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. Edmunds St. John Pallini Rosso Mendocino County Zin (21% Grenache; 13.8%) '93: Med.light color; slightly earthy/cedary/tobaccoy light pungent bit stewed tomatoes/Mendocino Zin light fruit nose; tart some pungent/cedary/oaked old CdR/stewed tomatoes light raspberry earthy flavor; med.long tart pungent/cedary/smokey bit tired light raspberry finish w/ little tannins; seems to have lost fruit & fading a bit
2. Edmunds St. John Pallini Rosso Mendocino County Zin (14% Grenache; 14.4%) '99: Med.dark color; attractive raspberry/strawberry/Grenache bit earthy/dusty light peppery fragrant nose; tart rather spicy/strawberry/Grenache light dusty/peppery slight earthy/stewed tomatoes flavor; med. long tart spicy strawberry/Grenache light raspberry some earthy/dusty finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; has that typical Mendocino Zin leanness.
3. Ridge Calif Mataro Pagani Vnyd (75% Mataro, 25% Zin; 14.8%) '95: Dark color; deep earthy/plummy bit black cherry/mushroomy bit pungent strong vanilla/Am.oak nose; soft pungent/plummy bit Pagani/funky light black cherry rather Am.oaked bit rustic flavor; med.long plummy/black cherry cough syrup rather vanilla/oak finish w/ light tannins; interesting red w/ lots of oak
4. Bonny Doon Old Telegram Calif Mataro/Mourvedre (14.5%) '98: Dark color; strong plummy/ContraCosta light earthy/black cherry nose; soft/fat very plummy/black cherry rather hard/tannic flavor; med.long some plummy/black cherry finish w/ ample tannins; pretty hard & tannic but not that much fruit; almost PetiteSirah/clunky; seems rather overpriced at $36.00
5. Edmunds St. John L'Enfant Terrible Calif Mourvedre (13.1%) '93: Med.dark color; lovely toasty/ pungent/charred/smokey bit licorice/plummy/black cherry cough syrup fairly complex nose; tart complex/pungent/smokey rather licorice/black cherry bit toasty/plummy flavor; very long/complex pungent/smokey/toasty/earthy/mushroomy plummy/black cherry/licorice finish w/ some tannins yet; lots of licorice/pungent character; very interesting wine w/ good complexity.
6. Edmunds St. John LesCotesSauvages (Grenache&Syrah from Mendocino & Sonoma; Old Vine Mourvedre from Napa&ContraCosta) '87: Med.dark color; strong/pungent/smokey/complex spicy/peppery bit bretty rather Rhonish/complex nose; smooth peppery bit menthol/rosemary slight brett/very Rhonish toasty/pungent complex flavor; very long/smooth spicy/peppery/rosemary pungent/smokey very Rhonish finish w/ light tannins; a lovely/complex Rhone-like red that seems slightly beyond its peak; a recent purchase from PaulMarcusWines (I was told that it recently came from Steve Edmunds).
7. Edmunds St. John Rocks & Gravel Calif RW (Durell Syrah, Mendocino Grenache, ElDorado Mourvedre; 13.5%) '98: Dark color; beautiful fragrant/strawberry/spicy/raspberry lush fruit bit dusty nose; tart very spicy/floral/perfumey bright fruit/bit lean bit dusty/peppery lovely flavor; med.long bit lean very floral/very spicy bright strawberry/raspberry light earthy finish w/ light tannins; a bright/spicy very good drinking red.
8. Edmunds St. John Rocks & Gravel Calif RW (EdPallini's Mendocino Grenache, SierraFoothills Mourvedre, DurellVnyd Sonoma Syrah; 14.4%) '99: Very dark color; loads of strawberry/Grenache/very fragrant slight buttery almost Aussie Grenache light earthy nose; tart very spicy/bright/strawberry/ Grenache some pungent/peppery  bit Aussie Grenache flavor; long very spicy/Grenache/strawberry light earthy/peppery finish w/ some tannins; a bit dishelved/unruly sort of Grenache very tasty red wine; bit like Janitor Lite. Very good value at $20.00
9. Bonny Doon Le Cigar Volant Calif RW (49% Grenache, 37% Syrah, 14% Mourvedre; 14.5%) '98: Dark color; attractive fragrant strawberry/Grenache/cranberry slight herbal/plastic nose; soft interesting strawberry/Grenache/spicy/cranberry bit herbal strange flavor; med.long bright strawberry/Grenache slight herbal finish w/ light tannins; attractive wine w/ a strange underlying herbal character; rather pricey at $28.00
10. Dehlinger Russian River Valley Syrah (EB; 14.5%) '97: Very dark color; beautiful pencilly/toasty blackberry/black cherry cola crushed black pepper very fragrant slight volatile nose; tart toasty/ pencilly black pepper/blackberry/cola flavor; med.long toasty/pencilly/oak some blackberry/pepper finish w/ some tannins; very nice Syrah w/ a bit of a volatile lift; seems a bit weak for a Dehlinger Syrah.
