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. Michael&David Phillips Incognito Calif/Lodi Viognier (15%; 1000 cs) 2001: Light gold color; slight pungent/tobaccoy/oak slight herbal/pear/Viognier low-key nose; soft/fat off-dry (?) lush pear/Viognier slight metallic flavor; med.short bit citric/metallic soft/fat light pear/Viognier lush finish; pleasant Viognier but a bit on the simple/ light side.
2. Kunin Wines SantaYnez Valley Stolpman Vineyards Viognier (15.1%) 2001: Med.gold color; fragrant/ perfumed spicy pear/Viognier attractive/floral nose; tart/citric/grapefruity lush/pear/ Viognier slightly bitter flavor; med. tart/grapefruity/7Up light pear/Viognier finish; pleasant/attractive Viognier but a bit pricey at  $28.00.
3. Alban Vineyard Central Coast Viognier (15.8%) 2001: Med.dark gold color; bit stinky/reduced nose that clears to ripe/pear/Viognier light toasty/Fr.oak rather floral/perfumed nose; soft/rich/lush pear/Viognier oily/mouthfilling bit petillant light toasty/Fr.oak/ pungent flavor; long light/toasty/oak big/ripe/oily/lush/pear/Viognier/peach rather fat finish; very attractive rich/oily Paso Viognier; not as perfumed/aromatic as the estate but very nice Viognier at a good price. $20.00
4. Joseph Filippi Winery JF Cucamonga Valley Mourvedre (LibraryReserve; 12.9%) 1998: Med.light color; strong earthy/dusty/old vines some mushroomy/Languedoc bit pungent/tobbacoy/ charred bit burnt rubber/rubbery nose; some pungent/charred oak/burnt earthy/dusty flavor; med.short charred/burnt bit funky rather dusty/old vines finish w/ light tannins; lots of the Cucamonga terroir w/ strong charred/burnt character; interesting wine w/ little fruit & not worth the $18.00 
5. Alexander Valley Vineyards Alex Valley Syrah Wetzel Family Estate (13.9%) 1998: Dark color; attractive deep blackberry/Syrah slight gamey/sausage light toasty/oak nose; soft bit pungent/gamey fairly rich/lush blackbery/Syrah light toasty/smokey/oak light tannic flavor; med.long toasty/oak/pungent rather gamey/Syrah/blackberry finish w/ light tannins; near ready to  drink; a lovely well-made Syrah at a great price. $18.80
6. Russian Hill Estate Winery Sonoma County Syrah (13.5%) 1998: Med.dark color; slight herbal near  vegetal bit stemmy/Zin-like/blackberry nose; soft/flat herbal/Zin-like fruity/blackberry simple grapey bit sour flavor; short soft/flat/flabby simple berry/Zin sopur finish w/ light tannins; little Syrah character; dreadfully ordinary wine.
7. Hanna Sonoma Valley Syrah Bismark Ranch (15.9%; 1000cs) 1997: Very dark color; deep spicy/ peppery intense blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/cranberry slight volatile loads of fruit some pungent/toasty/Fr.oak nose; big/huge rich peppery/blackberry/Syrah/lush/boysenberry slight gamey some pencilly/toasty/Fr.oak flavor; very long/lingering lush/rich/Syrah/ boysenberry/blackberry loads of deep fruit slight peppery/gamey some pencilly/toasty/ Fr.oak finish w/ light tannins; terrific Syrah w/ loads of Syrah fruit; ready to drink or age a yr or two.
8. Morgan Monterey Syrah (Unfltrd; 13.5%) 1996: Med.light color; some herbal toasty/pencilly/ Fr.oak spicy/peppery almost Pinot-like nose; tart spicy/pencilly/Fr.oak slight herbal/ peppery/cloves light blackberry/black cherry flavor; med.long herbal/spicy pencilly/ toasty/Fr.oak slight berry/cherry finish w/ light tannins; interesting wine more like a Pinot than Syrah; interesting herbal character.
9. Linne Colodo Willow Red Paso Robles (14.4%) 1999: Med.color; big blackberry/Zin/raspberry light vanilla/oaked some jammy/earthy quite ripe nose; soft/lush blackberry/jammy/Zin very spicy/juicy some vanilla/pencilly/oak flavor; very long lush/jammy juicy/blackberry/ boysenberry/Zin finish w/ light tannins; lovely/classic very drinkable Zin.
