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. Boxcar Central Coast Syrah (14%) Proprietors: Mark Estrin & Carroll Kemp, Winemaker: Tim Spear; 2002: Dark color; jammy/juicy boysenberry/Syrah slight leafy/herbal simple nose; soft juicy/grapey/jammy some blackberry/Syrah some whole-berry fermentation flavor; med.short soft juicy/grapey/jammy finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant grapey Syrah at a fair price. $14.00
2. Curran Central Coast Syrah (14.0%) 2000: Dark color; strong smokey/pungent/toasty/oak lush blackberry/blueberry/Syrah nose; tart bit light/elegant Pinot-like blackberry/black cherry rather toasty/Fr.oak/smokey flavor; med.light cherry/black cherry rather toasty finish w/ light tannins; stylistic more like Pinot that Syrah; great nose but doesn't quite deliver on the palate.
3. Herman Story Wines Paso Robles Syrah (14.4%) P&B by HermanStoryWines, SantaMaria; Winemaker: Russell P. From 2001: Med.color; attractive jammy/blueberry/Syrah bit earthy some toasty/oak nose; rather buttery/butterd popcorn/oaked rather ripe/jammy some blackberry/ Syrah flavor; med.long buttery/jammy/blackberry finish w/ light tannins; very strong buttery/ diacetyl character; simple/grapey and tastes like EastSide Paso. $23.00 (LazyAcres)
4. Elyse d'Aventure Calif RW (8 different Rhone varietals; 13.8%) 2000: Med.color; attractive Am.oaked fragrant/spicy almost Zin-like fruity/simple nose; soft grapey/spicy fruity/cherry some Am.oak flavor; med.short fruity/spicy Am.oaked finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant little red w/ no obvious varietal character; undistinguished & more like Zin.
5. Rancho Arroyo Grande Arroyo Grande Valley Thereza Cuvee (37% Syrah, 33% Mourvedre, 15% Grenache, 15% Counoise; 13.82%; www.RanchoArroyoGrandeWines.com) P&B by RanchoArroyoGrande Vineyards, SantaMaria, SLO; 2001: Med.color; rather perfumey/slight volatile bit earthy/dusty light toasty/oak some cherry/strawberry attractive nose; tart bright spicy/ cherry/strawberry light toasty/oak flavor; med. bright fruity/cherry light toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; pleasant attractive red but a bit on the pricey side.
6. Rancho Arroyo Grande Arroyo Grande Valley Syrah (14.15%) 2001: Very dark color; ripe juicy/rasp- berry/blackberry/Syrah some toasty/oak nose; soft rather jammy/strawberry light blackberry/ Syrah light toasty/oak flavormed.long bright strawberry/jammy/blackberry Syrah finish w/ light tannins; more like Eastside Paso Syrah than ArroyoGrande; pleasant Syrah if a bit pricey. $28.00
7. Topanga TV Edna Valley Edna Ranch Syrah (13.5%) P&B by Topanga Vineyards, SLO, SLO 2001: Dark color; rather spicy/cracked black pepper light pungent/toasty/oak some blackberry/Syrah nose; tart bit lean attractive cracked black pepper some blackberry/Syrah spicy flavor; med.long cracked pepper/spicy/pungent rather blackberry/Syrah finish w/ slight tannins; needs yr or two; quite a nice cold-climate Syrah w/ nice black pepper character; fairly priced at $25.00
8. Kunin Wines Santa Barbara County Syrah (14.6%) 2001: Med.dark color; rather ripe/jammy some meaty/ gamey strong blackberry/blueberry/Syrah lush/spicy nose; soft/ripe gamey blackberry/bluebery/ Syrah/boysenberry light pungent/toasty/oak flavor; long very ripe blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah/jammy slight gamey bit pungent/toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; a bit on the ripe side; bit pricey for what it is. $35.00
9. Curtis Santa Barbara County Crossroads Vineyard Syrah (14.2%; www.CurtisWinery.com) 2000: Very dark color; lovely blackberry/blueberry/Syrah bit reduced/stinky rather pungent/toasty/smokey some bretty nose; tart some bretty/barnyardy/rustic bit reduced/stinky pungent/smokey/oak rather blackberry/Syrah bit funky/Rhonish flavor; long some reduced/stinky pungent/smokey very blackberry/Syrah finish w/ light tannins; an interesting rather funky/rustic/Rhonish Syrah; best Curtis Syrah yet; rather pricey at $38.00.
10. Drew Syrah Santa Barbara County Alisos Vineyard (13.7%) 2001: Very dark color; some peppery strong blackberry/blueberry/Syrah slight meaty/spicy slight bretty nose; tart some bretty/horsecollar strong blackberry/blueberry/Syrah fairly lush/spicy slight peppery flavor; med.long ripe/blackberry/Syrah slight bretty lush/spicy some Rhonish finish w/ light tannins; very attractive good-drinking Syrah; reminds me of Qupe w a touch of brett.
