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.

 GRAND TASTING

The wineries here pouring were only those from National Distributing, the largest distributor in New Mexico. Three wines stood out:

1. Phelps Auction Barrel '99: This is a special barrel that Craig Williams has assembled for the NapaVlly auction, only for those in the trade appartently. It is 80% Syrah and 20%
2. Insignia Cabernet. Incredible wine... of Insignia quality. Black color, loads of intense Syrah/blackberry/boysenberry fruit; some toasty oak; huge rich flavor. Easily the best Phelps "Syrah" ever, as good as any of the Aussie high-end Shiraz which it most closely resembled. Wisht Craig would make all his Syrahs like this wine.
3. Canoe Ridge Reserve Merlot '96: Hard to believe TomHill would deign to try a Merlot. Very dark color; intense blackcurranty/dusty/jammy loads of Merlot fruit w/ some toasty oak; soft mouthfilling/ripe blackcurranty/Merlot flavor; immense Merlot fruit but a tannic backbone that will make aging a possibility; terrific red wine.
4. Dyer Diamond Mtn Cabernet '96: Dawnine Dyer was here representing Chandon, so husband Bill Dyer accompanied her. Bill was winemaker at Sterling where his Cabs tended to be on the rather stiff/lean/hard side, but seemed to age pretty well. This Cab, from fruit he & Dawnine grow in their own vnyd up on DiamondMtn is not at all like that. Only 3 barrels worth, to their mailing list. Black color; intense ripe/blackcurranty/Can some toasty/oak some dusty/earthy DiamondMtn nose; big ripe/rich/tannic blackcurranty/Cab some toasty/oak/ pungent flavor. Easily the best Bill Dyer Cab I've ever had. There were a bunch of immenently forgetable wines poured. The CanoeRidge GWT '99 was one of the better US GWT's I've tried. The New ZacaMesa Viognier '99 (their "super clone" Viognier, what used to be their mis-identified Roussanne) was rich/full/floral/aromatic; easily the best Viognier yet from ZacaMesa and better than what they made from it as Roussanne. I retried the Valley of the Moon Syrah '97 and still found it unthrilling; rather bretty & unclean.


Dinner that night was with Mike Machado, a CyberSpace friend from SanFrancisco, who has now become a RealSpace friend; at Momentitas de la Vida down canyon in Arroyo Honda. The company was high point of the evening. The food was good.... very good... but pretty pricey for waht it was. The wine list very overpriced. Unlikely I'll bother to go back. The wines was Domaine Les Pailleres Gigondas '98; nice southern Rhone character w/ some earthiness, but on the light and unthrilling side. Much too expensive at $48/btl.

RUSSIAN RIVER PINOT NOIR

This was a seminar/panel of Dick Phillips, Western Marketing Director for Kenwood, and the winemaker for DeLoach and the winemaker for Valley of the Moon, a sister winery under Heck Estates (Korbel) to Kenwood. The wines displayed a bit of the earthy/black cherry/cola character of RRV Pinot, but were all fairly dominated by the toasty oak. Wines tasted:

DeLoach OFS ("Our Finest Selection".... yashure!!) '97, '98, '99
Kenwood Pinot '97, '98, '99
Valley of the Moon Pinot '99

Notes not worth transcribing. The DeLoach '99 OFS was my favorite because it still had a lot of the black cherry fruit & the oak was not so strong. The rest were all nice Pinots, but just that.

One of the things that came out of the panel discussion was the widespread use of the Vinovation's reverse osmosis dealcoholization of wine. One of the winemakers asserted that fully 15% of SonomaCounty wine is subjected to this process. It's used to knock off a % or two of the alcohol from high-alcohol wines.

