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. Ridge Calif Mazzoni Home Ranch (71% Zin, 21% Carignane, 8% PS; 13.5%) '98: Med.color; fragrant raspberry/Zin light blackberry some pencilly/Am.oak slight bretty nose; soft/pleasant spicy/ raspberry bit dusty/old vine light pencilly/Am.oak flavor; some bretty med.long soft raspberry light pencilly/oak finish w/ little tannins; a pleasant/nice Zin but just that.
2. Ridge Calif Petite Sirah Dynamite Hill York Creek Vnyd (13.5%) '97: Dark color; deeper peppery/spicy/ smokey bit charred/Am.oak perfumed nose; tart Am.oaked/toasty/charred/buttery/buttered popcorn some spicy/peppery flavor; long some tannic spicy/peppery bit blackberry some charred/toasty/ Am.oak finish w/ some hard tannins; needs 3-6 yrs; not a particularly big Petite but nice fruit, fairly charred oak and a tannic edge.
3. David Coffaro Dry Creek Valley Carignan (75% Carignan, 9%PS, 9% CabFranc, 7% CS; 13.2%; 245 cs) '99: Med.dark color; light earthy/dusty/spicy/black cherry lovelt/perfumed nose; tart bright cherry/ cherry cola light dusty flavor; long bright cherry/cola/Cheracol light dusty finish w/ some tannins; one of the best Calif Carignans I've had w/o the hard/raspy tannins they often seem to have; needs several yrs. $13.50
4. David Coffaro Dry Creek Valley Zin (75% Zin, 8% PS, 7% CS, 7% CabFranc, 3% Barbera; 14.4%; 985 cs) '99: Dark color; much more blackberry/raspberry/spicy very fragrant classic DCV slight bretty nose; tart very spicy/bright/raspberry/blackberry/perfumed bit tight clean flavor; long very spicy/blackberry/raspberry/aromatic clean finish w/ light tannins; loads of classic DCV/spicy/ raspberry/Zin character. $13.50
5. David Coffaro Dry Creek Valley RW Estate Cuvee (32% CS, 29% Zin, 27% Carignan, 12% PS; 13.6%; 590 cs) '99: Med.dark color; dusty bit smokey/pungent/spicy some blackcurranty.cinammon/cloves slight pencilly/oak complex nose; soft/round dusty/old vine complex/aromatic/spicy/cinammon/cloves some blackcurranty flavor; very spicy cinammon/cloves/fragrant slight blackcurranty/Cab finish w/ light tannins; a lovely/drinkable/complex red wine; the Cab seems to show more but it has a certain spicy aromaticity probably from the Zin. $13.50
6. David Coffaro Dry Creek Valley Cabernet Franc (77% CabFranc, 10% Syrah, 10% PS, 3% CS; 13.9%;440 cs) '99: Dark color; strong pungent/licorice/chocolaty perfumed some pencilly/oak nose; soft bit herbal/ blackcurranty/earthy/pungent licorice/chocolaty/spicy flavor; long slight herbal some chocolaty/ licorice/blackcurranty/deep finish w/ some tannins; seems rather a more serious/ageable wine with good Cabernet character. $13.50
7. David Coffaro Dry Creek Valley Petite Sirah (75% PS, 11% Sirah, 6% CS, 4% Zin, 4% Barbera; 13.7%; 440 cs) '99: Very dark color; bright spicy/dusty bit peppery/chocolaty/berry slight metallic aromatic/fruity light pencilly/oak nose; rich/balanced bright fruity/cherry bit peppery/chocolaty spicy/fragrant flavor; soft bright cherry/chocolaty/berry/peppery dusty bit tannic light pencilly/ oak finish; lots of bright fruit and not the usual PS/clunky/clumsey character. $13.50
8. David Coffaro Dry Creek Valley RW Aca Modot (56% CS, 20% CabFranc, 9% Barbera, 8% Merlot, 7% Malbec; 13.6%; 250 cs) '99: Very dark color; strong chocolaty/fragrant/smokey deeper/spicy slight herbal bit blackcurranty/Cab some pencilly/perfumed/oak nose; fairly big/rich complex/herbal/Cab/ blackcurranty very spicy/perfumed some smokey/pencilly/oak flavor; very long/rich/ripe/lush some blackcurranty/Cab/herbal/chocolaty light smokey/oaked complex/balanced finish w/ some tannins; fairly classic ripe DCV Cab; not particularly big/extracted but wonderful aromatics and good drinkability; will age. $17.25
9. David Coffaro Dry Creek Valley RW Block 4 (Field blend: 40% PS of 3 clones, 40% Zin, 20% others including Carignan & Syrah; 100 yr old vines; 15.2%; 50 cs) '99: Very dark color; deep blackberry/boysenberry dusty/old vines licorice/chocolaty/ripe complex/perfumed/aromatic loads of fruit nose; tar rich/ripe blackberry/boysenberry/chocolaty aromatic very ripe flavor; very long blackberry/boysenberry dusty/old vines perfumed/chocolaty complex finish w/ some tannins; more like RussianRiver Zin than DCV; carries the alcohol well and little overipe or raisened character; killer wine. $20.00
10. Turley HowellMtn Zin Pringle Family Vnyd (16.1%) '98: Very dark color; very deep dusty/old vines very peppery/black pepper complex some boysenberry/ripe fruit nose; soft very ripe blackberry/ boysenberry/black pepper huge/rich/lush some hot flavor; soft dusty/old vines blackberry/ boysenberry/black pepper finish w/ some tannins; big/ripe/huge Zin but not seem to have the structure for aging; very strong cracked black pepper character.
