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. Andrew Murray Vineyard Santa Ynez Valley Viognier (13.6%) 2000: Med.light gold color; fragrant peachy/Viognier light pineapply bit earthy light toasty/oak bit smokey nose; tart slight sour light peachy/floral/Viognier slight earthy/toasty flavor; long/soft very peachy/Viognier/floral/honeysuckle spicy slight metallic/sour finish; develops a very lush/peachy/Viognier character as it warms in the glass; a bright/svelte/ racy Viognier w/ some structure; maybe Andrew's best Viognier yet.
2. The Ojai Vineyard Vin du Soleil Blanc Calif WTW (14.5%; 70% StolpmanVineyard Roussanne, 20% RollRanch Viognier, 10% BienNacidoVineyard Chard) 1999: Med.dark gold color; very fragrant rather toasty/pencilly/oak spicy/cinammon/floral/perfumed/perfumed talc interesting nose; soft/lush/fat butterscotchy/toastysmokey/oaked bit metallic lusg/floral/honeysuckle flavor; med.long bit metallic lush/toasty/butterscotchy floral/aromatic finish; loads of bright Roussanne character w/ ample oak but still in balance; good wine for $24.50.
3. The Ojai Vineyard Santa Barbara County PinotNoir BienNacidoVineyard (14.5%) 1999: Dark color; deep black cherry/violets/plummy perfumed some toasty/oak/pencilly very fragrant nose; soft/rich/lush very plummy/black cherry/PN/floral some toasty/oak flavor; very long plummy/black cherry/violets lush some toasty/smokey/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs a few yrs; a lovely well-made PN w/ loads of that BienNacido plummy/ black cherry character; good price at $32.00.
4. Carlisle Contra Costa County Zinfandelfandel (15.4%) 1999: Dark color; rather earthy/mushroomy/CC  lush blackberry/boysenberry some toasty/oak nose; soft very lush blackberry/boysen- berry classic CC/mushroomy/earthy light toasty/oak flavor; very long soft/fat lush/ blackberry/blueberry/boysenberry light toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; a soft/ drinkable red w/ more blackberry fruit than most CC Zinfandels; great price at $19.00.
5. Carlisle Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel (15.4%; 79% Zinfandel, 21% PS) 1999: Med.dark color; lovely/ fragrant intense bright raspberry very spicy very perfumed light pencilly/oak nose; tart very spicy bright/effusive/raspberry/blackberry light toasty/oak flavor; very long tart bright raspberry/blackberry very spicy zippy finish w/ some tannins; needs  several yrs; a classic bright DCV Zinfandel w/ great structure; very polished & well-made; a bit like a Nalle w/ more structure & depth; great wine for $23.00.
6. Carlisle Russian River Valley Zinfandel (16.3%) 1999: Dark color; very strong eucalyptus very spicy/licorice/blackberry/boysenberry light toasty/oaked light earthy complex nose; tart rich very spicy/cloves intense blackberry/boysenberry/loads of fruit/licorice bit pungent some toasty/oaked some eucalyptus/menthol some tannic big/rich flavor; very long rich/big boysenberry/blackberry Zinfandel/floral very spicy some tannic some eucalyptus finish w/ fair tannins; needs several yrs; loads of eucalyptus in the nose but not as strong on the palate; classic RRV aromas & flavors w/ lots of structure; my favorite of the Zinfandels; strong Oz/eucalyptus character but not overwhelmingly so; great Zinfandel for $23.00.
7. Carlisle Russian River Valley Two Acres Vineyard Mondeuse (14.3%) 1999: Dark color; deep earthy/pungent spicy/fragrant very spicy cherry perfumed some toasty/oak nose; hard/tannic earthy/pungent dusty/old vine rough bit plummy/cherry some toasty/oak flavor; very long cherry/spicy dusty/old vines bit earthy some pencilly/oak finish with hard tannins; needs 2-6 yrs yet; a big rough rustic red; not has hard/tannic as some of his Ho-Made Mondeuse; a very interesting that will be fun to watch its development; easily the best Mondeuse I've ever had and probably the world's best Mondeuse; great price at $22.00.