MARCHESE DI GRESY TASTING

Marchese Alberto di Gresy, on his first visit to NewMexico (he's a skier, of course), did a seminar on his wines; primarily Barbarescos from the Piemonte. He carries himself very much like the aristocrat that he his, but is a very friendly down-to-earth very entertaining guy. Speaks English but w/ a pretty heavy Italian accent. I had had a few of his wines over the yrs, but had never been knocked out by them. These I were:

1. Marchese di Gresy Chardonnay '96: Med.gold color; light toasty/oak beautiful/fragrant melong/Chard slight earthy nose; tart earthy light melony/Chard slight metallic some minerally/stoney flavor; lovely Chard with backbone & structure; a bit of that stoney/ minerally character you get in Arneis, but very fragrant Chard; lovely wine.
2. Marchese di Gresy Dolcetto d'Alba '99: Very dark color; deep grapey/Dolcetto almost Syrah- like dusty bit walnutty nose; hard/tannic tart very grapey/dusty loads of Dolcetto fruit flavor; very long hard/tannic tart loads of Dolcetto fruit finish; one of the best young Italian Dolcettos I've had; needs food with it.
3. Marchese di Gresy Nebbiolo della Langhe '99: Med.dark color; beautiful fragrant/floral/lilacs/ spicy/Nebbiolo slight dusty nose; softer (but still tart/tannic/hard) fragrant/floral/lilacs/ perfumed/rose petal bit licorice lovely Nebbiolo flavor; long hard/tannic floral Nebbiolo finish; loads of fruit for a Nebbiolo but definitely that hard/tannic/austere Nebbiolo backbone; classic Nebbiolo varietal character.
4. Marchese di Gresy Barbaresco Martinenga '95: Med.dark bit browning color; pungent very licorice bit tarry/dried rose petal spicy Nebbiolo nose; rather hard/tannic dried rose petal/tarry/ licorice/complex classic Barbaresco flavor; lovely aromatics but hard/tannic on the palate.
5. Marchese di Gresy Barbaresco Gaiun '96: Dark color; deep lush floral/lilacs very fruit- forward bit cedary/pencilly/Fr.oak lots of Nebbiolo slight pungent/tarry nose; softer bit more lush lilacs/floral/rose petal hard/tannic/astringent flavor; more fruit & softer but still hard & tannic on the palate.
6. Marchese di Gresy Moscato d'Asti '99: Med.yellow color; beautiful very fragrant/grapey Muscat very floral almost orangey nose; some sweet/frizzante lush/floral/Muscat flavor w/ slight tannic/bitterness in finish; essence of Muscat fruit; lovely lovely wine. This was a terrific tasting. The reds were all loaded w/ fruit and not aged to senility like many Italian Nebbiolos. But they also had this hard/tart/tannic character on the palate that cried out for fruit. A few slices of dried salami and a handfull of fresh white truffles would have added greatly to the appreciation of these wines.

SHAFER HILLSIDE SELECT VERTICAL

Doug Shafer was here (he's pretty hard-core skier) to present a vertical of his HillSide Select Cabernets. We tasted all from '91 thru '96. The two that I had before in differing contexts I had liked quite a bit. These were all the more impressive; dynamite Cabernets. All made by essentially the same winemaking techniques; all much too young. They all had a strong dusty character that speaks of hillside fruit and little of that soft underbelly I tend to associate w/ Stag's Leap Cabernet. But trying to make subtle distinctions betwixt these very young wines was arguing how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. Of the 6 vintages, the '95 was my slight favorite for its riper character, more richness, and greater complex/dusty/licorice character it showed. It was near-impossible for me to pick out one as weaker than all the rest. A terrific tasting; almost enough to make me like Cabernet again.

DINNER AT LAMBERTS

After the Saturday seminars, 8 of us adjourned to Lambert's of Taos for dinner. Joing two couples from my wine group was Mike Machado again and Larry Archibald & Laura Chancellor. Zeke Lanbert has easily one of the best restaurants in Taos and a long-time friend for 12 yrs or so. His cusine can be described as Contemporary American Cusine. He has one of the best wine lists in NewMexico and both the food and wine are very reasonably priced. The wines came from a case that happened to appear on the restaurant's back doorstop late in the afternoon:

1. Qupe Marsanne '94: Med.gold color; bit cabbagey/aspargras complex hazelnutty/earthy bit oxidized/aged nose; tart/hard bit cabaggey/herbal slight oxidized/nutty/toasted hazelnuts complex flavor; showing a lot of aged character but interesting wine I thought, especially with food.
2. Qupe Bien Nacido Cuvee (50% Viognier, 50% Chard) '94: Med.gold color; rather oaked/toasty some floral/aromatic bit volatile little Viognier nose; rather toasty/oaked slight volatile/ sharp/hot somewhat floral/aromatic slight Viognier flavor; more like an aged Chard and little Viognier character showing.
3. Qupe Viognier '94: Med.gold color; rather fragrant/floral/spicy/perfumed bit volatile little oak nose; some bitter rather floral/spicy/aromatic slight earthy/dusty flavor; interesting aged Viognier but lacks the fresh/young Viognier character; interesting wine. 4. Martinelli JackAssVnyd Zin (15.8%) '96: Med.dark color; very strong toasty/pungent/oaked/ charred dusty ripe blackberry/fruity very spicy nose; big/rich very spicy/blackberry/Zin dusty rather charred/burnt/toasty/Fr.oaked flavor; on release at ZAP, this was a very heavily/overwhelingly oaked wine w/ a rather reduced/fecal/stinky character. It seems to be coming out of it and the ripe Zin fruit is starting to push through the oak; no overripe or late harvest character at all, carries the alcohol well. Mike's contribution to the evening.
4. Albert Bell Crozes-Hermitage Les Pierrelles '98: Med.dark color; strong smoky/roasted/ espresso some blackberry/Syrah lovely/complex nose; bit hard/tannic/angular/lean very roasted/pungent/smokey/toasty light blackberry/green olive/Syrah flavor; terrific Northern Rhone nose bit a bit lean/angular on the palate right now; needs several yrs of age. Larry's contribution to the evening.
5. Edmunds St. John Sonoma Valley Syrah Durrell Vnyd (13.3%) '91: Dark color; strong peppery/smokey/ licorice/pungent bit roasted/tarry blackberry/Syrah dusty complex nose; rich/intense spicy/ peppery/pungent/toasty/toasted/smokey dusty blackberry/Syrah flavor; a beautiful complex pungent/roasted Hermitage-like Syrah that will still go on a number of yrs; classic Steve Edmunds Syrah; beautiful wine.
6. Baumard LeVert de l'Or Specialite Vin Blanc Doux NV: Pale yellow color; lovely floral/spicy/ aromatic/perfumed bit earthy nose; slightly sweet (Auslese-level) earthy floral/aromatic/ perfumed quite grapey flavor; very interesting Auslese-like wine w/ an intriguing floral character and a distinct Loire/earthiness. 8. MontereyPeninsulaWnry Monterey JohannisbergRiesling (16%) LateHarvest '79: Dark golden/brown color; some volatile slight pickle juice loads of botrytis/peachy/apricotty bit oxidized/ raisened complex nose; slightly sweet very rich/oily/viscous tart slight pickle juice very intense apricotty/peachy/botrytis some raisened slight oxidized very complex flavor; very interesting/complex slight volatile dessert wine; bit of heat from the alcohol.
   

Returned to Taos on Monday afternoon for the second part of the Taos WinterWineFestival:

DINNER W/ ERIC & MARY BAUGHER

Eric is winemaker at the Ridge MonteBello winery. I had met Eric some 6-8 yrs ago on a visit up to The Ridge to see PaulDraper. When I found out a few months ago he would be representing Ridge at Taos, I suggest to LarryArchibald/LauraChancellor that it would be neat to have Eric & family over for dinner at L&L's cabin up in The Valley. They agreed & so it happened. Joining us was Michael&Barbara Ogg of SantaFe, co-owners of the cabin, and Eric & Mary. Mary's Mom had come to Taos w/ them, so she stayed behind to care for her two grandchildren. Larry ran into Mike Machado at the previous tasting and so invited him to join us.

