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. Harvest Napa Valley Chiles Valley Syrah (14.1%; 11% Cabernet Sauvignon) 1998: Med.dark color; rather earthy some toasty/ oak slight funky low fruit bit bretty/leathery  nose; tart/lean some funky/bretty little fruit vague grapey sloght oaked flavor; med.short tart slight bretty/leathery little fruit finish w/ little tannins; tastes acidified & citric; precious little fruit and a slight Cote du Rhone character; dullsville.
2. Copay Valley Vineyards Calif Syrah Pope Valley (14.2%) 1999: Med.dark color; slight funky/musty/corked some grapey/ plummy simple nose; soft plummy/fruity simple dull flavor; med.short grapey/plummy slight earthy  finish w/ no tannins; virtually no Syrah character at all; dull stuff.
3. Hardy's Tintare SA Syrah McLarenVale (13.9%) 1999: Med.dark color; attractive smokey/oaked/toasty some blackberry/Syrah nose; soft bit menthol/eucalyptus some blackberry/blueberry/Syrah flavor; med.long bit eucalyptus raipe/blackberry/Syrah balanced some smokey/oak finish w/ light tannins; pleasant/tasty Oz Shiraz & fair value at $18.50  
4. T-Vine Napa Valley Syrah (15%) 1999: Dark color; deep blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry light toasty/Fr.oak slight smokey/roasted/mocha complex slight gamey nose; tart very spicy/blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry light mocha/roasted/oak/gamey flavor; med.long balanced very spicy/Syrah/blackberry light toasty/mocha/roasted finish w/ some tannins; needs a few yrs; really attractive balanced tasty very spicy interesting Syrah; bit pricey at $32.00.
5. Ferrari-Carano  Vineyards of Tremonte Alexander Valley Syrah (13.8%) 1996: Med.dark color; pleasant/pencilly/Fr.oak  rather plummy/Syrah slight floral/aromatic nose; off-dry (?) bit bretty/horsecollar pencilly/Fr.oak rather plummy almost Zin-like flavor; med. pencilly/Fr.oak rather plummy/ContraCostaZin-like slight bretty/leathery finish w/ little tannins; not much Syrah character and lots of typical F-C pencilly oak. Not worth the $30.00.
6. Loxton TimbervineRanch Russian River Valley Syrah (14.4%) 1999: Dark color; deep blackberry/Syrah perfumed talc some smokey/pungent/toasty/oak very strong cracked black pepper nose; soft/rich blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah quite black peppery spicy/perfumed smokey/pungent flavor; very long blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah strong cracked black pepper very spicy pungent/toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; a very exciting Syrah w/ lots of pepper/pungent character. Good value at $26.00.
7. Ahlgren Vineyard Paso Robles Syrah (13.8%) 1999: Med.color; rather smokey/charred/Fr.oak some funky/Rhonish low fruit bit interesting nose; rather hard/sour/tannic bit funky/Rhonish some charred/toasty/burnt/oak little fruit flavor; med.short funky/Rhonish charred/oak some wet dog fur finish w/ light tannins; interesting nose but unattractive on the palate; tastes like EastSide/FrenchCamp grapes.
8. MacRostie Paso Robles Syrah Blue Oaks Vineyard (30 brls) 2000: Med.color; attractive/bright cherry/blueberry/Syrah  floral/spicy lush bright fruit nose; lush bright fruit/cherry/black cherry/cola/Syrah very spicy light pencilly/toasty oak flavor; med.long very bright/spicy/cherry/black cherry/cola light toasty/oak finish w/  light tannins; rather Pinot-like in style; lovely/polished/very well-made Syrah. Great price at $18.00 
9. Kunin Wines Paso Robles Syrah FrenchCamp Vineyards (14.2%) 2000: Med.light color; rather earthy/mushroomy some strawberry/cherry/Syrah Pinot-like spicy light toasty/Fr.oak nose; soft bright strawberry/Syrah/cherry cola spicy light oaked/toasty/pungent light earthy flavor; med. bright strawberry/Syrah finish w/ light tannins; reminds me a lot of the very first Eberle/Estrella Syrahs; lots of spicy fruit for FrenchCamp Syrah; maybe the best FrenchCamp Syrah I've had; nicely-made wine. $28.00
10. Stolpman Santa Ynez Valley Syrah Reserve (14.4%; 194 cs) 1998: Med.dark color; slight wet dog fur/funky some spicy/strawberry/Syrah light smoky/oak nose; tart rather light bright strawberry/Syrah toasty/Fr.oak bit funky/earthy/wet dog fur flavor; med. funky/wet dog fur some bright strawberry/Syrah light toasty/ oak finish w/ light tannins;  not a lot of fruit and a bit on the funky side. Way overpriced at $35.00
11. Kunin Wines Santa Rita Hills Syrah (14.6%) 2000: Med.dark color; beautiful black cherry/cola/blackberry/ cough syrup loads of fruit/boysenberry light toasty/Fr.oak very perfumed/spicy nose; tart very bright black cherry/blackberry/black cherry cola very spicy aromatic/perfumed flavor; very long/lingering blackberry/black cherry cola/cough syrup light toasty/smokey/Fr.oak finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a beautiful very perfumed/fragrant loads of black cherry fruit Syrah. Worth the $35.00.
