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. Schrader Cellars Napa Valley ToKalon Vineyard (take THAT, Bob Mondavi!!!) Cabernet Sauvignon 2001: Cuvee RMS(?): Designed to be a bit more approachable & drinkable than the other two cuvees. Loads of black currant/Cab fruit, bit more forward in character but still pretty big & structured and hardly what you'd call a Cabernet-light.  Cuvee S: The main cuvee of the 2001 Cab. Very big, dark structured w/ perhaps a bit more toasty oak, a Cab for the long haul. Cuvee MX: Two barrels selected to be put up in magnums only. Much like the S but maybe a  tad bit more oak.
2. Schrader Cellars Vieux OS IraCarter Vineyard Zinfandel 2001: very dark color; loads of very perfumed blackberry fragrant almost PS/peppery nose; rich peppery/blackberry floral/fragrant flavor w/ light touch of oak; needs some age.

1. I've followed the Schrader Cabs from the very start ('98). Addmitidly not a Cabernet fan, but  I liked these Cabs and thought them the best I've yet tried (not yet had the '00), especially the Cuvee S. Seemed to be a bit toned down on the oak from previous vintages.
2. Vieux OS: This comes from the tiny IraCarter Vineyard on the northwest outskirts of Calistoga. I often find Calistoga Zins a bit on the clunky/soft side. This one was definitely not. It had the tannin & extract for aging quite awhile, I thought. Comes in a specially-Fred-designed Italian btl, of the Manfred Krankl genre, that weighs a $hitload (Kansas colloquialism). Not unreasonably priced (given today's market) at $35. I'll be ordering mine. 

TomHill