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. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Viognier (BienNacido & Stolpman vnyds; 13.9%; 434 cs) '99: Med.gold color; fragrant pear/peach/Viognier bit earthy/minerally quite aromatic nose; tart very spicy pear/peach/Viognier bit buttery fairly lush light minerally flavor; very long lush pear/Viognier bit minerally finish; maybe Craig's best Viognier yet.
2. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Roussanne StolpmanFamilyVnyd (13.6%; 12.5% Stolpman Viognier added; 158 cs) '99: Med.gold color; low-key waxy/appley slight hazelnutty/honeysuckle slight funky/pungent nose; soft lush/appley bit almondy/hazelnutty slight floral/ honeysuckle bit stoney flavor; med.long hazelnutty/honeysuckle/spiced apple slight stoney/waxy finish; a rather restrained/closed white w/ not a lot of aromatics.
3. Byrd-Cooper Napa Valley Grenache (14.5%) '99: Med.red color; attractive/pretty strawberry/ Grenache simple bit toasty/oak nose; tart bit bretty some toasty/oaked pleasant Grenache/ strawberry flavor; med.short pleasant Grenache/strawberry bit bretty light toasty/oak finish w/ little tannins; a pleasant/simple Grenache but overpriced at $24.50
4. Neyers Napa Valley Grenache HudsonVnyd (15.0%) '99: Rather cloudy/murky med.red color; attractive strawberry/Grenache bit volatile/aromatic rather toasty/oaky nose; tart some toasty/oaked pleasant Grenache/strawberry slight earthy flavor; med. bit volatile/ aromatic simple strawberry/Grenache some toasty/oaked finish w/ light tannins; pretty overpriced at $35.00
5. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Grenache StolpmanFamilyVnyd (14.0%; 24% DurellClone Stolpman Syrah; 144 cs) '99: Med.dark color; deeper earthy/strawberry/blackberry/Grenache aromatic some toasty/Fr.oak nose; tart/spicy bright strawberry/Grenache/blackberry light Fr.oak/toasty/pungent flavor; med.long bright/strawberry/Grenache light toasty/ oak finish w/ light tannins; an attractive Grenache w/ lots of bright strawberry fruit. $17.50
6. Chapoutier LeBernardine Cheteauneuf du Pape (14%) '98: Med.dark color; slight roasted/ CdP/earthy bit barnyardy light strawberry/Grenache nose; light washed out simple Grenache/ strawberry/earthy bit funky/bretty flavor; med.short light/washed out/dilute simple Grenache/strawberry slight earthy/roasted finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant enough Cotes du Rhone-level wine w/ some CdP character; stupidly priced at $34.00
7. Swanson Napa Valley Syrah (14.1%) '98: Black color; classic ripe/lush/blackberry/Syrah/ chocolaty attractive/pencilly/Fr.oaked nose; rather tannic/hard chocolaty/cherry/ blackberry rather pencilly/vanilla/oak flavor; long hard/tannic pencilly/Fr.oaked fairly strong blackberry/Syrah/blueberry finish; needs 3-5 yrs age; harder&more tannic than previous ones.
8. Neyers Napa Valley Syrah Hudson Vnyd (14.5%) '99: Very dark color; beautiful pungent/ roasted/toasty/Fr.oaked strong blackberry/Syrah nose; big/rich/pungent smokey/Fr.oaked/ toasty some blackberry/blueberry/Syrah rather hard/tannic very structured flavor; very long tannic/structured toasty/pungent/Fr.oaked some blackberry/Syrah/blueberry bit earthy finish; a big/huge tannic/structured/chewy ratherr Hermitage-like Syrah that needs 3-8 yrs.
9. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Syrah Thompson Vineyard/TheLastBarrel (14.3%; 24 cs) '97: Very dark color; some bretty/funky/horsecollar lush blackberry/licorice complex/roasted/ pungent rather CdP/Rhonish nose; some bretty/funky/Rhonish dusty/licorice/blackberry/ Syrah toasty/pungent/smokey flavor; very long Rhonish some bretty/funky/horsecollar/ complex some blackberry/blueberry/Syrah/licorice finish w/ some tannins; lots of complex/Rhonish character; much like a great Fonsallete Syrah; ones of the most complex/interesting SB Syrahs I've had.