11. Turley Lodi Dogtown Zin (16.5%) '98: Very dark color; deep boysenberry/jammy/blackberry light Lodi/earthy/mushroomy loads of fruit/fragrant nose; soft hige fruit/boysenberry/jammy/black- berry very jammy light earthy/Lodi flavor; very long intense/ripe/boysenberry/blackberry/ jammy w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; the Lodi earthiness shows thru but more intense blackberry fruit than I've ever seen in Lodi Zin; terrific Zin.
12. Turley Napa Valley Smoot-Hawley Vnyd Sparkling WhiteZin (17.2%) '98: Continuous stream in the glass of huge bubbles the size of DollyParton's.... umhh... whatever; pale pink/salmon color; very fragrant nose of strawberry soda pop and CheezWhiz; huge/ripe/elegant candied/strawberry flavors that assault the palate like....umhh... whatever; very long lingering strawberry candy/ silicone finish that goes on and on; a classic example of great sparkling WhiteZin; reasonably priced at $37.49
13. Turley Napa Valley HayneVnyd Zin (16.4%) '98: Dark color; very intense very ripe licorice/black- berry/boysenberry some late harvesty/alcoholic some smokey/pungent nose; soft very lush very ripe blackberry/boysenberry loads of intense fruit dusty/complex flavor; very long loads of fruit/ boysenberry/blackberry dusty bit alcoholic finish w/ some tannins; bit on the overripe/over-the- top Zin character but interesting stuff.
14. Turley Napa Valley Moore "Earthquake"Vnyd Zin (16.0%) '98: Very dark color; much more complex very peppery very spicy dusty/old vines ripe/intense blackberry nose; soft very lush very ripe peppery/ blackberry/boysenberry loads of intense fruit less overripe flavor; very long peppery/blackberry/ boysenberry rather dusty/old vines finish w/ fair tannins; needs several yrs to develop some complexity; best of these Turley Zins. $53.00
15. Turley Napa Valley Petite Sirah Hayne Vnyd (14.5%) '98: Black color; intense classic PS/licorice/ some peppery chocolaty/earthy dusty rather pungent/oaked nose; soft/fat/bit flat intense licorice/ chocolaty/some peppery rather tannic some pungent/toasty/oaked flavor; very long quite tannic intense licorice/peppery/chocolaty/berry/cola some toasty/oak finish w/ ample tannins; a rather classic soft/fat PS but no reason it shouldn't age for quite some time.
16. Ravenswood CookeVnyd (14.9%) Sonoma Zin '91: Very dark color; strong blackberry/boysenberry dusty/old vine very spicy some volatile/alcoholic light Fr.oak/pencilly nose; lovely ripe very spicy/blackberry/boysenberry peppery/dusty some complex flavor; long/lingering peppery/ spicy blackberry/boysenberry bit pencilly/Fr.oaked some complex finish w/ light tannins; this originally was a pretty soft/fat/soupy Zin that has matured very nicely and is probably near or slightly beyond its peak. Howard&Rhoda's mystery wine.

