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. Vacheron-Ponizon le Clos du Caillou Vielles Vignes Cote du Rhone (13.5%) 1999: Med.color; slight bretty/earthy some strawberry/Grenache pleasant nose; soft slight metallic some bretty/earthy fairly attractive strawberry/Grenache/fruity flavor; med. fruity/Grenache slight earthy/dusty finish w/ little tannins; pleasant Cote du Rhone but just that; better than 2000, not up to past vintages.
2. Domaines Bour Domaine de Grangeneuve Coteaux-du-Tricastin Cuvee Vielles Vignes  (Syrah/ Grenache planted in 1964; 13.5%) 1999: Med.dark color; deep blackberry/strawberry rather spicy clean nose; fairly spicy/candied very strawberry/Grenache almost sweetish flavor; med.long deeper spicy Grenache/candied sweetish flavor w/ light tannins in the med.short finish; pleasant simple little Cote du Rhone.
3. Domaine de Grangeneuve Coteaux-du-Tricastin GrandCuvee Elevee en Futs de Chene (Syrah/ Grenache planted in 1964; 13%) 1998: Med.dark color; attractive spicy/blackberry/Syrah bit roasted/ Rhonish slight oaked nose; soft light/oak slight roasted/pungent Grenache/strawberry some spicy flavor; med.long bit oaked bit roasted pleasant Grenache/strawberry finish w/ light tannins; somewhat better Cote du Rhone.
4. Domaine de Grangeneuve Coteaux-du-Tricastin Cuvee de la Truffiere (Syrah planted in 1964;  2000 cs; 13%) 1998: Dark color; deeper blackberry/Syrah some smokey/roasted bit licorice some toasty/oak nose; bigger/richer some blackberry/Syrah light roasted/toasty pungent flavor; med.long bit tannic light blackberry/Syrah slight toasty/oak finish; best of the three but underwhelming.
5. Michele Aubery-Laurent Les Hauts de Gramenon Vinsobres Cote du Rhone-Villages  (13.5%) 2000: Med.color; badly corked/musty slight strawberry/Grenache nose; sweetish grapey/Grenache rather musty/corked flavor; too corked to tell anything.
6. Philippe et Michele Laurent Le Gramenon Cote du Rhone  (13%) 2000: Med.light color; light strawberry/Grenache simple nose; rather grapey/whole-berry fermentation/carbonic maceration nose; soft grapey/whole- berry/fruity somewhat Beaujolais-like slight earthy flavor; med.short grapey/whole-berry finish w/ little tannins; tastes like Beaujolais from the Rhone; uninspiring.
7. Mas Grand Plagniol Costieres de Nimes (Syrah; 13.5%) Cyril Mares 1999: Very dark color; deep blackberry/Syrah/plummy bit dusty/pungent spicy nose; soft very ripe/Syrah/blackberry/plummy bit bretty/horsecollar flavor; long very spicy plummy/Syrah/blackberry finish w/ light tannins; much more like an EastSide Paso Syrah than a Rhone; nice wine but just that; fair price. $14.00
8. Domaine St.Anne Cote du Rhone-Villages (13%) 1999: Med.color; slight corked/musty little fruit supressed nose; weak bit tart/metallic some musty/corked flavor; nothing here folks.
9. Domaine Richaud Cairanne Cote du Rhone-V (13%) 2000: Dark color; very CdP-like meaty loads of black fruit some roasted/earthy/gamey nose; soft off-dry very ripe/jammy/plummy very fruity/strawberry/berry/ grapey spicy flavor; med.long grapey/plummy/ripe light roasted/gamey finish w/ light tannins; lots of very ripe/grapey some Rhonish character; fairly priced at $17.00 .
