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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.

Taos Winter Wine Festival - February 1-2, 2002

 

Friday, February 1, 2002

Went up Friday afternoon to the Taos Winter Wine Festival. They had just gotten 16" of new powder but just couldn't get all my stuff together to get any skiing in. But all the winemakers reported great conditions on the mountain. The event started out with a (the 2'nd of two) Grand Tasting of the wineries that were at the 2'nd half of the event (those of Southern Distributors), which included most of my favorite ones at the event. Didn't take any detailed notes at the tasting, but there were some standouts: The Qupe Hillside Estate Syrah '99 was easily the best wine shown, IMHO. Loads of toasty/mocha/roasted character w/ lots of blackberry/Syrah slight green olive fruit. I had never tasted any of the Arcadian  wines, but Jill showed two Pinots that mightly impressed me: a Jill's Cuvee from Bien Nacido and a Gary's Vineyard. The Gary's was particularly impressive. Landmark showed two Chard and two Pinots that were terrific, though more Calif in style than the Arcadian. Larry Archibald was sufficiently impressed by them to invite  the Calhouns to dinner that night. Alas (for them), they stood us up. Jeff Branco showed both his '98 and '99 Justin Isoscles. Both were as good as Paso Cab gets, with a slight nod to the '99 for more structure and tannins; big rich chocolaty Cabs. Martine Saunier showed a very ordinary  Gigondas, but the Mas du Daumas Gassac and her two Calif Rhones, Lodi Syrah '00 and Lodi Viognier '00 were quite good for $12 wines. Ridge showed the 2000 Sonoma Station (nice, just that), the 2000 Paso Robles (liked it a lot, classic jammy/Paso Zin) and the 2000 Lytton Estate Late Harvest (intense raspberry slightly Kansas feed store nose, rather sweet but intense raspberry/framboise flavors). Kent Rosenblum showed the '99 Annette's Reserve/Rhodes Vineyard Zin and the 2000 Abba Vineyard ContraCosta Syrah and 2000 DryCreek/Preston Vineyard Marsanne, all three pretty nice. His Muscat Vin de Glaciere dessert wine was my favorite of those. I probably tasted about 40 other wines there, but nothing really rang my chimes. My impression was that the quality of the wines shown this year was greater than in yrs past. 

The best part of the event is easily the dinners we do a Larry&Laura Archibald's cabin there in the Valley. This year was no exception. Alas, Larry FORGOT his key back in SantaFe and so the lady folks couldn't get in to prepare dinner for us whilst us guys were down knocking back wine. The Ogg's arrived w/ there key right at the time for dinner at 7:00pm when the guests were slated to arrive. So, despite the 3 hr late start, the girls were able to pull it off and get a great meal on the table for the gentlemen. Joining us for dinner Friday night were Bob Lindquist (Qupe) and Kent Rosenblum and Kent's national marketing director, Kevin Brown. Kevin was brought along to reign in Kent when his puns started to get out of hand, which he did well from yr's of experience. The wines of the evening:

  1. Qupe Marsanne 1991: Med.gold color; very fragrant figgy/hazelnutty light pungent/smokey lovely/complex nose; soft/lush round very complex waxy/figgy/hazelnutty light floral/spicy flavor; one of the most  attractive/mature Marsannes I've had w/o any signs of oxidation. Bob describes Marsanne as it ages where it goes thru this stage a few yrs out where it has a very oxidized-like/sherry character for a few yrs and then it comes out of it w/ beautiful/complex/perfumed character. This wine was showing that in spades.
  2. Rosenblum Dry Creek Valley Preston Vineyard Marsanne 2000: Med.light gold color; slight metallic/steely some floral/aromatic/honeysuckle light toasty/oak nose; tart bit metallic/steely floral/perfumed rather lush flavor; a bit of Viognier was blended into this and gives it a perfume that Marsanne doesn't usually show at this young age.
  3. Verdad White Wine Ibarra-Young Santa Ynez 2000: Med.light gold color; bit steely/earthy lovely floral/ aromatic/perfumed very spicy nose; tart metallic/steely attractive floral/spicy flavor. This wine is  made by Bob Lindquist's wife, Louisa. It is labeled simply as WhiteWine. The back label says the wine is inspired by Spain's Albarino wines. It is, infact, 100% Albarino (Calif's first) but, since the  totally-clueless BATF doesn't recognize Albarino as a grape variety (don't these buraeucrats have a  simple grape ampelography??), it cannot be labeled as such. It is, to my, the best Albarino I've yet had, showing a roundness & lushness that I've not found in Spanish version. A Tempranillo is in the works.
  4. Bischofliches Konvikt Eitelsbacher Marienholz Riesling Auslese 1976: Dark gold color; incredible perfumed/ Mosel fusel oil/petrol smokey classic mature Mosel very complex nose; near-dry beautiful light steely/ slatey very complex Mosel/valve oil/petrol slight earthy flavor w/ a finish that just never quits; a terrific example of a mature Mosel & drinking perfectly; hard to believe that convicts can make such good wine.
  5. Bott Freres Tokay d'Alsace Pinot Gris VendageTardive 1990: Dark gold color; beautiful/complex very fragrant/ flowery/perfumed slight nutty/toasty nose; rich/soft/lush off-dry flowery/butter-cup/honeyed slight toasty/pungent very complex flavor; showing a bit of oxidation but a lovely/complex PinotGris; ready to drink & near it's peak or beyond.
  6. Rosenblum Sonoma County Zin (mostly Cullinane Vineyard) 1984: Med.dark color w/ slight bricking; slight bretty old Zin/tobaccoy complex very slight raspberry bit earthy nose; tart/spicy bit bretty old Zin/tobaccoy/ cedary rather peppery/spicy flavor; a bit long of tooth but surprisingly good shape; drink up. Kent was quite surprised on its condition but older than he likes his Zins.
  7. Qupe Santa Barbara County Bien Nacido Vineyard Syrah 1988: Brought by Bob Lindquist. Med.dark color; bit metallic some toasty/pungent/mocha some herbal/green olive very exotic/complex/perfumed slight C-R/roasted nose;  tart intense roasted/pungent/smokey/mocha slight bretty very complex smooth flavor w/ very long roasted/ smokey finish; in wonderful condition and lots of NorthernRhone smokey character. This wine eventually became labelled as his Bien Nacido Reserve Syrah. Because EEC regs do not permit the use of the term "Reserve" on imported wines, it will be dropped from the 2000 vintage onwards. But it is still the same wine.
  8. Tant Pis Manfred & Elaine Krankl and John & Lorraine Alban Tribute to Jacques Reynaud Alban Vineyard Grenache 1995: Black color; bit reduced very intense blackberry/boysenberry/Grenache strong toasty/peppery/Fr.oaked some meaty/gamey pungent/smokey/roasted/pencilly complex nose; big/huge rich very intense boysenberry/black- berry/strawberry/Framboise/Grenache strong pungent/roasted/toasty/Fr.oak mouthfilling flavor w/ a very long/lingering tannic finish; still young and needs 3-10 yrs yet; very much like John's Grenache but w/ more toasty/pungent/Fr.oak to it; dynamite/world-class Grenache.This magnum was from a barrel Manfred &  John each made and was then blended together, bottled en magnum, and sold in a two-btl box. Very rare and incredible wine.
  9. Thumbs Up Santa Barbara County White Riesling (SaH: 44 Brix) 1994: Dark gold color; slight herbal very intense botrytis/peachy/apricotty strong toasty/Fr.oaked bit volatile lovely Sauternes nose; very sweet toasty/ Fr.oak intense botrytis/peachy/apricotty flavor w/ very long sweet finish; a great Calif Sauternes.
  10. Chateau Coutet 1988: Med.gold color; rather high VA very figgy/intense butterscotchy/Sauternes fairly complex nose; soft very sweet bit hot/volatile Fr.oaked/butterscotchy ripe/figgy flavor; a bit hot & fumey but nice Sauternes; probably should be drunk because of the VA.

About the time we were finishing up dessert, Jill Cashman came trooping in w/ John Rush and Patina after their dinner up-canyon at The Bavarian restaurant, featuring the Treana wines, to graze a bit and try our wines. Since some folks were skiing the next morning, we finally broke up around 11:00, a bit the worse for the wear. A terrific evening of fine food, great wine, a special company.

Saturday, February 2, 2002

After a pretty exciting morning of washing beaucoup wine glasses w/ Larry, it was off the the noon seminar on Zinfandels. On the panel were Mindy ? of Frog's Leap  Winery, Jim Bundschu of Gundlach-Bundschu Winery, Kent Rosenblum, and Laura Wallace of Ridge Vineyards. After some banter between Mindy & Jim on Napa vs. Sonoma, they launched directly into the wines, all '99's:

  1. Frog'sLeap Napa Valley Zin 1999: Med.color; pleasant raspberry/Zin some Am.oaked attractive/simple nose; tart simple/raspberry/Zin light oaked flavor w/ light tannins; a pleasant little quaffing Zin; not nearly as exciting as the game on their WebSite.
  2. Gundlach-Bundschu Morse Vineyard Sonoma Zin 1999: Med.dark color; bit simple some blackberry/Zin light Am.oak nose; tart bit lean simple/light/blackberry/Zin flavor w/ little tannins; pleasant little simple Zin
  3. Gundlach-Bundschu Rhinefarm Vineyard Sonoma Zin 1999: Dark color; deep earthy/dusty some blackberry/Zin strong Am.oaked/vanilla/buttery nose; soft/fat/lush blackberry/Zin some licorice/chocolaty strong/buttery/Am.oak flavor w/ light tannins; a soft/fat/porky fairly intense Zin.
  4. Rosenblum Maggie's Reserve Samsel Vineyard Zin 1999: Dark color; deep very spicy/blackberry/boysenberry/Zin strong milky/oak light dusty/old vines nose; soft smokey very lush blackverry/boysenberry some toasty/oak/buttery flavor w/ modest tannins; drinking very well right now.
  5. Rosenblum St.Peter'sChurch Sonoma Zin 1999: Dark color; deep rather pungent/smokey/oaked spicy some blackberry/Zin rather spicy nose; tart/bright bright/blackberry/Zin lighter toasty/smokey/oak flavor w/ some chalky/tannins; less oak and more structure; needs a yr perhaps.
  6. Ridge Lytton Springs 1999: Very dark color; beautiful/complex blackberry/Zin very spicy/fragrant/violets some pungent/smokey nose; loads of blackberry/Zin fruit very spicy some toasty/milky/Am.oak deep flavor w/ some tannins; this stuff is really tasting good; maybe the best LS of the '90's.
  7. Ridge Geyserville 1999: Dark color; bit less flagrant blackberry fruit some dusty/black cherry some toasty/ pungent/smokey complex nose; rich/ripe balanced spicy/black cherry/blackberry light toasty/pungent oak flavor w/ some tannins; much more subtle/restrained/complex than the LS.
Not a whole lot of new information from the seminar. I was surprised that none of them mentioned Carole's recent work on the origin's of Zin, so I asked the set-up question and Kent responded with a bit of  information, but it was clear that he didn't know nearly as much as any of the folks hanging out here on the wine boards. And none of them got the pronunciation right. Alas, I had forgot my spitoon, so had to drink all those Zins. Fortunately, there was an hour break between seminars that helped quite a bit.

The next seminar was on Rhone wines in California. On the panel was Austin Hope of Treana  Winery and Bob Lindquist of Qupe. Bob started it off by a brief recounting of the varietals used in the Calif Rhones and a bit of the history of the Calif Rhone movement. He, of course, followed it from the very start. The wines:

  1. Qupe SantaYnez Valley Marsanne 2000: Pleasant appley/fragrant light toasty/oak simple nose; tart appley/simple slight floral very light toasty/oak flavor; rather simple/underwhelming.
  2. Qupe Roussanne Bien Nacido Vineyard 2000: Med.gold color; lovely/lush fragrant/floral/perfumed light toasty/smokey/ Fr.oak nose; soft/lush floral/perfumed/honeysuckle very perfumed light toasty/oak flavor; a lovely white w/ lots of  perfumed floral fragrance; should age well.
  3. Treana Mer et Soliel  Vineyard Blanc 1996: Med/dark gold color; strong butterscotchy/toasty/caramel/oak little fruit nose; soft/tound lush toasty/butterscotchy/Fr.oaked flavor w/ light floral fruit; tastes more like just another Chard than anything.
  4. Treana Mer et Soliel Blanc 1998: Med/dark gold color; bit waxy/floral strong butterscotchy/toasty/oaked slight volatile nose; soft/lush very toasty/butterscotchy/oak slightly hot flavor w/ lots of M-L character; another Chard look-alike.
  5. Treana Mer et Soliel Blanc 1999: Med.gold color; much lighter oaked but still rather oaked bit metallic/ earthy rather floral simple nose; tart/metallic harder more acid some floral flavor; more like a Marsanne than anything and a bit simple but reined in on the oak a bit.
  6. Qupe Los Olivos Cuvee 1999: Bob's Syrah/ Mourvedre/Grenache SouthernRhone blend. Med.dark color; lush licorice/ blackberry bit pungent/smokey slight earthy/gamey/meaty light oak nose; soft/round/lush some pungent/licorice light blackberry/Syrah light smoky/oak flavor w/ some tannins; a very nice-drinking red at a good price.
  7. Qupe Hillside Estate Bien Nacido Vineyard Syrah 1999: Very dark color; beautiful mocha/smokey/Fr.oaked some dusty/ roasted some blackberry/ Syrah bit gamey complex nose; rich/lush blackberry/green olive/Syrah/Rhonish mocha/ smokey flavor w/ some tannins; a lovely Rhone-like Calif Syrah; terrific Syrah.
  8. "Treana" (barrell sample) Syrah 2000: Very dark color; bit waxy smokey/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah some toasty/charred/Fr.oak nose; soft/rich toasty/smokey/pungent blackberry/jammy/Syrah/boysenberry slight herbal/ gamey/meaty flavor w/ light tannins; loads of Syrah fruit and good oak balance but not the structure for long aging; more an Aussie style.
  9. "Treana" (barrell sample) Mourvedre/Beaucastel Clone 2001: Very dark color; bit reduced/funky smokey/gamey/ pungent some strawberry/fragrant nose; soft/round grapey/gamey/licorice lots of soft fruit flavor w/ light tannins; no blatant oak yet; nice/interesting Mourvedre.
I had never had a very warm spot in my heart for the Treana Wines because of their association w/ Chuck Wagner (Kaymoose), and had always assumed that this was just another Kaymoose product (certainly the amount of oak in the wines would indicate that). But, according to Austin, they are not a part of the KayMoose  operation, though they do make the Liberty School Cab for them. And the whites (Viognier, Viognier formerly  Roussanne, and Chard) all come from the Wagner's Mer et Soleil  Vineyard up in Monterey. The Blancs seem to me to not show much Rhone character and, because of the oak, seem just like another Chard. As expected, his 2000 Marsanne was rather simple & underwhelming. Bob describes the aging of Marsanne as going into this slightly oxidized/nutty stage in a few yrs and then somewhere down the road shedding that oxidized character and becomming very fragrant & complex much like Roussanne. It's hard to make converts of Marsanne unless you can show them how wonderful it becomes w/ age; they're always pretty simple/unthrilling wines upon release. The Roussanne was a very attractive version of that variety, probably the best bottle around to get a good handle on the varietal identity of true Roussanne. He also has an Alban Vineyard version that will be released later this year. The "Treana" Syrah 2000 was an absolutely terrific Paso Syrah. By far, the best Treana wine I've ever had. Austin plans to keep much of it separate and bottle it on its own, probably under the Austin Hope label. In view of his (over)pricing of the Treana wines, I expect it'll be $60-$80/btl. Not worth that, but it is a good $30-$40 Syrah. I expect it'll probably be overoaked by the time it's bottled as well. The Mourvedre 2001 is probably destined for the Treana Red.

On back up the Valley to Larry&Laura's cabin to do a bit of cooking for tonight's meal (aspargras frittata app), under much more sedate conditions than the previous night. Joining us for tonight's soiree was Laura Wallace (Donn Reisen's indispensable right hand) of Ridge Vineyards and her husband, Eric; plus the rest of our illustrious group; Larry & Laura Archibald, Mikhael & Barbara Ogg, and Susan Pfeifer. The evening's wines:
 