12. Kunin Wines Santa Maria Valley Syrah (14.6%; 63% Bien Nacido Vineyards, 37% ColsonCanyon Vineyard) 2000: Very dark color; very spicy strong black cherry/plummy/chocolate/licorice loads of fruit slight gamey/earthy nose; softer rather peppery/spicy plummy/black cherry/black cherry cola some chocolaty/ licorice some toasty/Fr.oak bit gamey/roasted/pungent flavor; very long some tannic plummy/black cherry/ cola light toasty/Fr.oak finish; needs some 3-5 yrs of age; bigger more bass notes and less aromatics; classic Bien Nacido Syrah fruit; beautiful/deep/rich plummy Syrah. Worth the $35.00.
13. Ceretto La Bernardina Monsordo (Syrah; 13%) VinoTavola Rosso del Piemonte 1993: Med.dark color; strong/ very pungent/smokey bit floral/aromatic some toasty/Fr.oak peppery complex bit earthy not a lot of fruit nose; light floral/lilacs complex some peppery/roasted/pungent slight wet dog fur rather hard/tannic flavor; med. hard/tannic peppery/pungent slight floral/lilacs earthy some smokey/Fr.oak finish; not a lot of fruits and pretty hard/tannic & needs age; tastes like a Syrah made by a BArolo producer; rather interesting if atypical Syrah and seems suspiciously cheap at $25.00.
14. Cafaro Napa Valley Syrah (13.8%) 2000: Darl/black color; beautiful/complex roasted/toasty/NorthernRhone/ smokey/pungent some buttered popcorn intense blackberry/Syrah peppery nose; rich very strong toasty/ pungent/Fr.oaked/roasted very peppery/blackberry/Syrah dusty complex flavor; very long/lingering strong roasted/toasty/pungent/charred/smokey/Fr.oak finish w/ ample tannins; needs 3-8 yrs age; very very much like the Lagier-Meredith Syrah; terrific Napa Valley Syrah (Mt.Veeder??); great value at $32.00.
15. Peachy Canyon Calif Syrah (14.3%) 1999: Med.color; strong toasty/Fr.oak bit herbal/spicy blackberry/Syrah some earthy/mushroomy nose; tart herbal/mushroomy slight strawberry/blackberry/Syrah some toasty/pungent/ oak flavor; med. light strawberry/Syrah earthy/mushroomy bit funky/SouthernRhone some toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; tastes very much like EastSide Paso, FrenchCamp or Shell Creek, Syrah. Unthrilling.
16. Guigal Cote-Rotie Brune et Blonde 1995: Med.dark color; very strong roasted/NRhone/coffee/peppery  complex bit bretty/horsecollar/funky nose; tart quite roasted/espresso/mocha/coffee/NRhone rather lean/ hard little fruit flavor; long hard/lean lots of roasted/pungent/espresso/mocha dusty bit bretty/funky/ unclean finish w/ fair tannins; needs age but not that much fruit; bit disappointing. Steve's mystery.

1. Ahlgren Vineyards: I've had a number of wines from this SantaCruzMtn winery. I particularly like their Semillon. This Syrah had a P&Bby SanLuisObispo address. Not quite sure what this means. Their WebSite has no information as to a SLO restaurant.
2. Ordinary Calif Syrahs: A couple of these wines would fit in that category. As the Syrah plantings in  Calif proliferate, we're going to be seeing/already have Syrahs that can only be described as ordinary/ dull/boring; made by producers who are clueless but just know that oughta be climbing abord the Syrah bandwagon. The R.H.Phillips EXP Syrah is a good example of such a wine. That being said, however, I think Syrah can produce good/tasty wi nes in just about any area of Calif. A dull/ordinary Syrah, IMHO, beats the socks off a good Cabernet or, gawd forbid one should pass my lips, a Merlot!!
3. MacRostie Syrah: I've always like Steve MacRostie's wines, especially his Pinots and LateHarvest Vermintinos. This is his first Syrah I've tried and was quite impressed with it. Not sure where the  BlueOaks  Vineyard is in Paso, but it sure seemed to be WestSide Syrah to me.
4. SethKunin: I've followed Seth Kunin from the very start, back when he was selling wines to me at the WineCask in Santa Barbara. When he left there, he opened a restaurant in Santa Barbara (Chardonnay or Cuvee??) that I ate at three times and liked quite a lot. So I've been eager to try his wines since they've been released. They were every bit as good as I expected of them and more. Here's another Santa Barbara producer it'd be wise to keep your eyes upon. It always helps when I winemaker knows what great wine is; his WineCask days obviously thought him that. Seth has a nice website at www.kuninwines.com
5. StolpmanSyrah: That Stolpman  Vineyard can grow Syrah as good as any in Calif is without doubt. I don't think this wine reflects well what the vnyd can produce. Made by Craig McMillan at Gainey, the wine seems to show some uncleanliness and other problems. But that's not an indicator of things to come. They now have their own winery in the wine gehtto in Lompoc and Sashi Moorman (formerly of Ojai Vineyard) is making the wines. The 2001 barrel samples I tasted in May were absolutely firts-rate.
6. CafaroSyrah: I was mightly impressed by this Syrah; one of the best Napa Valley Syrahs I've had. I've had the Cafaro Cabs over the yrs and liked them quite a lot. But this Syrah was a dynamite Syrah. According to his WebSite (www.cafaro.com), this wine is their first grapes from their own Cafaro Family Vineyard. Jeez, another producer I gotta keep my eye on now.