10. Chapoutierr La Bernardine Chateauneuf du Pape (14%) '98: Med.dark color; slight roasted/ earthy bit barnyardy lighht Grenache/strawberry pleasant nose; light/washed-out pleasant Grenache/strawberry earthy bit funky/bretty light roasted flavor; med.short rather light/pleasant/washed-out light roasted/strawberry/Grenache light earthy finish w/ light tannins; pleasant/simple CdP but very overpriced at $34. Larry's mystery wine.
11. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Syrah (Thompson/ Stolpman/ FrenchCamp/ BienNacido vnyds 2/ 5% Stolpman Viognier; 791 cs) '99: Very dark color; bit reduced/funky slight bretty very strong blackberry/boysenberry rather toasty/Fr.oaked lovely nose; bit hard/tannic very strong Syrah/blackberry slight Rhonish/bretty flavor; long strong blackberry/Syrah slight funky/Rhonish finish w/ some tannins; needs yr or two; a terrific Syrah for the price. $21.50
12. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Syrah Stolpman Family Vnyd (14.8%; Estrella & Durell clones; 144 cs) '99: Black color; very intense blackberry/Syrah/blueberry/black cherry light toasty/Fr.oaked nose; ripe/lush very bright/blackberry/black cherry spicy light toasty/ oaked some tannic flavor; med.long bright/spicy/black cherry/blackberry/Syrah light toasty/Fr.oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs 1-4 yrs; lots of bright fruit & spicy character.
13. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Syrah Bien Nacido Vineyard (14.0%; 389 cs) '99: Very dark color; beautiful/intense blackberry/booysenberry/Syrah lush/plummy some Fr.oaked/toasty/ pungent nose; big/rich/lush blackberry/boysenberry/plummy/black cherry tart slight funky/bretty some toasty/oaked/smokey flavor; very long plummy/tart black cherry/ blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah some toasty/Fr.oaked/pungent finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-6 yrs; a classic BienNacido plummy/black cherry Syrah; good value at $27.50
14. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Syrah Thompson Vineyard (14.6%; 189 cs) '99: Black color; very intense/smokey/pungent some toasty/Fr.oak intense peppery/spicy/blackberry/boysenberry slight dustyroasted/C-R complex nose; big/huge/rich tannic blackberry/boysenberry/ black cherry/peppery some roasted/espresso some pungent/toasty/Fr.oak flavor; very long tannic/extracted pungent/toasty/Fr.oak intense blackberry/boysenberry/peppery/spicy finish w/ ample tannins; needs 2-8 yrs; classic very spicy huge Thompson Syrah; great value at $27.50.

1. Jaffurs Whites: Craig's whites, namely Viognier, have always been on the lean/hard/ restrained side; not the effusive ripeness of many Calif Viogniers. They seem to be a Viognier that actually benefits from a yr or so in btl to develop. Less Dolly Parton and more Julia Roberts type of Viognier. This '99 version shows a bit more richness & lushness than previous ones. Julia Roberts w/ a bit of silicone enhancement perhaps??
2. Roussanne: Craig's Roussanne is from Stolpman vnyd; which is authentic Roussanne, not (super-clone) Viognier. I guess it's about as good as any Roussanne to try to understand Roussanne varietal character. Which doesn't seem all that distinctive or easy to categorize to me. It seems to be a bit like Marssanne in character but w/ a bit more lushness and aromiticity. Still trying to figure out Roussanne; those who have certainly sing its praises.
3. Prices: The prices on all the Jaffurs were pre-release prices, including shipping. They'll be a few $'s more now at retail, but not greatly higher. Very good values, even at full retail.
