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. Edmunds St. John PincFroid Santa Barbara County Rose TW (Nebbiolo) 2000: Light pink color; very fragrant/ spicy very lilacs/floral perfumed nose; tart/crisp/clean lovely lilacs/floral/spicy bright/zippy flavor; med.long bright floral/lilacs finish w/ little tannins; very Piemontese-like; a really lovely crisp/bright rose. 
2. Kahn Winery Avelina Grignolino SantaYnez Valley (13.0%) 2001: Pale pink slight brown color; slight pungent/ licorice/rose petal/smokey slight grassy//herbal/Kansas feed store perfumed nose; soft floral/rose petal spicy fairly lush flavor; med. soft/lush rose petal/floral perfumey finish w/ light tannins; softer/rounder rose; great drinking. 
3. Kahn Winery Avelina Santa Barbara County Freisa (13.0%) 2000: Med.color; lovely/fragrant lilacs/floral/perfumed/ aromatic nose; tart/astringent bright/zippy floral/lilacs bright cherry very spicy rather hard/tannic flavor; med.long quite tannic bright/floral/lilacs/raspberry bit licorice very spicy finish; very  Piedmontese-like bright/floral/spicy wine; very well-made. 
4. Az.Ag. Lano Langhe Freisa (12.5%) 2000: Med.color; slight earthy/dusty/Italiante/dirty feet rather black cherry/perfumed nose; frizzante earthy very tannic Nehi black cherry cola bright/floral flavor; med.long Nehi/cherry soda pop frizzante quite tannic finish; an attractive soda-pop wine, bit like a Beaujolais, with fierce tannins. 
5. Silver Santa Barbara County Nebbiolo (13.6%) 1998: Med.light color; lovely/fragrant lilacs/violets/ Nebbiolo very spicy light pungent/tarry beautiful/complex nose; tart quite astringent/tannic/raspy bright cherry/lilacs/floral/spicy hard flavor; very long black cherry/floral/violets bit tarry/pungent finish; needs age; a beautiful/exotic nose but hard & unyielding on the palate; more like a Valtelline Nebbiolo than Barolo/Barbaresco, a better model IMHO. 
6. Palmina SantaYnez Valley Stolpman Vineyard Nebbiolo (14.0%) 1999: Light color; beautiful very fragrant/floral  cherry/violets very perfumey light oak/pencilly nose; tart smoother bright/floral/cherries/violets some toasty/pencilly/Fr.oak flavor; long lovely floral/cherry/lilacs light toasty/Fr.oak finish w/ light tannins; a beautiful/elegant Nebbiolo; tastes like a Nebb made by a Pinot producer. 
7. Abundance Vineyards OldVine Zin Mencarini Vineyards Lodi (14.4%) Eleveurs: the Menacrinis, Bob Goyette, John Drady 2000: Med.light color; classic Lodi/mushroomy/earthy some boysenberry/blackberry bit toasty/oak nose; tart/bright boysenberry/Zin some earthy/mushroomy/Lodi spicy Am.oak flavor; med. long strong Lodi/earthy/mushroomy buttery/diacetyl/Am.oaked finish w/ some tannins; a pretty terrific  Lodi Zin at a great price. $12.00  
8. MahoneyEstate Amador County Zin Esola Vineyard (15.5%) 1999: Med.color; beautiful pencilly/toasty/Fr.oak lovely/briary/spicy/blackberry dusty/old vines very perfumed bit alcoholic some complex nose; bright spicy/raspberry/blackberry/briary/AmadorZin some toasty/pencilly/Fr.oak elegant/almost Pinot-like flavor; very long bright/cherry/blackberry/raspberry/briary finish w/ some tannins; more of an elegant style of Amador Zin but lots of depth and perfume. Terrific Amador Zin.
9. Drakensig SouthAfrica Shiraz (14.0%) 2001: Very dark/black color; strong Fr.oaked/pungent/boysenberry/ Syrah very grapey/juicy smokey/smoked hot dog bit earthy/rustic nose; soft/round boysenberry/Syrah smokey/pungent/smoked meat/gamey/roasted some toastyt/oak bit earthy/tannic/rustic flavor; long smokey/ smoked meat/raosted boysenberry/Syrah toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; very much Oz in style but w/ some smokey/Rhone character; one of the best SouthAfrica reds I've ever had; brought by German wine distributor Rudy Proske. About $8 in Germany, a steal.

And a few dessert wines to celebrate an Anniversary and a BD:                     

1. Cypres de Climens Barsac (14%) 1997: Med.gold color; bit cheap Sauternes/earthy/cement vat rather peachy/botrytis little oak nose; tart somewhat sweet some earthy/cement vat/cheap Sauternes fairly peachy/botrytis flavor; long peachy/botrytis earthy finish; some nice things therein, but a bit too much cheap-Sauternes character for me. Not worth the $25.00/500ml.
2. Ch. Suduiraut (14%) 1997: med.gold color; strong botrytis/apricotty/peachy Semillon/figgy bit volatile/ hot light toasty/oak nose; quite sweet bit hot/volatile some apricotty/peachy/botrytis/figgy flavor;  long botrytis/peachy/figgy bit hot finish; not that rich & unctuious but pretty good for a poor year. Larry's contribution.
3. Bodegas Toro Albada Pedro Ximenez Gran Reserva (17%) 1975: Very dark brown color; intense raiseny/loads of ripe fruit caramel more sherry/complex nose; tart bit hard/lean/acid very pruney/raiseny/PX very sweet bit caramel flavor; more sherry-like and leaner than the '72. Great buy at  $18.00/hlf 

