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. Eberle Paso Robles Viognier (14.5%) Glenrose Vineyard 2000: Med.gold color; strong pear/ Viognier very fragrant/perfumed nose; soft/fat very fragrant floral/pear/peach/Viognier very spicy slight metallic flavor; very long soft/fat/fleshy very spicy/floral Viognier/peachy finish w/ slight touch of oak; lovely big/fat Viognier w/ lots of aromatics; maybe Gary's best Viognier yet. Great price at $19.25.
2. Rosenblum Cellars Santa Barbara County Viognier Rodney's Vineyard (14.49%; Barrel Frmtd; 70% French, 30% American oak) 2000: Med.gold color; bit reduced rather pungent/ toasty/oaked very light/pear/Viognier nose; soft/fat rather strong toasty/pungent/ Fr.oak slight pear/Viognier flavor; med.long very lihgt pear/Viognier very strong toasty/pungent/oak finish; any Viognier fruit seems pretty hammered into the background by the oak.
3. La Casa Sena Central Coast Syrah (12.5%) 2000: Med.dark color; very peppery rather mocha/ toasty/pungent/Fr.oak/roasted/coffee bit herbal very fragrant some blackberry/Syrah complex nose; tart strong mocha/toasty/charred/smokey/Fr.oak/roasted/coffee some peppery/blackberry/Syrah bit light flavor; long very strong mocha/smokey/pungent/ roasted/espresso light blackberry/Syrah finish w/ light tannins; loads of coffee/ mocha ersatz/Rhone character; good value at $18.00.
4. Jory Paso Robles Syrah Lock Vineyard (13.6%; Chapoutier Clone; 2 tons/acre; 22 brls) 2000: Dark color; very strong blackberry/blueberry/boysenberry/Syrah coffee bit roasted slight ruhbarb complex nose; soft/spicy cranberry/blackberry/Syrah light coffee/ toasty/smokey/Fr.oak flavor; med.long tart cranberry//blackberry/Syrah slight coffee/ pungent/oak finish w/ light tannins; quite a nice Syrah.
5. Andrew Murray Santa Ynez Valley Esperance (EG; Syrah/Grenache/Mourvedre) 2000: Med.dark color; strong very fragrant strawberry/blackberry perfumed/spicy slight volatile light oaked nose; soft/lush slightly hot/volatile strawberry/blackberry some spicy light oak flavor; long very grapey/strawberry/blackberry slightly hot finish w/ light  tannins; pleasant typical AM fruit-forward red.
6. Noel Verset Cornas (12.5%) 1999: Very dark color; very intense black walnutty very dusty very green olive/Syrah little fruit very pungent/roasted complex nose; tart very dusty/walnutty/green olive/Syrah rather herbal near vegetal flavor; very long tart very green olive/Syrah walnutty/roasted/dusty/pungent finish w/ ample tannins; nose becomes quite roasted/espresso/NorthernRhone in character; a controversial and eccentric wine, some really liked it, some disliked it; needs 2-5 yrs of age; I think it'll be a very good NortherrnRhone w/ age; well priced at $34.00.
7. Clonakilla Langhorne Creek Shiraz (12.5%) 1999: Med.color; slight bretty bit green olive/ Syrah dusty nose that changes to spicy/minty/blackberry nose; tart bit bretty some green olive/Syrah wintergreen/minty/meaty flavor; med.long bretty green olive/minty finish w/ light tannins; rather strange Oz Shiraz.
8. Mount Langi Ghiran BilliBilliCreek (55% Shiraz, 33% Grenache, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon; 13.5%) SouthEast Australia 1998: Med.dark color; very intense minty/pepperminty/toilet bowl cleaner some spicy/blackberry interesting nose; soft very strong minty/pepperminty/candy  cane light blackberry/Syrah slight earthy flavor; med.long pepperminty/candy cane light blackberry/Syrah finish w/ light tannins; loads of peppermint & cheap Christmas candy character; bit weird Shiraz but some interesting.
9. Chateau St.Cosome Gigondas Louis Barroul (14%) 1999: Med.light color; pleasant spicy some strawberry/Grenache light earthy/pungent nose; tart light earthy simple strawberry/ Grenache flavor; med. light strawberry/Grenache bit earthy light oak finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant simple little Gigondas but just that; not worth $28.00.
10. Domaine LaBouissiere Gigondas (14%) Giles et Theirry Faravel 1999: Med.dark color; very strong strawberry/Grenache loads of fruit very spicy/perfumed talc some dusty/ complex nose; fairly rich earthy/walnutty/green olive some fragrant/strawberry/Grenache complex flavor; med.long tart earthy/green olive strong strawberry/Grenache finish w/  some tannins; needs several yrs; fairly big/structured Gigondas and fairly priced  at $27.00.