4. The Grenaches: These three were just another few pretty faces but nothing profound. Nothing like the kind of things John Alban gets from his Grenache. I was expecting a lot from the two Neyers Grenaches, given Ehren Jordan's winemaking. They were a bit unthrilling to me. John Alban feels you have to really crop Grenache at a very low level, sometimes riduculously low, to get any sort of character and extraction. Assuming that these 3 Grenaches were cropped at typical 3-4 tons/acre; they certainly lend credance to John's arguments.
5. Swanson Syrahs: I've followed the Swanson Syrahs from the very start. They purchased the vnyd around '92-'93, up in the foothills to the west of Oakville. The grapes from this vnyd went into the original Thackery Orion. Sean was not very happy when the vnyd was purchased out from underneath him. Marco Capelli has been very cosistent in his vinifing of this wine; one of the more Aussie in style I've found from Calif. Like most Swanson reds, they have a very consistent pencilly/Fr.oak component to them, but not particularly overdone I feel. This '98 version probably reflects the difficulty of that vintage; it seems rather more harder & tannic and less big/ripe/lush character than previous vintages. Nonetheless, another successful effort from Marco.
6. Neyers Syrahs: I've followed Bruce Neyers Syrahs from the very start. They have all been pretty big/powerful wines w/ an abundance of toasty/pungent/Fr.oak to them. I've not been absolutely convinced that Lee Hudson's Carneros vnyd is a great site for Calif Syrah. They seem to have a sort of earthy/clunky underlying character to them and not the bright/fragrant character of some other Calif Syrahs I like. Nonetheless, I like the wines immensely and feel they're one of the better Syrah efforts in Calif. This '98 version seems to me the best one yet. It seems not as strongly oaked as previous ones and a bit more fruit to it. Another fine effort from Bruce Neyers/Ehren Jordan.
7. Jaffurs LastBarrel: When Craig was bottling is '97 Thompson Syrah; he came to this one barrel that was (in his opinion) unacceptably bretty/stinky and so he didn't include it in his regular '97 Thompson Syrah. The barrel languished in his cellar space up at the CentralCoast Wine Coop in SantaMaria until early 2000. As Craif was preparing to run the stuff down the drain (or whatever they do w/ defective wine.... sell it to Coturri??); he took one last taste for old times sakes. Much to his amazement; the wine had lost most of it's stink and evolved into a beautiful Rnonish-like wine. Craig & Lee brought it to a dinner at Larry&Laura's in SantaBarbara in early June and I was quite impressed with it. The bulk of it was sold to GrapefulPalate, w/ a small amount saved for his Fall-release mailing list. Sometimes you win one!!
8. Jaffurs Syrahs: I've followed Craig Jaffurs wines from the very start. His Syrahs are typically a bit leaner higher acid more restrained and less of that fat/lush/very ripe character of other SantaBarbara Syrahs. These '99 Syrahs struck me as a bit bigger (bigger not necessarily being better) than his previous Syrahs. I thought, overall, they were Craig's best Syrahs yet. As previous yrs, the Stolpman seems the more restarined/ elegant of the batch and the Thompson the biggest & most interesting/spicy of them. A dynamite effort from Craig Jaffurs. Do not hesitate if you see them at retail.
9. StolpmanVnyd: I'm not sure I'd yet classify the Stolpman vnyd as one of the great SantaBarbara vnyds.... yet. The wines from here seem a bit more elegant/restrained w/ more bright fruit than other Syrah vnyds in the area. Two yrs ago, afore HdR, I toured Stolpman vnyd w/ Jim Cross (Vega$Jim) w/ Jeff Newton, the vnyd manager. It is an impeccably-tended vnyd w/ a total comittment to quality. As the vnyd gains maturity, I expect it will rise to one of the top-tier SantaBarbara Syrah vnyds.
10. Thompson Vineyard: Clearly one of the GREAT Syrah vnyds in Calif, not just the SantaBarbara region. The wines all seem to have a big extraction w/ lots of very spicy/peppery character to them. Too bad their own wines, under the Bedford-Thompson label, don't/ seldom achieve the quality levels of what other winemakers do with those grapes.