1. Grignolino: A gift from Andy Kahn during our visit w/ WesHagen at the winery. Although not labelled as a rose, it is very light in color, as is typical of Grignolino. The variety apparently has some weird anthocynanins associated with it. I've had some Grignolino roses of Joe Heitz that were pretty brutally tannic in their youth, but which aged into wonderfully-perfumed old wines, though still tannic. Andy has done a wonderful job on tannin mangement for this wine and it doesn't have that harsh/raspy tannins of many Grignolinos.
2. Freisa: Freisa is a variety I first fell in love with almost 20 yrs ago, when Darrell Corti had just brought in some from Scarpa. It was a variety indigenous (apparently) that had nearly died out and Scarpa was one who was bringing it back from obscurity. I was quite struck by the wonderful aromatics the wine showed and, like Syrah, thought it should find a home in Calif. Montevina made the first, I believe, Freisa in Calif. The versions I've tried were a pretty/little wine but didn't show much of the perfume I knew the variety was capable of giving. Bonny Doon also produces Freisa that it grows in its Monterey vnyds. Theirs is produced as a frizzante wine and is a beautiful frivolous- drinking little wine, but not quite the aromatics of this Avelina. Although pretty hard&tannic, this Avelina displayed all the fragrance & perfume that first  attracted me to the variety. A wonderful example of what Freisa can deliver, in Piedmonte or in Calif. A wine worth tracking down.
3. Calif Nebbiolo: I've been following Nebbiolo in Calif from the very start; the first MartinBros made by Nick Martin and the Montevina ones made by Cary Gott. As most others, I've been rather underwhelmed by most of them. They seldom deliver the wonderful aromatics the grape is capable of, and they're usually pretty hard & ungiving on the palate. This version, made by Ben Silver, former ZacaMesa wine- maker, is one of the better examples I've encountered. I was also impressed by Steve Clifton's Palmina version as well. Two pretty good small steps along the way to GREAT Nebbiolo in Calif, which will eventually make the Gaja's look pretty small-potatoes. Part of the problem is expectations. Many of us are expecting Calif Nebbiolo to deliver what the grape gives in the Piedmonte with Barolo/Barbaresco. I actually find the Gattinaras and the Valtelline Nebbiolos a model much more along the lines of what Calif can probably deliver. It's a grape they shouldn't give up on Calif by a long shot; they'll get it right eventually.
4. CarnerosCreek Zin: I've followed the CarnerosCreek Amador Zins from the very start; the '74 Esola and Eschen ones. They were some of the early GREAT Amador Zins (the SuttereHome and the Harbors were clearly  the first ones). It was one of the first wines that drew me to CarnerosCreek wines and Frank Mahoney; the start of a 30 yr long love affair for those/his wines. He doesn't seem to get the recognition for his pioneering efforts w/ Pinot I think he deserves. Those first Amador Zins were always classic/big/extracted and quite alcoholic Zins; not what you'd expect from a Pinot/RedBurg admirer. Sometimes they had residual sugar from stuck fermentations. I, and my group, loved those Amador Zins and went through a disproportinate share of them I must admit. I had my last of them about 7-8 yrs ago and they were still in great shape. And that was part of the problem of these wines for Frank; they were NOT the kind of wine he wanted to be known for. Finally, after the very ripe '78 vintage produced some sweet/late-harvesty Zins; Frank threw  up his hands in despair and eschewed the continued production of them. For which he has received holy-hell from me nearly everytime our paths have crossed. He has continued to take, and make, the Cabernet from the Esola vnyd; but the Zin went elsewhere (now to Scott Harvey at Folie a Deaux).  So, a few months ago when Bruce&Sue Noel from my group were visiting Frank at Carneros Creek; Frank went off a put up a btl for them to bring back for me/us to try. It is not yet released, to my understanding. Frank even enscribed the btl for me, saying Amador Zin "just like old times"!! So, we tried it. My first reaction was, no, this isn't like the Carneros Creek Amador Zins of old. It didn't seem as dark and tannic and extracted and certainly not off-dry and not as late-harvesty as they often were back in the '70's. Initially, I was a bit disappointed in it; I was wanting a "bigger" Amador Zin. But as I retatsted it and thought about it; I rapidly reversed course. This is EXACTLY the kind of Amador Zin that a fine Pinot producer would make. Not big and overripe and extracted like they once were. It had an elegance to it you rarely find in Amador Zin. It had a wonderful scented perfume to it that one doesn't often associate with Amador Zin. Yet it clearly speaks of the Amador terroir... as rendered by a RedBurg lover. I would guess that Frank's pretty proud of this wine. And rightfully so. I was, in the end, mightly impressed by it.  So, the good news is that Frank Mahoney is, once again, making Amador Zin. And the good news, is that it's even better than ever!!