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.

Was going out to PalmSprings for a NorthAmerica Cup competition, so decided to go into SanDiego and hang out there a few days. Arrived early Thurs afternoon dead tired from 3 hrs sleep the night afore, headed up to SolanoBeacj to my motel and sacked out for a few hrs. Then up to do some footwork drills and then off to dinner at Cuvee down in lower LaJolla. I was picked up by Chuck Wilson, a friend from my graduate school days at K-State who also does things nuclear. Joining us at Cuvee were Brad & Maureen Harrington (she being the one w/ the looks & the personality of the pair!!) and Paul & Claudia Eccles. Just a small group as am an athlete in training and didn't want to overdo it afore a major competition. Of course, there were a few wines:

1. Arrowood Russian River Valley Sara Lee's Vineyard Viognier 1992: Pale gold color; slight pear/ Viognier some pencilly/Fr.oak no oxidation some complex rather low-key/subdued nose; soft/fat quite spicy light pencilly/smokey/oak light pear/Viognier lovely/smooth/ complex flavor; long some complex very spicy pencilly/oak light pear/Viognier finish w/ no trace of oxidation; a subtle/subdued elegant/delicate spicy/pencilly fully mature Viognier.
2. Patrick Le Sec Kristial (14%) Chateau neuf Du Pape 2001: Dark color; slight volatile/EA quite fragrant/grapey fairly strawberry/Grenache slight earthy/CdP very clean nose; soft/forward very attractive/rich very Calif/international-style fragrant/strawberry/ Grenache qute lush slight earthy/roasted flavor; very long soft/lush ripe/Grenache/ strawberry finish w/ some tannins; very Calif in style; lovely/atypical CdP.
3. Chumia Madera Cnty Viognier Simpson Vineyard 2000: Med.dark gold color; very ripe/overripe somewhat herbal/grapey no Viognier nose; soft/fat/lush off-dry(?) oily ripe/overripe/ grapey slight oxidized flavor; short soft/fat overripe finish; totally devoid of any Viognier character; tastes very overripe and like Viognier grown in a less than optimal conditions like Morrocco or Zanzibar.
4. Cuilleron St. Joseph Les Serines (12.5%) 1998: Very dark color; beautiful/fragrant/ perfumed roasted/espresso/pungent/smokey strong toasty/Fr.oak complex bit earthy/Syrah/ blackberry nose; very tart/acid beautiful/intense espresso/roasted/C-R strong toasty/ smokey/Fr.oak some blackberry/pungent flavor; very long very acid smokey/Fr.oak/toasty very roasted/espresso/mocha finish w/ ample tannins; still needs 5 yrs or so & should last much longer; very C-R in style; killer Northern Rhone.
5. Ojai Vineyard Calif Syrah (12.5%) 1990: Very dark color; slight oxidized/earthy very pencilly/toasty/Burgundian very spicy/complex bit cinammon low-fruit nose; tart bit lean/dried out quite toasty/pencilly/Burgundian/oak low-fruit bit tired complex flavor; long bit tired/dried out quite Burgundian/toasty/pencilly/Fr.oak slight earthy/licorice/ pungent/smokey bit astringent finish; seen better days but still an interesting wine that's taking its last gasps afore senility sets in.
6. Greenock Creek Seven Acre Shiraz (14.3%) 1997: Very dark color; very intense/vanilla/ Am.oak intense blackberry/blueberry/boysenberry/Syrah very primary nose; soft/fat loads of intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah chocolaty/licorice very ripe very vanilla/Am.oak flavor; long intense grapey/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/licorice/ chocolaty loads of vanilla/Am.oak finish w/ some tannins; still very primary; loads of Syrah fruit but has some structure behind it; classic Oz Shiraz.
7. Greenock Creek Barrossa Vlly/SA Creek Block Shiraz (14.7%) 1997: Quite similar in style; much more spicy/peppery/complex more licorice/pungent/toasty less vanilla/Am.oak nose; bit tarter/structured very intense chocolaty/blackberry/boysenberry very spicy/licorice less Am.oaked flavor; longer more tannic/structured very peppery/licorice finish w/ ample tannins; much more interesting and less primary; killer Oz Shiraz.
8. Angoles Florente Sauvignon Blanc Late Harvest SA 1996: Dark gold color; very ripe/overripe no botrytis bit funky/passito rather volatile/pickle juice unattractive nose; very perfumed/orangey very overripe/passito some oxidized bit toasty/oak rather hot/volatile flavor; long overripe/passito bit oxidized hot finish; not very attractive; much like a passito or Muscat de Setubal wine; weird stuff.
9. Warres Vintage Porto 1977: Med.dark color; very strong spirity/alcoholic rather licorice classic Porto bit complex nose; sweet hot/alcoholic/spirity licorice/pungent classic Porto flavor; lost a lot of the grapiness and the alcohol really shows but a classic Porto that's still going strong.

Usually we close down the restaurant, but there were a group a five ladies in the next room who sounded like they were having even more fun than we were. So we offer them the remains of the Warre's and leave it to them to close down the restaurant. Great evening of food, wine, and friends.