11. Novy Sonoma County Syrah (13.8%) '98: Very dark color; beautiful mocha/coffee bit roasted/peppery very spicy ripe/blackberry complex slight volatile nose; very spicy roasted/coffee/mocha bit pungent/funky strong blackberry/Syrah slightly hot very interesting flavor; med.long very peppery/ spicy/coffee/mocha rather blackberry/Syrah loads of fruit finish w/ some tannins; a complex very interesting Syrah w/ a bit of a volatile lift and nice roasted character.
12. Edmunds St. John Sonoma Valley Syrah ParmeleeHill Vnyd (14.2%) '97: Black color; deep pungent/licorice/ chocolaty/peppery some blackberry/green olive/Syrah complex nose; big/hard/tannic licorice/ pungent/chocolaty/peppery/mocha/blackberry/olive fairly hard/tannic flavor; long rich/pungent/ extracted blackberry/peppery/mocha/Syrah bit dusty/green olive spicy finish w/ ample tannins; seems rather hard & a bit closed now but will be a great/classic EdStJ Syrah down the road.
13. Edmunds St. John Sonoma Valley Syrah Durell Vnyd (13.5%) '98: Very dark color; beautiful black pepper/ pungent/blackberry/licorice aromatic/perfumed classic EdStJ complex nose; some tart/acid/lean peppery/pungent/spicy/licorice/blackberry bit appley/green olive toasty/pungent hard flavor; long peppery/pungent/spicy/licorice/blackberry light toasty bit green olive/appley finish w/ some tannins; a classic EdStJ Syrah w/ an underlying underripe/green olive character; needs a few yrs of age.
14. Edmunds St. John Sonoma/Carneros Dyrah DurellVnyd (14.4%) '97: Black color; strong blackberry/Syrah spicy/licorice some toasty/oak fairly complex nose; tart/lean/hard/tannic bit blackberry/Syrah/ licorice some toasty/oak spicy/dusty somewhat closed flavor; long hard/tannic blackberry/licorice/ Syrah pungent/toasty finish w/ hard tannins; seems to be rather closed right now; I recall really loving this wine a year ago, but it seems a bit hard & shut down right now; it should turn into another great EdStJ Syrah w/ a few yrs age.
15. Lockwood Monterey Cnty Syrah (13.8%) '98: Med.light color; bright blackberry/Syrah/cherry some herbal nose; bright buttery/raspberry/Syrah/spicy somewhat herbal flavor; med.short bright/ raspberry/cherry/Syrah light herbal/peppery finish w/ little tannins; pleasant enough red wine but grossly overpriced at $30.00
16. Robert & Patrick Jasmin Cote-Rotie (12.5%) '98: Dark color; attractive spicy/roasted/espresso/C-R nose; tart/thin/lean pleasant roasted/C-R/espresso slight strawberry flavor; med. lean/thin classic roasted/C-R/smokey/espresso finish w/ some tannins; nice C-R character but doesn't deliver much on the palate. Overpriced at $40.00

1. Mendocino Zin: Back in the late '70's; Jed Steele made some killer Mendocino Zins; from DuPratt/DuPattie, Anzilotti, Zeni, Lalonis vnyds. Barney Fetzer made some pretty nice ones up there in the early '70's. Some of the Zins from Milano were absolutely killer ones. Since those, I've been rather disappointed by the Zins coming out of Mendocino. Mostly pleasant ones, by and large, but not the depth & intensity of those earlier ones. Probably Dennis Fife and some of the LaLonis ones have been about the best. But Mendocino strikes me as somewhat of an under-achiever.
2. Mourvedre: I've been struggling to identify in my mind the varietal character of Mourvedre. Nearly all the early ones were from Cline's ContraCosta holdings; which display a lot of plummy character that also shows in ContraCosta Zin. Maybe it's a variety that has weak identifiable varietal character; maybe it's a variety that reflects the terroir more so than Zin, Syrah, or Cab. Clueless as usual. This EdStJ Mourvedre was probably about the best I've had from Calif. They came from one of the rare non-ContraCosta old vine plantings on the BrandlinRanch up on Mt.Veeder. Alas, I believe those vines were ripped out after Peter Franus bought the property in favor of more Zin. So sad. The early Bonny Doon Old Telegrams were some of the best of the first Calif Mourvedres. I don't feel that Randall's more recent oferrings of this wine have been quite as good as those first few. This '98 seemed the best in some time, but also seemed pretty overpriced for what it is.
