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. Red House Grenache (70%) Shiraz (30%) Barossa Valley/McLarenVale/LimestoneCoast  (13.5%) P by OneLeggedDuck Pty.Ltd., Norwood, SA 2000: Med.light color; pleasant strawberry/ cherry/Grenache light vanilla/oak slight volatile nose; tart bit metallic light Grenache/ strawberry/cherry bit thin flavor; med.short cherry/Grenache light earthy slight oak finish w/ little tannins; pleasant Nehi cherry soda pop; not worth the $17.00.
2. Andrew Murray Vineyards Santa Ynez Valley Grenache (EG; 13.9%; www.Andrew MurrayVineyards.com) 2001: Med.dark color; deep strawberry/Grenache/blackberry some yeasty/bread dough bit earthy/funky slight toasty/pungent/oak slight volatile nose; soft some cheap candy/candied strong strawberry/ black cherry/Grenache bit toasty/pungent/oak slight earthy flavor; long stemmy strong Grenache/ strawberry/black cherry cola bit pungent/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; pretty big & intense for a (non-Alban) Calif Grenache; bit pricey at $27.00.
3. Andrew Murray Vineyards Santa Ynez Valley Mourvedre (EG; 13.9%) 2001: Dark color; slight volatile/EA rather  ripe/plummy/black cherry/cola nose; soft bit hot/volatile strong plummy/black cherry cola slight earthy/herbal flavor; med.long bit tannic/rough rather plummy/black cherry cola finish; needs a few yrs; a bit too much volatility.
4. Vinum Cellars San Benito Cnty Syrah Vista Verde Vineyard (13.8%; 350 cs) 1999: Med.color; strong pencilly/ toasty/Fr.oak/charred rather strong green pepper/herbal slight vegetal very Pinot Noir-like nose w/ no Syrah character; tart bit herbal/vegetal quite toasty/pencilly/Fr.oak/Burgundian some peppery/herbal flavor; med.long some herbal/vegetal very Burgundian/taosty/pencilly/ Fr.oak finish w/ light tannins; dead ringer for a CentralCoast Burgundy-style Pinot; no Syrah character whatsoever; strange wine. 
5. Unti Dry Creek Valley Syrah (13.8%; 1292 cs) 1997: Med.color; attractive dusty/earthy some toasty/ roasted/oak slight gamey/blackberry nose; tart bit thin/lean light toasty/oak slight gamey/ blackberry rather Zin-like flavor; med. dusty/earthy slight blackberry finish w/ light tannins; bit more like a Zin than Syrah; pleasant enough but just that.
6. Santa Cruz Mtn Vineyard Paso Robles Syrah Meeker Vineyard (12.5%) 1997: Med.color; rather cooked/stewed fruit  very paprika/peppery bit herbal little fruit nose; bit tart/green very paprika/peppery rather hot climate/stewed fruit flavor; med.short stewed/cooked little fruit finish w/ light tannins; weird wine w/ lots of paprika character (Hungarian oak?).
7. Coyote Creek Vineyards Paso Robles Syrah (14.2%; www.coyotewine.com) 1999: Med.dark color; rich plummy/ blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry bit gamey rather ripe nose; soft rich/ripe plummy/boysenberry bit toasty/oak flavor; med.long ripe/plummy/jammy/blackbery finish w/ light tannins; lots of plummy ripeness; nice Syrah at fair price. $21.00
8. Tablas Creek Vineyard Rouge (14.3%; Mourvedre/Grenache/Syrah/Cunoise) 1997: Med.dark color; slight bretty/funky/wet dog fur rather spicy/strawberry/berry/fruity nose; tart/lean bit funky/wet dog fur some cherry/berry/fruity/spicy slight cherry cough syrup/Cheracol flavor; med.long cherry/strawberry/fruity slight bretty/funky finish w/ some tannins; needs a few yrs yet; nice wine w/ some strange funky character to it.
9. Zaca Mesa Santa Barbara County Syrah Zaca Vineyard (13.5%; 10% Viognier) 1995: Med.color; some toasty/ pungent/roasted/coffee complex some blackberry/Syrah bit Rhonish nose; tart some toasty/roasted/ pungent/oaked/coffee bit thin very light blackberry/Syrah flavor; tart bit lean/dried out toasty/ charred oak/coffee finish; a lovely Rhonish nose but a bit dried out & lean on the palate; should be drunk up.