Laura's 5-course meal was, as usual, outstanding. Alas, the young, single, handsome, virile male guy, usually no klutz in the kitchen, badly muffed the appetizers. He did manage to salvage his shredded reputation with a few decent wines. And Laura's backup olives did much to salvage the app course. The wines:

1. Fredreich Willhelm Gymnasium (Karl Marx's school) Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese '76: Med.gold color; beautiful fragrant/complex/Mosel valve oil/ bit earthy classic/perfumed/ aged Mosel nose; off-dry beautiful complex/Mosel valve oil incredible/classic flavor; very long/lingering perfumed/steely/Mosel valve oil very complex bit steely finish; develops a bit of oxidation the next morning; a terrific example of a classic aged Mosel and still alive/vibrant and in good health.
2. Donnhoff Oberhausser Bruche Riesling Spatlese '99: Light gold color; strong minerally/ pineapply/steely/earthy/metallic/austere nose; tart/lean/hard metallic/minerally/stoney flavor; off-dry lean/austere/tart minerally/pineapply/floral bit earthy/floral finish; almost tastes halb-trocken; a classic very young German Riesling that badly needs age; this will probably go 15-30 yrs easily; one of the better young Nahe wines I've had much in the Muller-Cattoir style.
3. Ridge Geyserville (68% Zin; 14.9%) '99: A barrel sample that Eric brought that was to be poured the following weekend at ZAP; very dark color; very strong deep blackberry/earthy/ peppery some buttery/oaked complex classic Geyserville nose; rich very spicy very peppery blackberry complex/Geyserville/bit funky/earthy light buttery/oak fairly extracted some hard/tannic flavor; very long/lingering very peppery very spicy blackberry/earthy/funky Geyserville finish w/ strong tannins; needs sever yrs & will last 10; this struck me as the best young Geyserville I've had from the '90's at this point in time; loaded w/ classic Geyserville/spicy character; probably the longest lived of the '90's Geyservilles; terrific wine & pleasure to drink even this young.
4. Ridge Calif Zin Lytton Springs (80% Zin; 14.1%) '91: Another bottle that Eric brought from the Ridge archives; dark color; deep dust very fragrant very spicy/blackberry bit smokey/pungent/ licorice/tobacco complex nose; tart bit drying out pungent/smokey/peppery rather blackberry/ boysenberry slight bretty complex flavor; very long pungent/smokey complex some blackberry finish w/ light tannins; a rich smooth lush very spicy Lytton at or slightly beyond its peak; lacks some of that sweetness on the palate; great example of what a mature Zin is like.
5. Phelps Eisele CabernetSauvignon (13.3%) '85: Very dark color; some bretty pungent/tobaccoy/ smokey/menthol ripe blackcurranty/licorice/Cab nose; big toasty/oak/pungent/charred Fr.oak dusty/blackcurranty/licorice/Cab flavor; very long licorice/pungent/charred Fr.oak some ripe/blackcurranty/Cab finish w/ some tannins; needs more age; classic pungent Phelps Cab; the next day the nose had become very perfumey/cheap perfume/gardenias/floral in character but still a terrific Cab.
6. Ridge Calif CabernetSauvignon EiseleVnyd (13.9%) '71: Milt Eisele offered these grapes from his young vnyd in '71 to Paul Draper and Ridge made their only version of this wine. In its youth, it was a huge/black/tannic Cab and way eclipsed the MonteBello '71 in intensity and character; dark color; lovely/beautiful cedary/tobaccoy very fragrant slight herbal some blackcurranty/Cab/fruit nose; soft/smooth/polished/elegant very spicy/tobaccoy/cedary light Cab/blackcurranty slight Kansas feed store balanced/elegant flavor; very long/lingering strong cedary/tobaccoy/complex/smokey light blackcurranty/Cab balanced finish w/ light tannins; terrific example of fully mature Calif Cab; a bit drying out and a bit beyond its peak but still plenty of Cab fruit and a real joy to drink; one more btl left to share w/ Paul.
7. Ridge Calif MonteBello (12.2%) '71: Look at the alcohol level on this sucker.... it would be hooted off the 'Net in this day and age for being such an anemic Cab; very dark color; slight bretty strong pungent/earthy/smokey/charred bit Italianate slight herbal bit black cherry/Cab some funky very complex nose; rich pungent/licorice/smokey/toasted/cedary/tobaccoy smooth/ balanced bit black cherry/fruity earthy/dusty very complex flavor; very long complex cedary/ tobaccoy/pungent earthy/dusty bit bretty licorice/black cherry finish w/ light tannins; at or beyond its peak. This wine is EXACTLY the concept of complexity that Paul seeks in his wines; I really struggled to describe it. The Eisele was more identifiable as mature Calif Cab, the MonteBello had a lot of that typical MB funk to it, a bigger & less mature wine, and much more interesting on the palate; killer Cabernet.
8. Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill Cabernet Sauvignon (12 1/2%) '81: Very dark color; strong toasty/ charred/burnt/Fr.oak very dusty slight blackcurranty/Cab bit one-dimensional nose; hard/tannic pungent/charred/toasty/burnt/Fr.oak slight blackcurranty/Cab flavor; a bit short on fruit and a bit dried out on the palate; still a big/huge wine but may never come into balance w/ age; interesting to drink for its power and toasty/oak.
9. Ridge Late Harvest Montebello '79: This is a wine Eric brought. They found 100 cs of this wine, never before released, never been labeled; and are preparing to release it for sale. It was made from a block of Cabernet that got super-ripe in 1979. Very dark/slightly browning color; quite raisened/late harvesty/pruney some cedary/chocolaty/tobaccoy bit Italian/herbal some LodiLate Hrvst/funky complex nose; slightly sweet quite raisened/late harvesty/pruney interesting/ complex/cedary very ripe some chocolaty flavor w/ light tannins; the nose becomes much less pruney and more cedary/tobaccoy on airing; not a lot of Cabernet character, more like an aged LateHrvst Zin; lots of overripe/raisened character; good complexity and very interesting wine.
10. Ridge Calif Petite Sirah Essence (SaH:32%; RS:10%; 14%) '86: This is a wine Eric never even new existed. Very dark color; very intense dusty/earthy peppery/black cherry very grapey some cedary/tobaccoy complex nose; very intense chocolaty/peppery/black cherry/cola very grapey some cedary/oaked some complex somewhat sweet flavor; very long grapey/black cherry/cola finish w/ some tannins; terrific Essence wine, not much overripe/pruney/raisened character and developing some complexity; still a ways to go.