3. Chateauneuf-du-Pape blends: One of the first of these was the Bonny Doon Cigar. My consistent favorites have always been the EdStJohn CotesSauvages and the Qupe LosOlivosCuvee. They always seem to age remarkably well. I'd seldom mistake them for real CdP, but they are very very good examples of Calif red wines. And the Qupe is a steal priced in the upper teen$. Steve Edmund's current blended red is the Rocks&Gravel; don't know if we'll ever see CotesSauvages again.
4. Edmunds St. John wines: It's kind of hard to taste Steve Edmunds wines critically when you've spun a few miles on the bike beside him or spent several bright/sunny afternoons out on the deck at BayWolf w/ he & Michael Wild, tasting thru his wines. But there's something about Steve's wines that, much like Ridge, strikes a resonant cord within me. And among the Rhone-heads, they seem to be equally highly regarded as much as I like them. I've followed SteveEdmunds wines from the very start. They struck me as a bit hit or miss early on, oftentimes having a fair anount of brett to them. But they always came across as very interesting wines and oftentimes great. As he has solidified his grape sources and helped a bunch of growers to develop their vineyards; I think he really started to hit his stride around 1990 and the wines since then have been universally terrific. Even his Sangiovese and Pinot Grigio, varieties that haven't arrived yet in Calif IMHO, are great drinking wines. Clearly, when it comes to Syrah, Steve is among the very best in Calif. His first Durell's were one of the first great, truly world class Syrahs made in Calif. Although that has sorta long been considered Steve's flagship wine; I'm beginning to find that I like the Parmelee Hill the best of all. His wines from ElDorado, not only Syrah, but other varieties; are just about the best being made from those grapes. I'm really looking forward to the wines he has coming down the pike from a bunch of new vnyd sources. That being said; I must confess that his Zins have always been a puzzle to me. They always seem to be pleasant/straight-forward good-drinking Zins but seldom approaching the stature of his Syrahs. THAT being said; Howard brought the EdStJ Mt.Veeder Zin '90 (BrandlinRanch grapes) as a mystery wine in early January. I picked it has an EdStJ Syrah. I was mightly impressed by this wine, another Zin I wasn't that impressed by on release, on how it had developed in the bottle; a terrific fully mature Zin. Steve had abandoned his winery out back of the Oaks Card Shop in scenic/downtown Emeryville and is now making his wine up in Berkeley at AudobonCllrs. When he made that move, he changed the name on the label to P&B by Intuition & BlindLuck. I have my doubts that blind luck has much to do with it anymore. Steve's wines have a unique spicy/toasty character that I oftentimes associate w/ oak in the wine. However, Steve is a strong proponent of little oak in Syrahs. He is a big proponent of expressing the terroir in his wine, so I presume that must be what I'm getting in his wines, not any new oak. We see quite a bit of whining about wine pricing of late around here. Steve, being a wine- drinker himself who can feel & share our pain, has to be complimented on keeping his wine prices fair and reasonable. Not only that, as I recall, he dropped the price on his '98 Durell Syrah because he didn't think it had quite the stuffing of previous ones. You don't often/ever see that happening... so no new Beamer for Steve this year!! Steve has one of the most informative winery sites around (http://www.Edmunds St. John.com). Worth visiting from time to time as he does better than most wineries in keeping it up to date. You can also subscribe to his infrequent highly irregular e-newsletter (The Organolepticians) at the site. They're highly informative and a great read. And, of course, he oftentimes hangs out in this-here part of CyberSpace, frequently oferring up some very insightful comments, and has a sufficiently thick skin that we haven't driven him away yet.
5. Novy Syrah: This is, of course, the Syrah part of the operation of our very own AdamLee/Siduri Wnry, a Pinot specialist non-pariel.  A very impressive first effort. The early Dehlinger Syrahs always came across to me as a Syrah produced by a Pinot winemaker. The Novy came across as a terrific Syrah produced by a ... Syrah... winemaker. Worth keeping track of Adam's Syrahs.
6. Jasmin Cote-Roties: I remember back in the early '70's falling in love w/ the Jasmin C-Rs. Then they seemed to fall off greatly in quality & I quit following them. The last few yrs, I've seen some signs that the Jasmin C-Rs were returning to their former greatness. This '98 version sure didn't seem to be one of them.