  1. Fredrich Wilhelm Gymnasium Oberemmeler Scharzberg Riesling Auslese 1976: Med.gold color; fragrant/lovely flowery/R some steely/slatey bit complex nose; tart/lean/dry slatey/steely light flowery/R bit Mosel/valve oil bit complex flavor; still seems to be a young Mosel & not much complexity showing yet; hard to believe  that high school gymn students could make such good wines, even w/ Karl Marx's guidance.
  2. Philippe LeClerc Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Combe aux Moines 1990: Med.color; bit earthy/bretty/funky some  complex/smokey/toasty light violets/floral/Pinot nose; tart floral very spicy bit tannic lean/hard spicy low fruit some earthy/bretty/funky flavor w/ rather hard tannins; may never come around to be an attractive Pinot on the palate.
  3. Ridge Paso Robles Zin 1983: Alas, unredeemably corked.
  4. Ridge Pagani Ranch LatePicked Zin 1992: Very dark/black color; at first it seemed just the PaganiRanch funkiness in the nose but then the corked aroma started to overwhelm everything.
  5. Ridge Paso Robles Dusi Ranch ATP 1991: Dark color; beautiful chocolaty/jammy/blackberry/boysenberry/Zin some Am.oaked bit complex/licorice nose; soft ripe/almost off-dry rich/jammy/blackberry/boysenberry round/smooth very lush light Am.oaked/pungent flavor w/ light tannins; probably near its peak; beautiful drinking Zin.
  6. Ridge York Creek Petite Sirah 1978: Very dark color; strong peppery/black pepper very complex smokey/pungent Am.oaked very complex perfumed nose; rather hard/tannic dusty very spicy earthy pungent/smokey very peppery/ black pepper very complex flavor w/ hard tannins; this was a terrific wine in the nose but I found it rather hard & tannic on the palate and drying out a  bit perhaps; others really liked it thru and thru. It's a very complex wine and damnably difficult to describe. And certainly not up to the '71 York Creek in character.
  7. Paolo Scavino Barolo 1990: Med.dark color; light floral/violets some truffly/pungent complex old/Barolo nose; bit hard/tannic/lean violets/floral truffly/earthy/mushroomy complex flavor; very complex/aromatic Barolo  but still that hard/Barolo tannins on the palate.
  8. Leftover Tant Pis 1995: Black color (still); intense smokey/toasty/Fr.oaked very pencilly some blackberry/ boysenberry/Grenache fruit on the nose; rather hard/tannic very toasty/smokey/pungent/Fr.oaked/charred some blackberry/strawberry/Grenache flavor w/ ample tannins; still needs 3-8 yrs I would guess; it is showing much more ManfredKrankl/oak character tonight and much less JohnAlban/peppery fruit than the night before. Still a killer wine. Alas, my last and only btl; but Larry still has his (hint...hint)
  9. Edmunds St. John Durell Vineyard Syrah 1996: Black color; bit reduced/pungent very spicy/peppery toasty/roasted/ pungent/smokey some blackberry/Syrah complex nose; beautiful/rich very peppery very spicy some roasted rather toasty/pungent/smokey/gamey/proscuitto complex flavor w/ some tannins; a beautiful very classic SteveEdmunds Syrah; hold for another few yrs; killer Syrah.
  10. Chateau Climens 1988: Med.gold color; very fragrant light botrytis/peachy some butterscotchy/Fr.oak bit volatile lift some complex nose; sweet beautiful figgy/peachy/botrytis tart/round/smooth some caramel/ butterscotchy/oaked some complex flavor; a lovely classic Sauternes that will live another 10-20 yrs.
  11. Ridge Calif Zin Essence (SaH: 40.3%; RS: 17.2%; 13.4%) 1993: Brought by Laura. Black color; very intense blackberry/jammy/boysenberry loads of intense fruit very young nose; very sweet very intense/jammy/blackberry/ boysenberry flavor w/ some tannins; a classic Paso Essence that will live for another 10 yrs or so; not showing  any raisened/pruney character at all only huge jammy fruit. Terrific Essence.
It was nice to get a chance to socialize w/ Laura Wallace. I had met her a few times at large tastings at which Ridge was showing, but had never got to talk much to her. She's not just another marketing type and she has a very thorough & detailed knowledge of current & past operations at Ridge. Her husband, Eric, designs, runs, maintains, etc. clean rooms primarily for the semiconductor industry out there. He is very much a pizza afficianado and is even importing a pizza oven ("terre blanche...terre blanche") from France and building it in  their back yard at BoulderCreek home. But the best part of the evening was when he regaled us with his dog's skunk/Massengill encounter in SanFrancisco. We were laughing so hard our sides hurt & we had to plead for mercy. Worth hearing from him sometime again.... over wood-fired pizza I would say. It's a legendary tale. Laura indicated that the MonteBello Estate has been trademarked by Ridge and there should be no problem with MonteBello appearing down the road on a label from those Cabernet grapes across to road up there. The Estate now includes the Jimsomare  Vineyard, which is about 1,200' below the primary MB property, that is totally farmed by David Gates of Ridge. She even thinks he's put in some Syrah down there at Jimsomare. The Maridon  Vineyard (Kathyrn Kennedy) and David Bruce Syrahs are a great indicator for the potential of Syrah in the SantaCruz Mtns. With our sides still aching from Eric's story, they bid adieu & head down the canyon to the TSV area. Up (reasonably) early in the morning to the glass-washing detail and then back home to the real world.

The Taos Winter Wine Festival is a very well-organized worthwhile (in terms of my time usage) event that attracts some very good winemakers, at least those who like to ski. The seminars are fairly small and lots of good interchange goes on between the winemakers and the audience. My sense was that this yr's seminars were not quite as exciting as some in past yrs. Still, it was a wonderful weekend. I recommend the Festival to anyone, especially if'n you ski. The first half is devoted to the wines of National Distributing, whose wines are far less interesting than those in the second half from Southern Distributing. I would like to see the two other small distributors (Botique Wines and Cesaer Chavez) represented as well.

TomHill
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