't find a lot of fruit here; a hard/tannic/dusty/rustic Rhone; needs age bad.
4. Louis Bernard Gigondas (13.5%) '98: Med.dark color; rather earthy bit strawberry/Grenache pleasant bit floral nose; soft bit metallic pleasant Grenache/strawberry some earthy flavor; med.short attractive Grenache/strawberry light earthy finish w/ little tannins; a pleasant simple little CdR-level red. Not worth the $13.00
5. Graillot Crozes-Hermitage (12.5%) '98: Med.dark color; lovely strong green-olive/Syrah peppery complex smokey/pungent nose; very tart rather green olive/Syrah some roasted/dusty quite pungent/ smokey flavor; long very tart green olive/Syrah toasty/pungent/smokey some roasted/espresso finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-5 yrs age; loads of green olive character; great wine for the price. $21.00
6. Graillot Crozes-Hermitage La Guiraude (12.5%) '98: Very dark color; lovely roasted/smokey/pungent toasty bit riper/blackberry/green olive bit toasty/oak nose; tart rather roasted/espresso/pungent some green olive/Syrah bit blackberry smokey/toasty/oak flavor; very long some roasted/espresso some toasty/oak bit green olive/blackberry/Syrah peppery finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-4 yrs of age; seems riper & more new oak than the regular bttlg; great price at $21.00
7. Paul Jaboulet Crozes-Hermitage Domaine Raymond Roure (13%) '98: Med.dark color; attractive/lush/ bright cherry/blackberry/Syrah slight roasted/charred nose; tart bit thin/lean light roasted/ charred/espresso some cherry/blackberry/Syrah flavor; med.long light/bright/raspberry/Syrah finish w/ light tannins; pleasant simple Rhone much like Qupe CC Syrah; overpriced at $28.00
8. Paul Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle (13.5%) '98: Dark color; very attractive lush/Syrah/blackberry/ cranberry light roasted/Rhone nose; tart bright blackberry/cranberry/Syrah bit lean/light some roasted/espresso/Hermitage flavor; med.long spicy/Syrah/blackberry/cranberry light roasted/ pungent bit thin/lean/light finish w/ some tannins; nice Hermitage but lacking intensity; way overpriced at $99.40
9. Les Closiers Chateauneuf du Pape (14.0%) '98: Med.color; rather earthy very dusty low fruit slight roasted nose; hard/thin rather dusty/earthy low fruit pretty rustic flavor; med.short thin rather earthy/dusty slight roasted/pungent little fruit finish w/ some tannins; a rather rustic CdR- level red but sorely lacking in fruit.
10. Louis Bernard Chateauneuf du Pape (13.5%) '98: Med.color; pleasant strawberry/Grenache light/ spicy bit earthy nose; soft light spicy/strawberry/Grenache rather simple/fruity lght earthy flavor; med.long spicy/strawberry/Grenache light earthy finish w/ light tannins; rather simple/boring CdR-level red; overpriced at $20.00
11. Jamet Cote-Rotie (13%) '97: Very dark color; beautiful roasted/C-R/espresso rather blackberry/Syrah complex/aromatic nose; tart beautiful/classic roasted/C-R/espresso/pungent/smokey rather blackberry/ Syrah/deep fruit flavor; very long/lingering pungent/smokey/toasty/espresso/roasted rather blackberry/Syrah/blueberry finish w/ some tannins; a stunning/classic C-R; needs 2-6 yrs; great price at $43.85
12. Penny's Hill McLaren Vale Shiraz (14.5%) '98: Very dark color; loads of vanilla/oaked/menthol some mocha/coffee/licorice rather blackberry/Syrah bit alcoholic nose; soft very vanilla/oak rather minty/menthol/eucalyptus strong blackberry/Syrah flavor; long soft menthol/vanilla/oaked strong licorice/blackberry/Syrah mocha/smokey finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; very good Oz Syrah & fairly priced at $27.00
13. Glen Guin Individual Vnyd Shiraz Hunter Valley (13.5%) '98: Black color; very intense blaclberry/ boysenberry/Syrah/jammy loads of lush fruit nose; soft intense blackberry/boysenberry/spicy bit vanilla flavor; verry long intense jammy/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah loads of Syrah fruit soft finish w/ light tannins; soft and a real fruit bomb; good value at $17.00
14. Rosemont Estate Balmoral McLaren Vale Syrah (14.5%) '98: Black color; very intense blackberry/ Syrah fragrant/aromatic some minty/menthol/eucalyptus nose; bit tannic/hard very minty/menthol/ eucalyptus very spicy/aromatic some blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah flavor; very long eucalyptus/ menthol/minty intense blackberry/Syrah/spicy finish w/ ample tannins; one of the better Balmorals; bit leaner but more complex than some of previous ones; fairly priced at $36.00
15. Stephane Cornu Crozes-Hermitage Domaine du Pavillon (13%) '98: Med.dark color; lovely smokey/ pungent strong blackberry/Syrah bit coffee/roasted very Calif-like slight green olive nose; soft some roasted/green olive/smokey/pungent strong blackberry/Syrah bit earthy flavor; very long lush blackberry/Syrah some mocha/pungent/toasty/roasted finish w/ some tannins. Larry's mystery wine; lots of Syrah fruit for C-H; I thought it a Qupe Hillside Syrah. $??

