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. Fife Alluvial Vineyard Napa Valley Syrah (14.2%) 1997: Med.color; strong pencilly/oaked some blackberry/ Syrah spicy almost Zin-like attractive nose; tart bit hard/lean pencilly/Fr.oak bit minty/menthol some blackberry/Syrah bit tannic flavor; long somewhat hard/tannic pencilly/Fr.oak light  blackberry/Syrah slight bretty finish w/ some tannins; has a nice spiciness to it but a bit lacking on the fruit. Overpriced at $35.00 
2. Ridge Calif Lytton Estate Syrah (7% Grenache, 1% Viognier; 14.8%; 33 brls) 1999: Very dark color; strong buttery/Am.oak some toasty/coconutty Draper perfume/RidgeZin little Syrah nose; rich rather tannic buttery/oaked bit earthy slight blackberry/Syrah quite RidgeZin-like flavor; long rather hard-tannic spicy/RidgeZin-like Draper-perfume some blackberry/Syrah finish; needs 3-6 yrs; a terrific Ridge red but speaks very lightly of Syrah.
3. Ridge Calif Lytton Estate Syrah (12% Viognier; 14.6%; 51 brls) 1997: Very dark color; fragrant/spicy/ meaty/dusty some pungent/oaked light toasted/coconut some blackberry/Syrah bit complex nose; tart rich pungent/smokey light blackberry/Syrah very spicy RidgeZin-perfumed bit toasty flavor; lovely pungent toasty smokey/oaked light blackberry/Syrah complex finish w/ some tannins; still needs several yrs; developing very nicely; a great Ridge red.
4. Ridge Calif Lytton Estate Syrah (5% Viognier; 14.2%) 1996: Med.dark color; rather dusty/spicy/complex some smokey/pungent/toasty/coconutty complex/Draper-perfume very Geyserville-like nose; soft/elegant/ spicy some pungent/smokey/oaked rather Zin/Geyserville-like very slight blackberry/Syrah flavor; med. long elegant Draper-perfume/Geyserville-like some coconutty/oak finish w/ light tannins; probably nearing its peak.
5. Sierra Vista El Dorado Syrah Herbert Vineyard (EB; 13.2%) 1999: Med.dark color; rather bright/blackberry/ Syrah some earthy/mushroomy/ElDorado rather spicy/cinnamon/cloves bit oaked nose; vert tart/shrill/ acidic bright/Syrah/blackberry/raspberry bit cinammon/oaked flavor; med. very tart/acidic cherry/bing cherry/raspberry/blackberry cinammon/oaked finish w/ some tannins; lots of nice fruit here but a shrill acidity on the palate; I think this will age really well.
6. Bridlewood Paso Robles Syrah (14.4%) 1998: Med.dark color; verry strong charred/ toasty/pungent /oaked  bit earthy light fruit nose; soft/flat/fat loads of toasty/ burnt/charred/ Fr.oak bit licorice/pungent little fruit flavor; med.short charred/toasty/burnt/oak finish w/ little tannins; mostly oak and little else; tastes like FrenchCamp Syrah.
7. Stephan Ridge Paso Robles (60% Syrah, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon; 14.5%) 1999: Med.color; very ripe/jammy/blackberry/licorice/ cranberry some pungent/toasty/oak perfumed/jammy nose; very ripe jammy/blackberry bit Kansas feed store some herbal rather oaked flavor; med.long very ripe/jammy/cranberry Zin-like rather oaked finish w/ light tannins; seem more like an overripe Paso Zin; fairly priced at $19.49 .
8. L'Aventure Paso Robles Syrah (15.5%) 1999: Very dark color; deep blackberry/Syrah/licorice bit pungent/ smokey/Fr.oak some mocha/coffee/roasted complex nose; soft/rich/lush licorice/mocha/coffee licorice/ boysenberry/blackberry some toasty/oak flavor; very long/lingering rather tannic mocha/coffee/roasted toasty/Fr.oak slight herbal/pungent blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry finish; needs several yrs; a very good Paso Syrah at a reasonable price. $33.99
9. Pikes Clare Valley Reserve Shiraz (14.0%) 1998: Very dark color; very intense blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah minty/menthol/oaked/toasty loads of intense fruit nose; soft/big/rich ripe/jammy intense black- berry/boysenberry quite minty/menthol mouthfilling flavor; long intense boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah rather minty/menthol/oaked/vanilla finish w/ some tannins; loads of intense/extracted fruit and plenty of Am.oak; needs a yr or two; very reasonable price at $20.00 
10. Odd Fellows Shiraz Langhorne Creek (15.8%) 1998: Near black color; intense Fr.oaked very minty/menthol/ oaked intense blackberry/boysenberry/licorice bit pungent/mocha nose; soft very ripe/jammy very intense blackberry/boysenberry/licorice some Fr.oak/menthol/pungent flavor; very intense very long/lingering boysenberry/blackberry/jammy some menthol/oaked/mocha/pungent finish w/ fair tannins; needs several yrs; very much an over-the-top/very ripe Oz Shiraz; more structure & interest than the Pikes. $30.25
11. Blackstone Shiraz Barossa (80 yr old vines; 13.6%; new French oak) 1998: Very dark color; strong black- berry/Syrah bit low-key/pencilly/Fr.oak bit simple nose; soft/fat loads of blackberry/boysenberry some pencilly/vanilla/Fr.oak some tannic flavor; very long intense/blackberry/boysenberry rather pencilly/ vanilla/oak finish w/ fair tannins; needs several yrs; another over-the-top Shiraz; too expensive at $37.50 
12. Birchwood McLarenVale "Decades" Shiraz (BM&MF Ladgard's 60 yr old vines; 14.5%) 1999: Dark color;  very intense boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah perfumed/complex some roasted/mocha/menthol/oak nose; soft/ rich/extracted intense boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah some menthol/oak pungent/mocha/roasted flavor; very long/extracted boysenberry/blackberry light pungent/roasted/mocha finish w/ fair tannins; most structure & interest of this threesome; bit pricey at $37.50.
13. Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta Stags'Leap Winery Napa Valley Syrah (13.5%) 1999: Very dark color; strong licorice/ chocolaty bit blackberry/Syrah rather pungent/toasty/oak nose; hard/tough/tannic rather pungent/Fr.oak bit peppery/licorice slight blackberry/Syrah flavor; med.short hard/tannic licorice/chocolaty bit earthy/peppery light blackberry/Syrah finish w/ ample tannins; needs age; not much Syrah character and more like PetiteSirah; overpriced at $30.00.
14. Di Loreto Cellars PerSempre Napa Valley Shiraz The Lisa (14.8%) 1998: Dark color; intense musty/corked nose;  slight toasty/cedary/spicy blackberry/Syrah/cloves rather musty/corked flavor; some interesting things therein but way too corked to tell much.
15. Capcanes Vall del Calas Tarragona ZonaFalsef (13.5%) Garnacha 1999: Med.color; rather earthy/CdP-like bit funky/earthy/Mourvedre-like some oaked nose; soft bit funky/Mourvedre-like/gamey earthy simple  tannic little fruit flavor; med.short earthy/tannic low fruit finish; uninspiring.
16. Georges Du Boeuf Domaine de la Rousse Cote-Rotie (13%) 1988: Dark color; strong roasted/espresso/peppery beautiful/complex very smokey nose; soft rich beautiful/complex C-R/coffee/espresso/mocha elegant/ perfumed/pungent flavor; very long smokey/espresso/coffee/roasted complex/elegant/perrfumed peppery finish w/ light tannins; at or beyond its peak; Howard&Rhoda's mystery wine; about $22 on release.

1. Ridge Syrahs: I've followed the Ridge Syrahs from the very start, the '96. I must admit they've been a bit of a puzzle and a struggle for me. I initially was not very wild about them, finding that they didn't have a lot of identifiable Syrah character. The struck me more as good/great Ridge red wine, but didn't speak of Syrah. Since then, I've become a little less dogmatic about them and have just accepted them for what they are...good Ridge reds; lack of varietal character be damned. Paul Draper's avowed ideal is to make the most complex/ageable wine he can from the given grapes. The Ridge Syrahs are consistent w/ that philosophy I would have to admit.
2. L'Aventure Wines: The initial '98 release of Steve Asseo's wines were priced at an absurd $60/btl. He must have got some resistance at those prices, as the '99 releases are much more reasonably priced. This '99 Syrah is a first rate Paso Syrah and clearly this is a winery to keep ones eyes on. He comes to Paso from Bordeaux, where he owned a winery & did consulting winemaking.
3. DuBeouf Rhones: The King of Beaujolais made a big grand entrance into the Rhone w/ these '88 Rhones that he released. Since then, I've seen virtually no Rhones from him. This Cote-Rotie was a very underwhelming wine on it's release. I characterized it as a Cote-Rotie made by a Beaujolais producer. It was rather hard & light and didn't show much Rhone character. But I was mightly impressed by what this wine has evolved into.... a lovely/perfumed/complex mature C-R.
4. Oz Shiraz: HoHum....another bunch of Oz Shiraz. Whenever I taste a bunch of these wines, my eyes start to glaze over. They seem so monolithic in style... that same overripe/extracted/boysenberry/Syrah character with about the only variation being what kind of oak they hammered it with. With a meal, I often find the wine getting rather tiring on the palate... much like the Zind-Humbrechts. They seem  to be in a competition as to who can get further over-the-top then the next winemaker. That being said.... I still can't resist trying these wines. For some perverse reason, I keep being drawn back to them. It's sorta like sitting down and chatting w/ Dolly Parton... you'd enjoy the  conversation and the views... but you probably wouldn't want to chat about Schroedinger's Cat with her.
5. SierraVista Syrahs: I've followed John & Barbara's Syrahs from the very start. Though they don't often get the recognition they deserve, I continue to like those wines. To me, one of the attractive features of their Syrahs is that they probably show more terroir, year after year, than any other winery. The ElDorado growing conditions give them a certain earthy/mushroomy character that I find adds a lot of interest to the wines.