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. Kahn Cuvee Jacques Santa Ynez Valley (50% Viognier/Marsanne; 13.8%); 1999: Med.gold color;  strong appley rather toasty/oaked little Viognier bit stoney light pear nose; soft/fat  rather stoney/earthy/minerally quite toasty/Fr.oaked bit bitter flavor; med.long strong toasty/Fr.oaked rather appley light floral finish; seems dominated by the Marsanne and loads of toasty oak.
2. Gregory Graham Napa ValleyViognier (14.5%); 2000: Med.gold color; bit pencilly/oaked lovely/ fragrant elegant/pear/Viognier nose; rather pencilly/oaked fragrant/pear/Viognier lush/ soft flavor; very long spicy/pear/Viognier some pencilly/Fr.oaked; a really lovely elegant Calif Viognier.
3. Leasingham Clare Valley Bin 61 Shiraz (13.5%; 18 mo. in Am.oak); 1997: Very dark color; strong blackberry/licorice rather vanilla/Am.oaked boysenberry some gamey/smokey nose; hard/ pungent fragrant blackberry/boysenberry sligt pungent rather Am.oaked/vanilla/buttery flavor; med.long pungent/licorice some blackberry/boysenberry strong vanilla/Am.oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; lots of structure for an inexpensive Shiraz w/ good licorice/peppery character.
4. Petaluma Adelaide Hills Shiraz (FirstRelease; 14.0%; Brian Croser; Bttld: March 2000);  1998: Black color; rather dusty/earthy toasty/Fr(?)oaked licorice/pungent/gamey/smoked  hot dog very interesting/unusual nose; hard/tannic very dusty/earthy/complex strong  toasty/oaked spicy gamey low fruit flavor; very long dusty/earthy gamey pungent strong Fr.toasty/oaked finish; needs several yrs of age; very atypical Oz Shiraz w/ not much opulent fruit and a very dusty/earthy character; interesting stuff but pricey. $37.29 
5. Bosquet des Papes CdP Cuvee Grenache (13.5%); 1999: Med.dark color; strong Grenache/ strawberry rather dusty/earthy bit smokey quite fragrant nose; rich dusty/earthy strong Grenache/strawberry spicy elegant flavor; long earthy/dusty floral/Grenache/strawberry finish w/ some tannins; an attractive elegant/spicy CdP.
6. Hug Cellars Edna Valley Grenache (14.1%); 1999: Black color; very intense boysenberry/blackberry/ strawberry/Grenache bit stinky/reduced some peppery/toasty/oaked huge nose; hard/tannic very intense/extracted boysenberry/blackberry/Grenache spicy/peppery toasty/oak huge/ rich/mouthfilling flavor; very long intense/extracted boysenberry/blackberry/licorice/ Grenache some toasty/oaked peppery finish w/ ample tannins; needs 2-6 yrs; very much like John's Grenache but a bit harder & leaner; 2-nd best Calif Grenache I've ever had after the Albans. A gift from Augie but sells for about $40 I believe... and worth it.
7. Beckman Vineyards Cuvee LeBec Santa Barbara County (53% Grenache, 22% Mourvedre, 25% Syrah; 13.5%); 1999: Med.color; pleasant grapey/strawberry somewhat spicy/cloves some toasty/oak nose; tart bit light/thin light spicy/Grenache/strawberry flavor; med. spicy/Grenache/strawberry ligt/elegant finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant enough Rhone blend but just that; not as good as the Qupe LOC.