8. Carlisle Russian River Valley Two Acres RW (15.3%; 62% Mourvedre, 28% PS, 8% Valdepenas, 2% AlicanteBouchet) 1999: Dark color; beautiful lush/plummy bit leafy very spicy/ boysenberry fragrant bit gamey complex nose; rich plummy/earthy bit herbal/gamey rather tart very spicy flavor; very long lush/plummy/boysenberry slight sauvage/ gamey finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; lots of classic Mourvedre character; a terrific Rhone blend; good price at $29.00.
9. The Ojai Vineyard Vin du Soleil Rouge Calif RTW (14.5%; 66% StolpmanVineyard Grenache, 17%  Stolpman Mourvedre, 17% ThompsonVineyard Syrah) 1998: Med.dark color; lovely fragrant strawberry/Grenache very spicy rather floral/CdP-like light buttery/toasty/oak complex nose; tart very spicy strong strawberry/Grenache lovely lush some toasty/ smokey/oak flavor; very long very spicy bright/strawberry/Grenache/cranberry slight earthy bit tannic finish; needs several yrs; a terrific Rhone blend; great price at $24.50.
10. The Ojai Vineyard Calif Syrah (50% LonsomeOakVineyard PasoRobles, 50% BienNacidoVineyard, 4%  Stolpman Mourvedre) 1999: Dark color; slight herbal very blackberry/boysenberry bit earthy light toasty/oak nose; tart very spicy/pepperminty/peppery some earthy/ funky rather blackberry/boysenberry bit herbal flavor; long bit funky/herbal/earthy very blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah bit metallic/sharp finish w/ light tannins;  another terrific Ojai Calif; not as pure Syrah as previous ones and the PasoRobles character really shows; great value at $24.50.
11. Andrew Murray Vineyard Santa Ynez Valley Syrah LesCoteaux (13.9%) 1999: Dark color; rather  bretty/earthy/funky slight oxidized/volatile strong boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/ gamey rather Aussie-style/effusive fruity nose; bit hot/volatile intense boysenberry/ blackberry/chocolaty bit funky/bretty some toasty/Fr.oak flavor; med.long strong boysenberry/Syrah loads of fruit slightly hot bit toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; a bit hot/volatile but lots of Oz character.
12. The Ojai Vineyard Calif Syrah Roll Ranch Vineyard (14.5%) 1999: Black color; deep boysenberry/ blackberry/spicy/Dr.Pepper chocolaty ripe slight earthy/gamey nose; tart rich intense very spicy/blackberry/Dr.Pepper structured some toasty/oak bit hard/closed flavor; very long very spicy tannnic Dr.Pepper/blackberry/black cherry cola light toasty oak finish w/ ample tannins; needs 3-8 yrs age; another killer RollRanch; seems  some harder & more closed than previous releases at this point in time.
13. Edmunds St. John Sonoma Valley Durell Vineyard Syrah (14.2%) 1999: Black color; deep blackberry/ boysenberry very peppery/spicy classic EdStJ complex nose; very strong blackberry/ Syrah very peppery/spicy pungent flavor w/ a hard/tart/screechy acidity to it;  very long peppery/blackberry/blueberry very acid very spicy finish w/ some tannins; all the classic EdStJ Syrah character but an atypical shrill acidity to it; terrific nose but hard on the palate; should age very well. Great price at $25.00.
14. Edmunds St. John ElDoradoCounty Wylie-Fenaughty Syrah (14.1%) 1999: Black color; beautiful complex very spicy pungent/blackberry/boysenberry/cranberry bit earthy/mushroomy/ truffly classic EdStJ some gamey/smoked hot dogs nose; tart very spicy/peppery/ blackberry/cranberry pungent/gamey flavor; very long/lingering very spicy/peppery strong blackberry/cranberry/Syrah pungent/smokey bit mushroomy finish w/ ample tannins; needs 4-10 yrs age; a terrific EdStJ Syrah & best ElDorado Syrah yet. A good value at $30.00.