10. Frederic & Francois Alary Domaines de l'Oratoire St.Martin  Cairanne Cote du Rhone-V (13.5%) 1999: Very dark color; rich deep intense blackberry/Syrah rather minty/menthol/oak rather Oz-like ripe nose; soft rich blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah some menthol clean/ripe flavor; very long soft/fat intense  blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/grapey/lush finish w/ light tannins; big rich lush/grapey rather Oz/Calif-style w/ little Rhone character; nice wine at $18.00 
11. Cuilleron-Gaillard-Villard Cairanne La Perdenaille (14%) 1999: Dark color; strong new Fr.oak/toasty  spicy strong berry/fruit Calif/international nose; tart strong new Fr.oak/toasty pungent some blak cherry/blackberry no Rhone flavor; med. bit hot/alcoholic some blackberry/black cherry strong Fr.oaked/toasty finish w/ light tannins; plenty of new oak in a modern winemaking style but no Rhone character and not enough fruit for the oak. Disappointing. $22.00 
12. Corbieres du Boncaillou Corbieres (50% Carignane, 25% Grenache, 25% Syrah; 12.5%) 1999: Med.color; rather earthy/black cherry very spicy dusty/old vines slight herbal very spicy/exotic perfumed nose; bit thin/lean/hard very spicy/exotic dusty/old vines very cherry/black cherry perfumey flavor; very long/lingering exotic very spicy cherry/bright/black cherry finish w/ some tannins; a bit hard/ lean on the palate but a very exotic spiciness to this wine. Lovely rendition of Carignan. $33.00 
13. Domaine de Fauterie Cornas (13.5%) Sylvain Bernard 1999: Med.dark color; very green olive/Syrah very cracked black pepper toasty/roasted/smokey complex Rhonish nose; rather thin/lean very green olive/ Syrah slight roasted/coffee/pungent flavor; med. thin/lean very green olive some roasted/coffee finish w/ light tannins; a beautiful Northern Rhone nose but a bit too thin/lean on the palate; many disliked the strong green olive character. Disappointing.
14. Eric & Joel Durand Cornas (13.5%) 1998: Very dark color; some bretty/unclean very blackberry/Syrah somewhat gamey/meaty light roasted nose; soft ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah very Calif-style slight mocha/roasted flavor; soft/fat med.long very ripe/blackberry/boysenberry lush slight roasted/ mocha finish w/ light tannins; soft ripe Calif-style Syrah. Not worth price $35.00 
15. Cuilleron-Gaillard-Villard Crozes-Hermitage Les Palignons (12.5%) 1999: Very dark color; very strong mocha/coffee very toasty/Fr.oak/pungent bit roasted/mocha/chocolaty very ripe nose; soft/round/lush berry/Syrah loads of toasty/new/Fr.oak slight roasted/NorthernRhone flavor; med.short very toasty/ new/Fr.oak slight roasted light blackberry/Syrah finish; loads of new Fr.oak in a modern/Calif winemaking style; little NorthernRhone character. Disappointing.
16. Dry Creek Vineyard Dry Creek Valley Old Vines Zinfandel (14.5%) 1992:Med.light color; rather old/tired old  Bordeauxsome tobaccoy/complex nose; off-dry/sweetish tobaccoy very ripe slight raspberry bit tired flavor; med. tobaccoy/cedary/old Bordeaux rather ripe bit raspberry finish w/ light tannins;  getting a bit gray around the edges & seems old before its time. John's mystery wine.
17. Jacob Franklin Napa Valley Petite Sirah Hayne Vineyard (8 brls; 15.6%) 2000: Black color; very intense Fr.oak/ toasty very intense coffee/mocha exotic some licorice/black cherry/boysenberry cough syrup very spicy/peppery perfumey nose; very soft/fat/flabby intense mocha/coffee/toasty/Fr.oak some blackberry/peppery flavor; very long very soft/flabby some black cherry/peppery loads of smokey/ mocha/coffee/Fr,oak finish w/ some tannins; a PS loaded w/ new Fr.oak exotic character but very much lacking tannins & structure for aging. Not worth the  $65.00.

1. The focus on this tasting was mostly on lesser Rhones. And lesser, indeed, they were. A pretty uninspiring set of Rhones. At any price. I can think of dozens of Calif wines in the $12-$18 price range I'd rather drink than these.
2. Cuilleron-gaillard-Villard wines: This Gang of Three has a reputation for making great Condrieu and Cote-Rotie. I was expecting these to be excellent wines from good grapes of a lesser region. Instead, they tasted of international/modern winemaking methods applied to very lesser grapes. The wines were disappointing. The reasonable prices shoulda been the tip-off.
3. JacobFranklin PS: This very limited PS is made by Ray Coursen Elyse Winery fame. The '98 was a terrific PS, one of the better Napa Valley versions I've had. The '99 was also pretty good. But this 2000 version is much too soft & flabby on the palate for my tastes. Jacob is Ray & Nancy's young son; whilst Elyse is their daughter.