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. Jerome Castillon et Fils Ch. L'Ermitage Costieres de Nimes (60% Roussanne,40% GrenacheBlanc; 12.5%); 1999: Med.gold color; light fragrant/floral slight earthy rather simple nose; very acid/metallic thin light floral/grapefruity flavor; short toxic/acid/steely/grapefruity/floral finish; too acidified and too little flavor.
2. Gerard Bru Ch. Puech-Haut Coteaux du Languedoc Blanc (50% Viognier, 25% Marsanne, 25% Roussanne;Yield: 1.4 tons/acre; 300 cs for USofA; 13.5%); 1998: Med.dark gold color; loads of toasty oak/toasted coconut slight floral nose; soft lush very strong toasty/oak/toasted coconut light tropical fruit flavor; long very toasty/oak/toasted coconut finish; all the toasty oak pretty much obliterates any fruit in this wine.
3. Haan Barossa Valley Viognier (13%); 2000: Light gold color; light pear rather earthy simple nose; rather thin/lean light pear/floral/Viognier rather acidic slight earthy flavor; med. short thin/tart light floral/pear/Viognier finish. Rather simple clean crisp little Viognier.
4. Grande River Vnyds Grand Valley Colorado Syrah (13%); 1997: Med.light color; rather toasty/earthy low fruit somewhat herbal nose; tart quite earthy/dusty some toasty/oak/buttery little fruit somewhat herbal near vegetal flavor; med.short herbal/earthy some oaked bit bitter little fruit finish w/ some tannins; strange red w/ little/no Syrah character and lots of herbal/ earthy character.
5. Eric Texier Brezeme Cotes du Rhone (12.5%; 100% Syrah); 1999: Med.dark color; lovely smokey/ pungent/green olive/meaty/gamey/roasted complex nose; tart green olive/pungent/smokey/toasty/ roasted gamey flavor; tart/acid long somewhat roasted/pungent/gamey quite green olive finish w/ some tannins; much like the Graillot Crozes; pretty acid but a very tasty CdR.
6. J.L.Chave Select MonCoeur Cotes du Rhone (13.5%); 1999: Very dark color; rather reduced/H2S some strawberry/blackberry/Syrah bit roasted nose; tart strawberry/Grenache light roasted bit blackberry/Syrah flavor; med.long light roasted strawberry/Grenache finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; I've had this wine twice before and was really struck by its Syrah character; this time it seems more Grenachy.
7. ADW Alliance South Eastern Australian Shiraz (14.0%); 1999: Med.dark color; very strong Am.oaked/ vanilla some blackberry/Syrah/black cherry bit simple nose; tart/ripe black cherry/blackberry spicy vanilla/Am.oaked flavor; ripe/juicy/tart med.long black cherry/blackberry finish w/ modest tannins; nice wine for the price but not the richness & lushness of the '98.
8. ADW Barossa Valley Alliance Shiraz (14.5%); 1998: Dark color; deep chocolaty/meaty classic blackberry/Syrah juicy lots of fruit strong vanilla/Am.oaked nose; soft/fat/tich/lush very juicy/chocolaty/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah lots of Am.oak/vanilla flavor; very long/lush chocolaty/blackberry/licorice/Syrah quite vanilla/Am.oaked finish w/ light tannins; a terrific value.
9. Kalwin Brown Barossa Shiraz (14.4%); 1998: Very dark color; intense blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah strong minty/menthol/chocolaty/licorice perfumed nose; tart rich intense blackberry/ boysenberry/chocolaty rather minty/menthol/vanilla/oaked soft flavor; very long big/ripe/ juice boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah fairly minty/menthol finish w/ light tannins; another great value in Shiraz; the bottle was closed by Stu Yaniger's NeoCork, first time I've seen it in an Aussie wine; the bottom was stained red, never seen that either.