All in all, a terrific night of good grub, great wines, and the most special of friends.

THERE'S AN "R" IN ZINFANDEL

This is the clever title Greg O'Byrne came up with for the Tuesday afternoon seminar on single vnyd Zins of Rosenblum and Ridge. Representing Ridge was, of, course, Eric Baugher... looking none the worse for wear from the previous evening; one of the recognized benefits of youth!! And for Rosenblum was Kent Rosenblum himself; a pretty avid skier and doing his second tour of duty at the Taos Wine Festival. They were pouring four each single vnyd Zins from the '97 vintage. They all showed extremely well and, though the wines were old friends, the seminar was very informative.

1. Rosenblum Paso Robles Sauret Vnyd Zin '97: Med.color; fragrant jammy/blackberry/ripe dusty nose; soft ripe lush jammy/blackberry/spicy flavor; ready to drink, very tasty.
2. Ridge Paso Robles Zin Dusi Vnyd Late Picked '97: Very dark color; very ripe/very jammy/blackberry dusty/loads of fruit very spicy/perfumed nose; big/intense ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/jammy very spicy some dusty/old vines flavor; terrific drinking Zin and still will age some.
3. Rosenblum Napa Vlly Lyons Vnyd Zin '97: Dark color; beautiful lush blackberry/boysenberry/Zin dusty slight volatile bit oaked nose; soft very lush licorice/blackberry/Zin slight bretty flavor; really nice-drinking lush Zin
4. Ridge York Creek Napa Zin '97: Very dark color; deep earthy some spicy/blackberry bit milky/oak nose; soft big light blackberry dusty/earthy some Am.oaked/milky flavor; seems shut down a bit; not a lot of fruit showing but pretty big in the mouth; needs age.
5. Rosenblum Harris-Kratka Alexander Valley Zin '97: Med.dark color; ripe cranberry/blackberry/Zin some earthy/AV bit oaked nose; tart bright cranberry/raspberry/spicy light oak flavor; drinking very well and near its peak.
6. Rosenblum Cullinane Vnyd Sonoma Zin '97: Very dark color; very perfumed/fragrant/aromatic ripe jammy/raspberry/blackberry nose; tart very aromatic/perfumed/high-toned bright cherry/ blackberry/cranberry flavor; a bright/vibrant very spicy Zin.
7. Ridge LyttonSprings Zin '97: Dark color; deep/dusty rich blackberry/boysenberry rather Am.oaked almost Aussie-Shiraz nose; big/ripe blackberry/boysenberry/Zin very spicy dusty some Am.oaked flavor; don't think I've ever had this LS '97 taste so good.
8. Ridge Geyserville '97: Dark color; very strong raspberry/blackberry some dusty/funky/Geyserville rather boysenberry/jammy nose; tart carignane/black cherry dusty/earthy some blackberry/jammy flavor w/ some tannins; will go another 4-6 yrs; best this wine as tasted as well; one of the best of the Geyservilles of the '90's. These wines all showed extremely well, something that doesn't often happen in seminars like this. The Rosenblums all had the classic Rosenblum lushness w/ only the Sauret not likely to be destined for greater things. The Ridge YorkCreek reminded me of some of the Ridge HowellMtn Zins; not a lot of fruit & a certain earthy/dustiness to it; it will mature into a very good Zin, however. The Ridge YorkCreeks from the last few yrs have been the best they've ever been.