After my competition up in PalmSprings, I high-tailed it down to SanDiego for dinner at Sam Popkin's home. Sam & I first met in CyberSpace a number of yrs ago on alt.food.wine. But not in RealSpace until some number of yrs afterward. Sam is quite a fine cook and uses my presence in the SanDiego area to make a serious dent in his wine cellar. This time was no exception, and "dent" we did. It was cause for celebration as his son, David, had just been accepted at DukeUniv for next year. So celebrate we did:

1. Edmunds St. John Viognier 1998: Med.gold color; intense smokey/pungent/complex some pear/ fragrant/Viognier nose; huge/rich pungent/smokey/toasty intense pear/Viognier/perfumed some complex flavor; very long/lingering pungent/smokey rather intense pear/Viognier finish; pretty big DollyParton Viognier that's showing no signs of age at all.
2. Chateau Beaucastel 1978: Med.light color; bit pungent/complex/roasted beautiful/complex slight cedary/pencilly very fragrant/complex nose; smooth/elegant/delicate complex/cedary/ pencilly slight pungent/roasted flavor; very long complex/smooth/elegant/delicate light pungent/roasted/earthy slight funky/gamey slight dried-out/astringent finish w/ little tannins; a fully mature/complex CdP that needs to be drunk up.
3. Chateau Rayas 1986: Med.dark color; beautiful/fragrant very spicy/cinammon/cloves some toasty/oak slight Grenache/strawberry fairly complex nose; smooth/balanced/elegant light Grenache/strawberry/tomatoey very spicy/pencilly/cinammon rather toasty/oak complex flavor; fairly long very spicy/cinammon/cloves pencilly/toasty smooth finish w/ light tannins; not a lot of fruit left but an incredible spicy character; probably best to drink up now.
4. Clarendon Hills Kangarilla Old Vines Grenache 1996: Dark color; rather intensy minty/menthol bit hot/alcoholic some strawberry/blackberry/Grenache bit simple/monochromatic nose; soft/ fat bit hot/volatile/alcoholic strong Am.oak/vanilla/minty/menthol slight strawberry/ Grenache/fruity/grapey slight earthy flavor; med.long bit strawberry/Grenache very minty/ menthol/oak somewhat hot/burney finish w/ fair tannins; seems to have lost a lot of its intense Grenache fruit and showing rather hot/volatile; not coming together well; probably best to drink up.
5. Alban Edna Valley Grenache 1996: Very dark color; intense blackberry/blueberry/strawberry/ Grenache rather toasty/pungent/smokey/charred slight reduced/stinky nose; big/rich somewhat hard/tannic intense Grenache/blackberry/blueberry/boysenberry fairly toasty/Fr.oak/pungent flavor; very long hard/tannic intense charred/toasty/Fr.oak very strong blueberry/blackberry/ boysenberry fairly tart finish w/ ample tannins; some fruit loss and a bit hard/closed but the acid makes me think it will mature just fine; Jaques Reynaud would be proud of John.
6. Joseph Phelps Delice du Semillon Napa Valley 1986: Deep gold bit browning color; intense botrytis/ peachy/Semillon orangey fairly complex no-oak nose; soft/rich/lush some peachy/botrytis/ figgyslight oxidized slight dried-out some complex/old-Sauternes flavor; med.long fairly peachy/botrytis bit oxidized some complex finish; Not matured as well as I expected for an old-Sauternes; best to drink up. Sam's partial to lamb w/ his reds and this Leg of Lamb was done superbly. I don't think the Rayas & the Beaucastel were quite up to matching the lamb's flavor, but the other two certainly did. But those two were absolutely wonderful/fully-mature wines on their own. Up early next morning and back to the real world.

1. Arrowood Viognier: This was a throw-away wine I brought that I fully expected to be dead & gone. It was not. The Arrowood is one of the more DollyParton style of Viogniers that is typically fat & low in acid w/ lots of up-front/jiggly fruit. Not what you'd expect to hold up w/ age. Instead, it was a delicate/subtle white that still retained a bit of low-key Viognier fruit but, surprisingly, no signs of oxidation or tiredness whatsoever. Of course, it had lost much of its fruit and, therefore, was not "good Viognier", but I liked it quite a lot.
2. Kristial: This is a single lieux-dit CdP. It's a lovely wine, loaded w/ Grenache fruit, balanced and quite atypical of CdP. Overrated by Arpy at 94-96 and overpriced at $60. But a delicious wine w/ a bit of CdP character.
3. OjaiSyrah: This was one of my wines. As I recall, the grapes are primarily from Bien Nacido Vineyard. This wine was a great trip down memory lane as it was the first Syrah that Adam made that I thought was approaching world-class stature. Back then, he was making his Syrahs quite different from his present style that he really hit the big- time with about the '93 or '94 vintage. I've followed Adam's Syrahs from the very start. The early ones were very much in a Pinot/Burgundian style w/ lots of toasty/Fr.oak. And from Paso Robles/Estrella fruit. As the SantaBarbara fruit started to come on-line; he started getting a lot more intensity of Syrah fruit into his wines. So the remnants of his Pinot-style Syrahs still showed on this wine. I think his later/post-'93 Syrahs will stand the test of time better than this '90. Nonetheless, the wine was still a pleasure to drink and still gave glimpses of its former glory.
4. GreenockCreeks: These were Paul & Claudia's contribution. I'd not had these wines before and was pretty favorably impressed. Though loaded w/ Oz?Shiraz fruit; they were not boring like many nor what I'd call over-the-top.

TomHill