15. Tardieu-Laurent Cotes du Rhone Guy Louis (50% Grenache + Syrah+Mourvedre) 1997: Dark color; very dusty/earthy some bretty slight volatile loads of toasty oak  quite fecal/horsecollar/funky/stinky light blackberry very unclean nose; soft very dusty/earthy slight blackberry intense toasty/oak rather unclean/bretty/fecal flavor; med.long unclean/fecal/reduced slight blackberry very toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; the nose clears to one of very toasty/oak w/ slight roasted  character; a wine w/ character&intensity but pretty peculiar stuff. 

1. CarlisleWnry: These prices are pre-release prices plus shipping. I've followed Mike Officer's wines from the very start, back when he was a home winemaker. But he wasn't your "average" home winemaker, the wines were very  professional back then and better than most commercial Zinfandels. It's been pretty exciting to watch Mike hone his winemaking skills. As he becomes more recognized for his wines, I expect him to have access to better and better grapes in the future. With the 2001 vintage, he is now farming and owns his own estate grapes from the Peletti Ranch. It'll be interesting to see what a real/non-industrial winemaker can transform these great grapes into. More interesting, what will he and ol' Cecil's lawyers work out as to putting on the label vis a vis Peletti. Although I'm a big fan of Dave Cofarro's wines; I find that the winemaking tends to be the dominant character, somewhat at the expense of the varietal character, in his wines. In Mike's wines, I very much find the varietal character and the vnyd/ terroir to be prominant, with the winemaking style only lending a subtle nuance to the wine. Very much like Steve Edmunds does in his. This is the way I prefer it. All in all, another mightly impressive release from Mike & Kendall Officer. And if you haven't met Rachel & Riley, their two kids... you're in for a treat. Rachel has personality out the wazhoo & Riley is a shy little guy, but has his assets.
2. Andrew Murray Viognier: I've followed Andrew's wines from the very start. His early whites tended to be less ripe than other Viogniers and pretty strong on the toasty/ oak. He seems now to have the oak more subtle and the fruit shows much more, but they still have that racy structure not found in a lot of Calif Viogniers. And now, that his Roussanne is known to be Viognier, he'll have a lot more Viognier available.
3. Ojai releases: The prices are the pre-release price plus shipping. These Vin de Soleils are the first Rhone-blends to be released by Adam Tolmach. The blanc struck me as interesting but a bit clunky. The rouge was an extraordinary blend, in the same league as the EdStJohn Grand Heritage or Les Cotes Sauvages in terms of greatness. It'll be fun to watch this wine evolve. I've followed Adam's Calif Syrahs from the very start. It's been interesting to watch them change/evolve over the yrs. The one thruout most of the '90's have shown mostly pure/classic varietal blackberry/Syrah character. This '99 shows more of a funky/Rhone quality that they've not had before. It's still a terrific Syrah at a terrific price.  Adam's RollRanch Syrah is truly one of the great Calif Syrahs. I rank both RollRanch and Thompson vnyds as the very top of the heap in SantaBarbara (I know... RollRanch is in Ventura County). 
4. EdStJ Wylie-Fenaughty '99: Steve Edmunds unabashedly declares this the best Syrah  he's yet produced. I don't see it, but will yield to his better judgement. It doesn't have quite the intensity or purity of fruit or depth of flavor I've found  in some of his earlier Durrels, but nonetheless I find it an absolutely stunning Syrah. ElDorado County bring a sort of earthy/mushroomy/truffly character to Syrah that I find nowhere else in Calif. I hope more winemakers look to ElDorado for Syrah grapes. If you haven't got this wine yet, don't tarry long.
5. Fine-grained tannins: I've heard this term used by winemakers before but never quite understood what they were talking about. One of the reasons Steve particularly likes his W-F Syrah is for the "fine-grained" tannins it posesses. As I tasted this wine,  I think I'm beginning to understand what he's talking about. It clearly has a lot of tannins but, yet, it doesn't have that hardness and astringincy on the palate that many tannic reds have; it has a sort of smooth/silky texture in the mouth. Maybe in another 40 yrs, I'll figure out the term completly.

TomHill