CARNEROS PINOTS

The next seminar focused on Carneros Burgundy wines. Present was Steve Leveque, Mondavi/Costal wnry in the Carneros; Melissa Moravec of Casa Carneros (her & Kurt's wnry; she's also winemaker for Carneros Creek, who will be bttlg an Esola Zin very soon); and Axel Shug of Shug Estate. The wines:

Mondavi/Costal Carneros Chard '98: pleasant melony Chard; pleasant, but just that.

1. Shug Carneros Chard '98: Lovely chard w/ a strong floral/pineapply character much like
2. Santa Barbara Chards; good toasty/Fr.oak character; bit on soft/fat side; lovely Chard Casa Carneros Pinot '96, '97, '98: lots of bright cherry/black cherry character w/ nice Burgundian/toasty/Fr.oak character; preferred the '97; all very nicely made Pinots. Shug Carneros Pinot '97, '98: more earthy, less fruit, strong charred/Fr.oak component; preferred the '98 as being more exotic, though lighter. 
3. Mondavi Carneros Pinot '97: pleasant spicy oaked; nicely made but unthrilling. None of these wines were particular knock-outs; they don't seem to have much brightness of fruit. The Casa Carneros were heads & shoulders above the rest, thogh I did like the Shug '98. The Mondavis were.... well.... Mondavis; perfectly made, too perfect, w/o a lot of character.

PHELPS INSIGNIA VERTICAL

Craig Williams was here carrying the flag for Joseph Phelps. The wines: Phelps Insignia '90, '91, '93, '94, '96, '97, '98, '99 (barrel sample)

I didn't take detailed tasting notes on these wines because, to tell the truth, I couldn't find a whole lot of difference in them. They were all big/huge/massive ripe Cabs displaying that classic blackcurrantyCab and pungent/toasty/Fr.oak to them. I've not a clue as to which ones(s) will evolve the best. The famed '97 seemed more balanced & less extracted than the others and was not my favorite. The '91 I preferred slightly more for the greater perfume it had and, perhaps, more structure for the long haul.

Though I didn't take notes, I thought the wines were all stunning. Best of all, Craig gave a very informative presentation of the wines and description of the vagaries of each vintage. As he focuses more and more on the vnyd source for these wines; it's clear the Phelps Insignias are only going to get better, barring a disaster in the weather.

Bid adeau to Mike, Craig, Greg, and Josh (Jensen); head on down-valley; stop for a very good/hearty meal at The Trading Post, and back on home to the real world.