11. Domaine Bernard Chave Crozes-Hermitage Tete de Cuvee (13%) 1999: Very dark color; bit sewer gas/reduced rather metallic/green olive very strange motor oil nose; very tart strange green olive bit grapey/metallic/motor oil pungent/earthy flavor; med.short green olive motor oil bit grapey earthy/pungent finish w/ light tannins; a very strange Northern Rhone; weird stuff.
12. Truchard Carneros Napa Valley Syrah (14.3%) 1999: Dark color; quite herbal/near vegetal  some blackberry/Syrah/gunpowder rather interesting/strange nose; soft bit weak some herbal lighht bl;ackberry/Syrah some toasty/Fr.oak flavor; med.long rather herbal/ green olive/near vegetal light blackberry/Syrah finish w/ light tannins; disappointing for a Truchard Syrah.
13. Novy Syrah SantaLuciaHighlands Gary's Vineyard (14.5%) 1999: Very dark color; very intense meaty/gamey complex spicy somewhat peppery/cracked black pepper intense blackberry/ boysenberry/Syrah beautiful perfumed/floral aromatic complex nose; tart very rich/ extracted very spicy/peppery/black pepper intense boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah bit roasted/pungent light toasty/Fr.oak/mocha complex flavor; very long/lingering very spicy/complex/peppery/black pepper/pungent very intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah light pungent/roasted/toasty complex finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-6 yrs; terrific intense Syrah some like Lagier-Meredith or KathyrnKennedy; a stunning Syrah and one of my best of the '99's.
14. Novy Syrah Napa Valley Page-Nord Vineyard (15.1%) 1999: Black color; very strong very ripe licorice/blackberry/Syrah bit over-the-top some Aussie-like nose; soft very ripe/ blackberry/Syrah/licorice/chocolaty spicy light toasty/oak much simpler flavor; very long very ripe licorice/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah light toasty/oak finish w/ some tanins; loads of Syrah fruit almost Essence of Syrah; rather Aussie in style like a MuckDuckSyrah; not as interesting/complex as the Gary's but certainly has the fruit intensity.
15. Fresno State CalifStateUniv Fresno Calif Syrah SaviezFarms Fresno County (14%) 1999: Med.dark color; bit hot climate/tanky some Syrah/berry toasty/coffee nose; tart/grapey bit cooked/earthy some coffee/oaked/licorice bit thin flavor; tart/lean short coffee/ toasty grapey finish w/ light tannins; speaks of its hot-climate origins but not bad for $8.00
16. James Franklin Napa Valley Hayne Vineyard (5 brls; 13.6%) PetiteSirah 1998: Black color;  beautiful/intense boysenberry/blackberry/licorice loads of fruit very spicy/complex bit toasted coconut/oaked/smokey very complex nose; soft intense chocolaty/licorice boysenberry/blackberry spicy some dusty/old vine rather tannic flavor; very long very intense licorice/chocolaty/blueberry/boysenberry dusty/old vine/complex finish w/ ample tannins; needs 3-10 yrs; killer juice, one of the best PS's in some time. Around $60 via Larry Archibald.

1. La Casa Sena Syrah: This was a Jory-made private label wine for the LaCasaSena restaurant in SantaFe. It's quite an impressive wine for the price w/ an interesting pseudo- Northern Rhone character. I recall that it had some southern Monterey Syrah in it as well as mostly Paso Syrah.
2. Jory Syrah: This is a new wine for Jory from a new vnyd in WestSide Paso up near Justin I understand. Dan Lewis expects this to make some really great Syrah in the future. This wine certainly is a great harbinger for that expectation.
3. James Franklin: This wine is made by Ray Coursen of Elyse Wine Cellars. It reminded me a lot of the Turley/Hayne PSs but with more intense fruit. This will be a killer PS down the road I expect.
4. Novy Syrah: I've been following Adam & Diane Lee's Novy Syrahs from the very start,  when he first showed them at Hospices du Rhone. When we tried the '99 Napa and Sonoma versioons and were so impressed, they wanted me to expose my group to these two. I thought the Page-Nord showed a bit on the over ripe/over the top character like some of the Aussie Shiraz. OTOH, the Gary's is one of the best Calif Syrahs I've had this year. It has it all, loads of intense fruit and the kind of complexity you find in a Northern Rhone. KillerKiller Syrah. Truchard Syrah: I've followed Tony Truchard's Syrahs from the very start. The early ones sometimes had a noticible brett character but they were packed w/ Syrah fruit. Then he cleaned them up and I thought the '96-'98 were all top-notch Calif Syrah. This '99 version seems rather out of character for Truchard Syrah. Not a bad wine, but just a bit on the strange side, maybe underripe, and not as great as I expected.

TomHill