8. Garretson Wine Co Glimigrim Paso Robles RTW; NV: Med.dark color; very attractive blackberry/ Syrah light pencilly/oaked clean spicy nose; soft bright strawberry/Syrah light pencilly/ Fr.oak very spicy flavor; med. bright/strawberry/Grenache light pencilly/oak finish w/ light tannins; very much like an Eberle Syrah in character and style; very clean and w/o the touch of brett the previous edition showed; much better than the Qupe Calif at a very attractive price. $17.00 
9. Selby Sonoma Cnty Syrah (13.8%); 1998: Med.dark color; strong toasty/Am.oaked spicy Zin-like  rather meaty/gamey spicy/fragrant nose; soft toasty/charred/Am.oaked spicy/gamey fragrant flavor; med.long spicy/blackberry/fruity strong toasty/charred/Am.oaked finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant wine w/ some Syrah character; tastes like a Syrah made by a Zin producer.
10. Gregory Graham Napa Valley Syrah (13.8%); 1999: Very dark color; very strong licorice/ pungent toasty/Fr.oak string blackberry/Syrah peppery/spicy/gamey complex nose; rich hard/tannic blueberry/Syrah strong toasty/Fr.oak pungent/gamey bit lean/hard flavor; very long/tannic gamey/blueberry/Syrah peppery/spicy/pungent toasty/smokey/Fr.oak finish w/ fair tannins; needs 3-6 yrs; lots of peppery spicy and a bit of roasted/Rhonish character; seems a bit leaner & harder than previous ones; outstanding Syrah.
11. Dover Canyon Winery Syrah Reserve Paso Robles Fralich/Jacobsen/Chequera Vnyds (14.4%;  192 cs); 1999: Black color; intense blackberry/strawberry/Syrah loads of fruit aromatic slight volatile slight herbal/dusty nose; soft/fat intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah lush spicy slightly hot flavor; long rather tannic intense blackberry/blueberry/Syrah w/ fair tannins; a huge Oz-style fruit bomb but a bit hot/volatile and some fat/under- acid; seems a bit pricey at $35.00 .
12. Alain Voge Cornas Cuvee Vieilles Vignes (12.5%; MeBalP); 1998: Dark color; beautiful dusty/roasted/smokey meaty complex very roasted/NorthernRhone nose; tart very spicy/ roasted/smokey gamey/meaty elegant/lithe flavor; very long tart very spicy/roasted/ gamey/smokey dusty/earthy finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-6 yrs; a terrific Cornas; fairly priced at $45.00. 
13. J.Kerr Reserve Santa Barbara County Syrah Bien Nacido Vnyd/Hillside (14.5%); 1998: Dark color; intense toasty/charred/Fr.oaked slight stinky/reduced intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah complex almost Rhone/roasted nose; big/rich intense toasty/charred/Fr.oak strong blackberry/boysenberry smokey/roasted/pungent spicy flavor; very long intense blackberry/ boysenberry/Syrah roasted/pungent/charred/oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-6 yrs; pretty heavy on the oak but plenty of fruit to back it up; much like a bigger Qupe Hillside w/ oak; terrific Syrah w/ some ersatz-Cote-Rotie character; fairly priced at $35.00.
14. Garretson Edna Valley Syrah Alban Vnyd (14.1%); 1999: Inky/black color; very strong toasty/ Fr.oaked/charred gamey bit roasted/peppery some malty/lactic very spicy complex nose; tart milky/malted milk/stout charred/toasty/Fr.oaked/pungent intense blackberry/peppery/ Syrah pungent/smokey flavor; very long pungent/smokey/charred/toasty/oak intense  blackberry/peppery/Syrah/boysenberry rather peppery bit herbal/spicy finish w/ ample tannins; needs 2-7 yrs of age; much like the Alban Reva but a bit more oaked and more unusual things therein; easily Mat's best wine yet; terrific Syrah; not cheap but not unreasonably priced at $59.00 .
15. Chateau Lavabre Pic Saint Loup Coteaux de Languedoc (12.5%); 1998: Very dark color; very strong cat box/fecal/stinky/diaper pail rather herbal/pungent coffee/green olives intense new oak weird nose; hard/tannic cat box/fecal/unclean very pungent/smokey earthy/dusty flavor; med.long hard/tannic fecal/unclean/cat litter box pungent/dusty/ earthy hard/tannic finish; needs age but why bother; despite the cat box stench (lends complexity I guess), there are some interesting things in the wine if you can get past the other stuff. Howard & Rhoda's mystery wine, about $11.00. They bought this on the rec of a guy in a wine shop down in the Languedoc recently; last time they'll listen to that guy.