and then a few dessert wines to celebrate Charlotte's BD:

1. Chateau de Fesles Bonnzeaux (13%) '96: Dark gold color; beautiful peachy/botrytis rather ripe/ pineapply very fragrant/perfumed bit earthy complex nose; rich/lush pineapply/botrytis/peachy very sweet light earthy flavor; very long/lingering pineapply/botrytis/peachy loads of lush fruit light earthy/dusty finish; lots of unresolved suger and needs much age; great Loire.
2. Domaine Robert Schofitt Clos St.Theobald Rangen de Thann SGB Tokay/PinotGris (14.5%) '90: Med.dark gold color; huge intense floral/botrytis/peachy aromatic nose; tart very rich big/intense/very sweet very grapey/floral/peachy/botrytis loads of fruit flavor; very sweet very long lingering huge fruit/peachy/botrytis/fragrant finish that goes on and on; very clean & no volatility; incredible huge SGN that will age forever.
3. Osborne Pedro Ximenez 1827: Dark brown/mahoganey color; strong raisened/pruney/very grapey PX bit simple nose; fairly sweet very raisened/pruney/grapey/PX bit simple flavor; very long/strong raisened/pruney/PX/grapey finish; a bit on the simple side & not the complexity I expected for a wine costing $45.00.

1. Marsanne: I was quite struck by the resemblance of the FauterieBlanc w/ the Qupe Marsanne. These are not very exciting wines when they're young; rather on the simple side. But with a few yrs of age, they develop this lovely slightly nutty/hazelnutty slighty oxidized character that I find rather attractive. I also found that slightly oxidized character in the LaNerthe Roussanne and think it's more a character of the grape than actual oxidation. I've found it in some of Bob Lindquist's 6-8-10 yr old Marsannes as well. But I'm still trying to figure out Marsanne in the whole scheme of things.
2. Clape Cornas: This Clape CdR comes from his Pied La Vigne vnyd in Cornas, so is defacto declassified Cornas. Clape is one of the worshipped icons of this appellation. I must admit that his wines have been a bit unthrilling to my palate. The seem big/hard/tannic/rustic; but I can't seem to find a whole lot of Syrah fruit to them and not a lot of that roasted Northern Rhone character in them. But all my heros tell me he's the great Cornas producer, so I guess I've got to learn to like them, or be judged a fool.
3. Louis Bernard Rhones: This is a producer I've never had any experience with. These two were rather simple & unthrilling; not inclined to try any of his wines again.
4. Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage: I've followed his wines from the very start; when they first came to the USofA. I've had some very impressive ones, probably the best Crozes-Hermitage from any producer. And great values. They do seem a bit erratic. I've had some that I thought rather green & underripe. These two '98 I liked quite a lot. I was in the minority of my group. Most of them found the acidity level to be rather too shrill & strident. I loved the green olive character (which I associate w/ Syrah that's a bit underripe) in these two wines; many found it a bit off-putting. With thise high acidity level, I expect them to age rather well. They reminded me a bit of the Failia-Jordan Syrah '98 in character, but not nearly as good.
5. La Chapelle '98: Supposedly a great Hermitage wine. Couldn't tell it by me. It struck me as a weak effort; very attractive fruit but lacking in structure & intensity & tannins to evolve into a great LaChapelle. Perhaps it will put on weight w/ age but I can't see it & not inclined to test it at $100/btl.
6. Balmoral '98: I've seen some comments that this '98 is a "lesser" Balmoral than some of the previous ones. I guess I didn't see that; it very good, but not great, Balmoral.