10. Linne Colodo James Berry Vineyard Paso Robles (40% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 30% Mourvedre;  14.6%) 1999: Med.dark color; strong very fragrant blaclberry/strawberry loads of fruit very spicy slight coffee/pungent light toasty/pungent/oak nose; big/rich bright strawberry/ blackberry very spicy some pungent/coffee/mocha/pencilly/toasty/vanilla/oak flavor; very long very spicy strawberry/blackberry/cranberry some vanilla/pencilly/oak finish w/ light tannins; a lovely very spicy red; one of the better Calif/Rhone blends made.
11. Foxen Santa Barbara County Syrah (13.8%) 1998: Med.color; strong toasty/Fr.oak/pungent/ charred/burnt oak bit Viognier/bright/spicy/fragrant rather gamey/complex rather eccentric nose w/ not a lot of fruit; tart charred/toasty/burnt/Fr.oak low fruit bit spicy/Pinot- like flavor; long tart charred/burnt/pungent/oak light spicy/cherry finish w/ light tannins; more like their Pinot than a Syrah; interesting wine. $24.00
12. Foxen Santa Ynez Valley Syrah Morehouse Vineyard (14%) 1998: Med.dark color; strong pungent/charred// burnt/Fr.oak some blackberry/Syrah nose; rich blackberry/Syrah/dusty strong charred/ toasty/burnt/Fr.oak falvor; long some tannic some blackberry/spicy/Syrah quite charred/ burnt/oak finish w/ some tannins; stille needs a few yrs; much more Syrah character w/ the same charred oak dominating. $32.00
13. Lane Tanner SLO County Syrah French Camp Vineyard (14.3%) 1999: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/blueberry/Syrah bit earthy very ripe/jammy nose; soft very jammy/blackberry/ blueberry/blueberry pie loads of fruit slight earthy flavor; very long jammmy/ripe/ blackberry/blueberry pie/HostessPie/chocolaty finish w/ light tannins; tastes like a Syrah made by a Syrah producer, not a Pinot-producer; loads of ripe/jammy/Syrah fruit at a great price; for drinking now. $20.00
14. Hospices du Rhone/Justin Vineyards& Winery Syrah(80%)/Mourvedre(20%) MacGillivray Vineyard  (13.6%) 1998: Very dark color; beautiful/pungent meaty/gamey slight herbal rich/black- berry/boysenberry/Syrah some charred/toasty/Fr.oak pretty intense nose; soft some tannic rich/intense/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah rather toasty/charred/Fr.oak flavor; very long/lingering intense peppery/chocolaty/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah toasty/charred/ Fr.oak finish w/ some tannins; still needs a few yrs; an impressive Paso Syrah.
15. Domaine Santa Duc Gigondas (14.5%) 1999: Med.light color; rather earthy/CdR/CdP some Grenache/strawberry bit spicy nose; soft bit tannic earthy/dusty/old vines attractive  strawberry/Grenache slight funky/gamey flavor; med. soft/lush/strawberry/Grenache/fruity light earthy/CdP finish w/ light tannins; very pleasant SouthernRhone. SteveCostigan's mystery wine.

1. 1. Linne Colodo: This was the wine made in Paso by Mat Trevisan and Justin Smith. I've followed the wines from the very start and been mightly impressed with them. They have since parted company. Mat retains the brand name, Justin retains the grape sources and the James Berry  Vineyard, the foundation for the wines. Justin will be releasing his 2000's under the Saxum label very soon. Worth looking out for.
   2. Lane Tanner: I've followed her Pinots from the very start and liked them immenseley. This  is her first Syrah I've tried and was equally impressed. The FrenchCamp vnyd, far out on the EastSide Paso, is not known for particularly the best CentralCoast Syrah grapes. I was mightly impressed in her producing a silk purse from a pig's scrotum in this case; easily the best FrenchCamp Syrah I've had. I'm delighted that Lane has broadened out to try Syrah and look forward to future ones.
   3. Justin Syrahs: Winemaker Jeff Branco is becoming, in my book, one of the best Syrah producers in Paso. Of his 3 '98's, this is by far the best. I liked the regular Mac- Gillivray (now Halter  Vineyard), was underwhelmed by the Estate. His '99 are even better, a big step up from the '98's. Keep you eyes on Jeff.
   TomHill