16. Hug Cellars Encantada Calif Dessert Wine (8% RS; 15%) 1998: Med.gold color; intense figgy/very grapey/pineapply raisened/late harvest loads of grapey fruit nose; rich/soft very sweet very pineapply/lush/figgy loads of fruit flavor; very long very sweet very grapey/pineapply/figgy finish; loads of very ripe/grapey fruit; no botrytis evident; terrific dessert wine; gift from Augie but recall it about $16/hlf.

1. Greg Graham wines: This is one producer of Calif Rhones who never seems to receive the recognition I feel he deserves. He makes two Viogniers, one from Knight's Valley, and one from NapaValley. The KV version tends to be more bombastic/overblown/DollyParton in style of Viognier; whilst the Napa Valleyversion tends to be a bit leaner and more elegant in character. But his Napa ValleySyrahs are some of the best. I find character of Edmunds StJohn, some JadeMtn, some Qupe in them. They tend to be a bit harder and leaner and more structured and peppery than most Napa Valleyones. A great Rhone producer and worth seeking out.
2. Hug Grenache: Augie Hug, no stranger to these parts of CyberSpace, is a good friend of John Alban's and has made various wines over the last few yrs at John's winery, often from Alban fruit. In real life, he is I believe in the oil-drilling business. And, like all of those folks down there; his bowling skills are very marginal. But his winemaking skills are as good as they come. He is presently making his wine up at Mat Garretson's winery in PasoRobles. This Grenache, from John Alban's fruit, is as good as they come. Augie poured it this yr at HdR & I was mightly impressed there with it. It had a bit of a reductive stink in the nose, but that blows off and is not a problem for its long-term development. Worth seeking out, in lieu of an Alban Grenache.
3. Garretson Wines: were all bottled, even the Alban Syrah, with the hard/plastic SupremeCorq. Not quite sure Mat wasn't using the far superior (IMHO) NeoCork. But clearly another quality producer who's solved the cork-taint problem. I've followed Mat's wines from the very start... but then so has everyone else in this here part of CyberSpace. It sort of gives you a nice warm fuzzy feeling to watch somebody follow their passion and suceed at it. The best thing about it is... the best of the Garretson wines are yet to come. In Mat's unique position, he's probably tasted more Rhone-style wines from anywhere than anybody.... so he knows what great wine is. As more and more Rhone varietal vnyds come into production in Paso and Edna Valley, especially in WestSide Paso, and Mat has access to those grapes; it's just gotta get better. Definitely a winery to keep your eyes on in the future. And, maybe, just maybe, he'll someday be able to upgrade his bowling skills to the level of his wines!!
4. John Kerr: When you talk to many of the SantaBarbara Syrah winemakers about what winemaker they respect and admire his work; John Kerr's name always seems to come up. Yet I've never met the guy (that I know of) and have had only a handfull of his wines, that he's made as winemaker for other wineries. They wern't particularly impressive. He apparently was of the Lindquist/Clendennan cabal that came out of ZacaMesa under Ken Brown (another legendary figure I've not met). This wine was impressive...mightly impressive. I'm looking forward to more of John's wines and maybe even meeting him sometime in the future.
5. Passito wines: These wines are commonly made in Italy and some, especially from Southern Italy, are some of the great sweet wines of the world. Though often made by laying the  harvested grapes out on trays to dry/raisen in the winery; they can be left to raisen on the vine as well. This kind of dessert wine is a no-brainer for Calif to be making & there have been several stunning ones I've had over the years. There oughta be a lot more.  Augie's Encantada is one of the better examples I've had.