11. Villa Creek Paso Robles Avenger (40% Syrah, 30% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre; 15%; www.VillaCreek.com) 2001: Very dark color; rather dusty slight earthy strawberry/blackberry/ Syrah plummy/spicy/cloves some smokey/pungent/toasty/oak nose; rich dusty/licorice some blackberry/strawberry/Syrah/plummy ripe very lush pungent/toasty/licorice/oak slight roasted flavor; long light toasty/pungent/smokey/oak ripe/plummy/strawberry/blackberry/Syrah pungent/licorice finish w/ some tannins; needs a yr or two; a really lovely/interesting blend at a great price. $20.00
12. Garretson Paso Robles Syrah The Fion Cisteog (13.8%; www.MrViognier.com) 2001: Dark color; some smokey/pungent/toasty/oak/smokey bit roasted/pungent/licorice loads of ripe/blackberry/ Syrah fruit nose; soft very lush/ripe very strong blackberry/boysenberry/spicy/Syrah light toasty/smokey/licorice flavor; very long soft/lush loads of blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/ jammy light pungent/licorice/oak finish w/ light tannins; big lush ripe loads of fruit Syrah for drinking over the next yr or two. $30.00
13. La Fond Santa Ynez Valley SRH Syrah (14.8%) 2000: Dark color; totally musty/corked nose; slight peppery very musty/cardboardy/corked flavor; too corked to tell anything. $18.00
14. Andrew Murray Vineyards Santa Rita Hills Melville Vineyard Syrah (13.9%) 2001: Very dark color; slight volatile very perfumed/aromatic very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah some peppery very fragrant nose; soft very rich/lush ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah spicy some peppery/ cold-climate Syrah light toasty/oak flavor; long/lingering soft/ripe/lush intense blackberry/ boysenberry some cracked black pepper finish w/ some tannins; one of the best AM Syrahs I've had in several yrs; terrific Syrah.
15. E. Guigal Chateauneuf du Pape (13.5%) 2000: Med.light color; pleasant raspberry/cherry/ strawberry slight earthy/Rhonish light nose; soft pleasant cherry/strawberry/fruity slight earthy/dusty flavor w/ light tannins; a pleasant fruity red w/ little Rhone/CdP character; not worth the $22.00

1. BoxCar Syrah: This is the 2'nd label for the folks of Red Car Syrah, which I've not yet had. The winemaker is Tim Spear of the Clos Mimi operation. I would presume that these grapes come from his same source, namely the ShellCreek Vineyard on Eastside Paso. The wine is almost a Beaujolais or Lambrusco in style because of its grapiness. Would guess it may be made by whole-berry fermentation, if not carbonic maceration. Not a particularly classic style of Syrah, it is quite a pleasant wine at a fair price.
2. Curran Syrah: This is a wine made by Cris Curran at Bruno d'Alfonso Cllrs in Buelton. She is of Sea Smoke fame and now has her wnry in the wine ghetto in Lompoc. I was a bit disappointed in this wine; expecting a bit more intensity and punch. The ones I tasted from barrel were much better.
3. Rancho ArroyoGrande: This is a new Vineyard planted up above Lake Lopez near SaucelitoCnyn Vineyard. It comes thru in the wine as a fairly warm area vis a vis the EdnaVlly. Bot Bob and Ethan Lindquist made Syrah from this Vineyard that I liked a bit better than this one.
4. HermanStory: Is the grandfather of Russell From. Russell is the cellarmaster at the Central Coast Wine Coop in Santa Maria, the Miller's facility where a lot of small winemakers do their special thing.
5. Topanga Vineyard: This is a SoCal couple, Sandy Garber and Ralph Meyer, who apparently grow grapes on their TopangaCnyn property. They also buy grapes and make wine under their label. I had two previous versions, both from FrenchCamp Syrah grapes and was rather underwhelmed. The version, from much better EdnaVlly grapes, is a far/far better Syrah. I seem to recall something about Steve Dooley being the winemaker. Nicely done wine.
6. Drew: This be Jason Drew (info@drewfamilycellars.com), former winemaker at Babcock and now out on his own. I've had a number of his wines and have been fairly impressed with them. A winemaker to keep your eyes on.
7. VillaCreek Avenger: Tasted this at the wnry the Sunday morning after HdR and at the winemaker's luncheon and was pretty impressed with the wine. My group liked it enough to order two cases worth. Great red wine for the price.
8. Melville Vineyard: We've had three Melville Syrahs 2001 thus far; the Melville Estate, the Jaffurs, and the AndrewMurray. Plus the Ojai Melville 2000. Of these, my clear favorite was the Ojai. Of the 2001, I think I preferred the Melville Estate slightly over the AM, closely followed by the Jaffurs. All 3 of the 2001's come from their CatCanyon property (wish they'd make that distinction on the label) w/ only Adam getting Syrah from their SantaRitaHills estate; as I understand it. The AM is one of his best Syrahs I've had in sometime; seems relatively forward and drinkable. Larry Archibald thinks the AM is easily the best of the three. I prefer the Melville Estate slightly for its better structure and potential. The Jaffurs I've had twice, typically in the leaner/tighter Jaffurs style. The first had been opened for three days and had an incredible cracked black pepper character. The 2'nd at the wnry was just opened for us and seemed a bit closed & tight. But it, too, seems to have great potential. At any rate, it's a great (two) Vineyards making some very impressive Syrahs.
9. Guigal CdP'00: The Guigal CdP'99 was the WS WotY. BFD (Kansas colloquialism). After it immediately vanished from the shelves (those folks got what they deserved), the '00 made its immediate debut, with the hype that it was even better than the '99 (doh.... guess which one they had to sell!!). Most of the prices I've seen have been in the low $30's. This btl, Larry's mystery wine, was only $22. Even at that price... singularly unimpressed; the Avenger blows it away.