10. Elderton Barossa Shiraz (14.5%); 1998: Black color; very intense blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah very ripe/licorice bit pungent vanilla/oaked nose; rich/intense/mouthfilling licorice/ blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah rather vanilla/pencilly/oak flavor; very long very ripe/blackberry/ boysenberry/licorice lush finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a classiz Oz ripe/oaked Shiraz but good structure; great value at $22.85
11. Scarpantona School Block McLaren Vale RTW (55% Shiraz, 40% Cabernet, 5% Merlot; 14%); 1999: Med. dark color; mostly blackberry/Syrah some smokey/toasty/pungent/Fr(?)oak somewhat spicy slight bretty/herbal nose; bit bretty/earthy strong blackberry/Syrah some blackcurranty/Cab some tannic fairly structured flavor; med.long soft some bretty strong blackberry/black curranty/Cab spicy some toasty/vanilla/oak finish w/ light tannins; very nicely done Shiraz/Cab blend at a good price.
12. Swanson Alexis Napa Valley Estate RW (CS/Syrah; 14.1%); EBby SwansonVnyds, Oakville, 1998: Very dark color; strong pencilly/oaked/spicy/vanilla some meaty/gamey blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry nose; soft lush blackberry/boysenberry/licorice rather pencilly/toasty/Fr.oak some tannic flavor; long ripe blackberry/Syrah some pencilly/toasty/Fr.oak spicy finish w/ some tannins; needs 3-6 yrs; not as pencilly/oaked as previous ones and a bit lacking the tannins/structure of earlier versions; one of the best Syrah/Cab blends done in Calif. $35.00
13. Cuilleron-Gaillard-Villard Cote-Rotie LesEssartailles (13%); 1998: Very dark color; beautiful/ intense green olive/roasted/espresso/smokey/pungent charred/toasty complex nose; hard/tannic some roasted/green olive/pungent/espresso some toasty/charred/oak flavor; med.long some roasted/espresso/green olive toasty/oak finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; a terrific/ classic C-R nose but a bit hard/lean in the mouth and a bit lacking on the mid-palate. $41.50
14. Maurice Boiron Bosquet des Papes Cuvee Chantemerle CdP VieillesVignes (13.3%) '98: Med.light color; rather dusty/earthy black cherry some toasty/oaked complex nose; soft cherry/black cherry bit toasty/oaked earthy/dusty light CdP flavor; med. light cherry/black cherry dusty some charred/toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; tastes like a Syrah made by a Pinot producer; a pleasant CdP but way overpriced at $44.95  Larry's mystery wine
15. Arnaud Daumen Domaine de la Vieille Julienne (13%) CdP '78: Med.dark bit browning; some musty/wet dog fur bit oxidized rather aged/complex nose; soft earthy/dusty bit musty/bretty earthy/dusty slight fecal complex aged CdP flavor; med.long complex/aged CdP dusty/earthy rather bretty/musty finish w/ little tannins; an old/traditional/aged CdP that's hanging in there still; still an interesting wine. Howard & Rhoda's mystery wine.
16. Callaway Temecula Calif Sweet Nancy LateHrvst CheninBlanc (SaH: 36.9%; RS: 17.15%; Alc: 12.5%) NV: Dark gold bit browning color; loads of botrytis/peachy/apricotty slight oxidized fairly complex nose; tart loads of botrytis/peachy/apricotty some toasty/oak/tobaccoy slight oxidized/sherry very sweet flavor; very long apricotty/peachy/very botrytis slight oxidized finish; loads of intense botrytis; seems a bit oxidized like it came from a solera process; bit like a Tokaji; bit pricey at $27.00/hlf

1. Brezeme CdR: This is one terrific Rhone wine from North Berkeley WineCellars; made of entirely Syrah; and it tastes like it. Lots of sediment so obviously unfiltered or unfined. I left a partially consumed bottle out on the counter (with a cork in it) for nearly two weeks. When I tried a glass, I noted a white floculant material floating on the surface of the glass. When smelled the wine, got a distinct VA/Ea some pickle juice character. It was obviously turning to vinegar. So the wine is biologically active and may not age as well as I'd expected it might.

TomHill