TomHill

 

1. Nebbiolo: This is a variety that I am incredibly impressed with. It has incredible perfume and aromatics when it has the fruit there in the wine. With the aging, in barrel or in bottle, it develops terrific complexities (no news here to the Italian wine-loving contingent). But it's that tarry/aromatic/floral fruit that I like so much and the Italian Barolo/Barbaresco makers seem intent on destroying. The problem is that it's an acid wine with this hard/tannic/astringent backbone that makes it hard to drink for us with a Calif- centric palate and use to that ripe lushness you get from those wines. If they could get that Nebbiolo varietal fruit in Calif and blend in something like Petite to soften on the palate, are coferment w/ Syrah or Zin to compliment the aromatics (but not obliterate them) and achieve palate softnes. you'd have one killer of a wine, a wine the Italians would be very envious of. Alas, that Nebbiolo fruit has not yet been achieved in Calif.
2. Qupe Whites: All three of the '94 Qupes I found rather interesting in character; what I refer to as "intellectual experiences" rather than "sensual experiences". Less open minds would refer to them as "crap". The Marsanne was the least attractive of the trio, but, still, I found some pleasure in drinking it with the food. The Cuvee seemed simply like an older Chard, and the Viognier was probably the most attractive and pleasurable of the bunch.
3. Marsanne: The Qupe Marsanne is easily the best varietal Marsanne produced in Calif. It is not a particularly attractive wine when young; more like a simple/appley/Chard in character. But, with age, it can oftentimes take on an inteesting/intriguing aged/slightly oxidized/ nutty/hazelnutty/earthy character not at all unlike aged Hermitage and Chateauneuf Blancs. Because few people have much experiences with this style of wine and it is rather an aquired taste, and the wines lack that fruit-forward character of much younger wines; this style of wine is not greatly appreciated. I'm learning I shouldn't inflict my "intellectual experiences" on others.
4. MontereyPeninsula TBA: This wine, on it's release, was incredibly intense botrytis/apricotty very syrupy dessert wine. Like many ultra-sweet wines, this as aged quite well, I thought. A bit of weird things are starting to come out in the wine, but by and large it's a very pleasurable/interesting wine to drink in addition to being an "intellectual experience". 5. Baumard Vert de l'Or: "And what be this wine??" I thought when I saw it on the shelf of Bravo up in Taos, so bought a btl to try. "And what be this wine??" I thought when I drank it. It definitely had some of the Loire earthy/chalky character to it but was distinctly lacking in that perfumed/floral CheninBlanc character of Baumard's wines. So some of the best minds in science went to work on the problem!! Back around the turn of the last century, around 1910 (and, NO!!! I was NOT there at the time!!), some Verdelho was broughht into the Loire from Portugal for some unknown reason and planted. It, apparently, has much the same growing characteristics of Chenin and some assert the varieties may be one in the same. The French wine authorities have recently become aware that this outlaw variety exists in the Loire and have been making an effort to eradicate it. It is NOT legal (as if THAT makes any difference to the French winemakers!) to make AppellationControlee Loire wine from the variety. Baumard has a small block of this Verdehlo located in the heart of his St.Catherine vnyd in the Coteaux de Layon. This wine is a late harvest (little botrytis evident to me) wine made from those grapes. The "Vert de l'Or" (Green of the Gold) is a play on the Verdehlo variety name. The label has a drawing of one of those Porto dingey-thingeys, with Porto barriques on the deck, that used to haul Porto down the Douro river. The wine is only identified on the label as "Product of France", but the Baumard address on the strip label is a dead give-away. I was sure the wine was not CheninBlanc but damned if I could figure out what it was; not being sufficiently familar w/ Verdehlo varietal character. So now you know the rest of the story. An "intellectual experience" that turned out OK.
5. CyberSpace & RealSpace: I spend too much time in CyberrSpace but RealSpace is where I do spend most of my time. I have genuinely enjoyed the contact with people in RealSpace that I've first met in CyberrSpace. This time was no exception. Mike Machado first contacted me several weeks ago after reading my post on the coming Taos Winter Wine Festival from 3-4 months ago on WLDG. He was interested in taking an intense week-long Taos ski program to upgrade his skiing skills. The opportunity to combine that passion with his wine passion was much too much to resist. So he contacted me in CyberSpace about his plans to come out and wanted to get together. So we did. I trust he enjoyed the opportunity to meet some of the NewMexico wine folk as much as I enjoyed having him join us all for dinner. It was nice to have someone at dinner who was not continually making fun of my age, or my educational experiences, or LBD's wet spot on my bare leg!!

TomHill