1. Coffaro wines: The prices are, obviously, Dave's future's prices from two years ago. Retail prices when they're released will be mid- $20's. I received these wines in early November but Dave admonished me they need a bit of time and suggested I hold off on tasting thru them. Alas, just couldn't wait any longer. The wines are beautifully fragrant wines that are a true joy to drink now, though seemingly a bit tight on the palate. But I expect them to get much better over the next six months or so, if'n you have a little patience. I would say that, across the board, the '99's may be Dave's most successful vintage yet. They are classic Coffaro wines; not particularly big vis a vis other Calif wines, but they all display great balance and have a lovely perfumed spiciness to them. Obviously, he does a lot of blending on all his wines; blends that simply don't display much rhyme nor reason to me. In some of the past vintages, I felt the Coffaro winemaking style was dominant in the wines at the expense of varietal character. In this set of '99's, the Coffaro character is certainly there but I thought they displayed more varietal character than the ones I had tasted in the past at this same time in their evolution. That is to say, in the past, at this point, I've found a lot of sameness/consistency amongst the wines. With the '99's, they seem to show much more individuality across the selection. One of the pecularities I noted in this yr's release was that some of the wines stated "estate bottled" and some did not. Not quite sure why that difference; would presume those w/o EB indicate wines that contain purchased grapes. Another pecularity: In the CabFranc, it's spelled "Syrah" on the label. In the PetiteSirah, it's spelled "Sirah" on the label. Wonder why?? The AcaModot is mostly a Cabernet-based wine that comes from a slightly higher part of his vnyd where the AcaModot tribe used to dwell in ancient times (even before TomHill's time!!). When you walk thru that part of the vnyd and dig down a bit into the soil, you can scuff up pot sherds, arrowheads, blackened rocks from their campfires, bones from their meals, and broken roulette wheels from their gambling casinos. It's usually the biggest and most serious wine Dave makes each year. This year is no exception. The Block 4 is a new wine for Dave. Tiny amount. This is the block of grapes that used to go to Doug Nalle for his Zin, but now Dave keeps for himself. It's easily the biggest Zin that Dave has ever made. It speaks more of varietal Zin and less of David Coffaro than any other wine. Superb stuff. With this '99 vintage, Dave has gone to Stu Yaniger's Cellu-Cork. Always marching to the beat of his own drummer; Dave's the first in the Dry Creek Valley to do this that I'm aware of. Good move IMHO. The Cellu-Cork is far superior to those ugly SupremeCorqs and much much easier to remove. Dave's 2001 futures offering will be coming out in late Feb/early March. The prices can't be beat and they're one of the safest gambles around I'd have to say. Anyway, another great release from Dave Coffaro. And, just like everyone else, I wisht I'd bought more!!
2. Turley wines: The '98 Zin vintage is one that has been described by many authorities as "weak" or even worse. Our experience indicates that many of the wines are lighter than previous vintages in the '90's but have a very nice forward fruit and often lacking in structure; wines for drinking over the short haul. These Turleys of the Fall release certainly cannot be cited for lacking in intensity by any stretch of the imagination. They do, however, lack a certain tannic backbone and grip that suggest they will mature earlier than the previous few Turley vintages. That being said, they have such an intensity of fruit that dominates any complexity at this point in time but that should carry the wine enough years to develop some complexity afore the fruit fades to such a level that the alcohol takes over. There's no denying the Turley winemaking style produces wines that have a healthy degree of alcohol to them. However, I find that they seem, at least when young, to carry their alcohol very well and seldom have that overripe/raisened/pruney character that many such high-alcohol Zins can show. The Hayne was probably the only one of this batch that showed any of the overripe/ over-the-top character. The earlier Turley Zins of this decade seemed to show a lot more oak than these ones did. Perhaps Ehren Jordan felt, because of the '98 vintage, they shouldn't receive the degree of oak they had in previous versions. It seems fashionable in some quarters, other than the Man from Monkton, to decry the Turley wines for their alcohol levels and over-the-top character. To me, it just represents a style of winemaking that I happen to like; just one part, maybe an extreme, of the entire Zin spectrum. I certainly prefer them to the anemic 12%-13% "food wines" we saw Zin being made into in the early '70's. I wouldn't want to make a steady diet of drinking these kind of Zins. And, to state that these wines, because of their intensity and their extract and their alcohol levels do not go with food shows more of a lack of imagination than anything. The sad part is that, because of their scarcity and their price, the Turley wines have pretty much evolved into being "showcase" wines, like ScreamingEagle and such; wines that you trot out to impress people or show off what they're like; not wines that you can sit down and enjoy with a meal from time-to-time. But, because of the intense demand for them... whatcha gonna do??
3. Smoot-Hawley WhiteZin: As usual; this tiny production from the famed 172 yr old Smoot-Hawley Vnyd; located right on Zinfandel Lane in the very shadow of the famed SutterHome Winery and Tank Farm, represents the rarest of the rare Turley wines. Production was down again this year to only three bottles; one for Larry Turley, one for Ehren Jordan, and merely a half-bottle for the famed LosAlamos market. Once again, Helen Turley was peeved for not being allocated a bottle and threatened to flood the market w/ a SonomaCoast White Zin at $30/btl. The Man from Monkton was, as usual, clueless about the existance of the rarest of rare wines. Bob Trinchero was so apoplectic with fear that he would lose his WhiteZin market to TurleyWineCellars that he released under the cover of darkness several sassy-winged sharpshooters into the Smoot-Hawley Vnyd. The seven vines in Smoot-Hawley are not expected to survive this assault and this probably marks the last vintage of the famed Smoot-Hawley WhiteZin and the end of an era for Turley Wine Cellars.