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. Jade Mountain Mt Veeder/Paras Vineyard Napa Valley Viognier (14.9%) 2001: Light gold color; fragrant pear/peach/Viognier slight herbal/perfumed nose; soft/fat perfumed  peach/pear/Viognier bit low-key flavor; med.long perfumed finish; an  attractive/elegant/svelte Viognier but a bit pricey at $40
2. Edmunds St. John Alban-Durell Vineyards Viognier (15.3%) 1997: Med.gold color; intense toasty/pungent/smokey/oaked very ripe/pear/Viognier complex nose; rich oily/ viscous strong/toasty/roasted/pungent/smokey/oak very ripe/pear/Viognier slight earthy/spicy/cloves flavor; very long/lingering toasty/pungent finish; reminds me  a lot of early Alban or SQN whites; lots of pungent/smokey character but plenty of ripe pear/fruit underneath; probably too oaked for many but I really liked this rather eccentric Viognier.
3. Lucien Albrecht Grand Cru Pfingstberg Riesling (13%) 1994: Lean/tart some floral/R/ anise slight minerally nose; hard/lean/tart light floral/R/spicy bit perfumed talc  flavor; med. hard/austere/lean/tart finish; not showing much evolution at all;  still needs another 10 yrs or so; classic traditional (thank gawd) ASlsace Riesling
4. Zind-Humbrecht Heimbourg Pinot Gris (13.5%) 1999: Med.gold color; lovely floral/PG/ spicy loads of fruit bit simple nose; soft/fat off dry attractive/rich/lush floral/ PG/spicy flavor; very long floral finish; a big/fat/lush wine loaded w/ fruit.
5. Zind-Humbrecht Clos Windsbuhl PinotGris 2000: Med.gold color; very lush/floral/PG intense fruity slight earthy nose; tart/acid very rich/floral/lush/PG/spicy/nutmeg slihjtly sweet flavor w/ very long/lingering finish; loads of richness but the acid backbone to carry it 10 yrs or so. Terrific wine.
6. Schmitt Sohne Wiltinger Scharzberg Beerenauslese 1976: Gold color; beautiful/fragrant classic/valve oil/gout de petrol complex/old R buttery/cedary terrific nose; soft/ sweet botrytis/peachy buttery classic/gout de petrol old R flavor; terrific old bones.
7. Marcassin Marcassin Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir (14.1%) 1996: Med.dark color; strong toasty/pencilly/oak/charred rather earthy very mushroomy low fruit complex nose;  rather hard/tannic mushroomy/earthy tight flavor; seems a bit dried out/austere; hard to say where this will go.
8. Marcassin Marcassin Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir (14.1%) 1997: Dark color; bit more complex/perfumed very strong mushroomy/truffly bit alcoholic slight black cherry nose; slightly softer/rounder rather Burgundian/toasty/charred/oak some tannic flavor; a bit more approachable but still rather hard & tight.
9. Louis Jadot Corton-Poujets 1990: Dark color; big earthy/mushroomy/dusty truffly/minty low fruit complex nose; rather hard/tannic truffly/minty/earthy little fruit flavor; seems to be drying out a bit but still interesting; great w/ the goulash.
10. Georges Lignier Clos St. Denis 1990: Med.color; beautiful/fragrant/perfumed classic pencilly/Burgundian smokey complex nose; smooth/balanced very pencilly/cedary/complex Burgundian elegant flavor; classic mature Burgundy & ready to drink.
11. Chateau Climens 1997: Med.gold color; some botrytis/peach rather butterscotchy/oaked slight volatile/perfumed creme brulee nose; some hard/lean/acid/earthy rather  butterscotchy/creme brulee/oak slight peavh/botrytis flavor; not a very lush/unctuous Sauternes but I think it'll be a lovely/old bones of a Sauternes w/ much age.
12. Domaine Deletang Montlouis Les Petits Boulg Grand ReserveTris (13%) 1997: Med.dark gold color; lovely/creamy rather botrytis/peachy/pear bit Kansas feed store/hay mow slight earthy nose; tart lemon/pear/peach/appley some light botrytis bit metallic/lean/stiff slight herbal/hay mow flavor; not a big/rich Loire but should mature into a lovely wine with age.
13. Smith-Woodshed Porto 1977: Dark color; rather porty/alcoholic/hot/fumey slight grapey some complex nose; rather porty/hot/fumey/volatile low fruit flavor; lots of porty alcoholic character but not a lot of fruit left; not evolving well.

1. Alsace: The Albrecht was not an attractive Riesling, very traditional in style. I suspect it'll be a terrific/complex R down the road, however; as per my rule of  thumb for Alsace Rieslings: the harder & less likable they are young, the better  they'll be with age. Although I find the Z-H very Parkerized/non-traditional Alsatians; they do have this compelling quality to them. If you're only having 3-4 oz of one, the fat/ high r.s. character is not so tiring. Sometimes, DollyParton is all you want and  you're not interested in discussing the implications of quantuum electrodynamic field theory to chaotic electron plasmas at zero gravity in the presence of large unsupported silicone masses with her!!
2. Wiltingen: A dynamite old R brought by SteveSterbenz. Even though it's a simple Grosselage BA, it has evolved into a lovely wine. I've had some of it lowly pedigree who have not done so well.
3. MarcassinPinots: Ugly label/interesting wines. They both seemed to lack that ethereal/ perfumed fragrance that makes great Pinot such a seductive (as if I'd know anything about that!!) wine. These were the first two vintages and I'm clueless what the future holds for these two wines.
4. As usual at L&L's: good grub, passable apps, great wines, and terrific company... just enough SantaFe people here to make the LosAlamos types tolerable.