10. Bell Sierra Foothills Canterbury Vineyard Syrah (SaH: 23.9Brix, TA: 0.47, pH: 3.85; 13.8%;  TA: 0.68, pH: 3.59) 1998: Med.dark color; rather plummy/grapey little Syrah some blackberry/ Zin-like nose; very soft bit herbal rather blackberry/Zin-like/fruity simple flavor; soft/fat/ flat/candied Zin-like/raspberry/blackberry finish w/ little tannins; more like a very ripe Zin  and little Syrah character; way overpriced at $31.00 
11. Lava Cap El Dorado Syrah Reserve (15.3%) 1998: Dark color; ripe spicy/blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah/black cherry bit Zin-like slight gamey/sauvage light oak nose; tart quite spicy/bright/ cherry/blackberry/Syrah slight gamey bit alcoholic/ripe flavor; med.long bright cherry/black- berry slight gamey/dusty bit hot finish w/ modest tannins; lots of bright berry almost Zin-like character; nice Syrah at $26.30.
12. Madrona Estate Grown Reserve El Dorado Syrah (13.5%) 1999: Dark color; deep pungent/licorice/ smokey slight wet dog fur/funky/earthy/wet concrete little fruit nose; big/extracted little fruit  earthy/dusty bit Dr.Pepper some toasty/oak bit funky flavor; med. earthy/dusty/funky slight licorice/pungent finish w/ some tannins; bit lacking in fruit; speaks more of earthy ElDorado red than of Syrah.
13. Marquis Philips McLaren Vale Shiraz (16.0%; www.GratefulPalate.com) 2001: Black color; huge blackberry/framboise/Syrah/chocolaty strong vanilla/bourbon/Am.oak nose; soft/fat intense vanilla/Am.oak intense blackberry/framboise/boysenberry/jammy/chocolaty some minty/menthol flavor; very long intense boysenberry/ripe/blackberry/framboise/chocolaty very strong minty/ menthol/vanilla/Am.oak soft/fat finish w/ some tannins; much like the regular M-P Shiraz but more oak, more extraction, more structure; needs several yrs; fairly priced at $28.00.
14. Edmunds St. John Calif Syrah (14%) 2001: Dark color; very strong blackberry/Syrah slight reduced some toasty/peppery/roasted/pungent lovely/complex nose; tart spicy/roasted/pungent/smokey/ peppery rich/blackberry/Syrah some tannic very spicy/black pepper flavor; long spicy/cracked black pepper/roasted rich/blackberry/Syrah finish w/ some tannins; needs a yr or two yet but lovely EdStJ Syrah and a great value. $18.00
15. Alban Vineyards Alban Estate Syrah Lorraine Edna Valley (14.7%) 2000: Black color; very intense/peppery/ pungent/toasty/charred/smokey/roasted intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah very perfumed/ fragrant huge/intense coffee/espresso complex nose; very tart huge/ blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah/ peppery/olive strong/ smokey/toasty/charred/espresso/charred/pungent/coffee flavor; very long/ lingering espresso/roasted/charred/toasty/pungent huge/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/peppery finish w/ ample tannins; killer/intense Syrah w/ lots of roasted/Rhone character.
16. GAEC Albert Bell Crozes-Hermitage Les Pierrelles 1999: Very dark color; very dusty/old vines light Syrah/blackberry/fruity pungent/charred bit roasted earthy nose; tart very roasted/pungent/ smokey bit green olive/dusty some complex flavor; very long bit tannic dusty/roasted/pungent/ toasty slight Syrah/blackberry finish; needs a few yrs; rather interesting pungent NorthernRhone;
17. Le Vieux Donjon Chateau neuf du Pape (13.5%) 2000: Med.dark color; some cheese-like pungent/roasted/ SouthernRhone some earthy/dusty fairly complex nose; fairly rich/complex dusty/earthy/old vines  some roasted/pungent light strawberry/fruit flavor; med.long dusty/earthy/pungent/roasted slight floral/Grenache finish w/ some tannins; needs a few yrs; good structure & balance; not a lot of fruit but lots of interesting other things.

1. EdStJohn Calif Syrah: This is the 5th or 6th time I've had this wine and every time I'm more and more impressed with it. It's dishonest to buy a wine this good at that price and blows away a lot of $30-$40 Calif Syrahs. And I expect it will improve over the next 2-4 yrs as well,  maybe even longer. Great intro EdStJohn Syrah. Dynamite stuff.
2. Alban Syrahs: I've followed these from the very start, with my first taste of the '93 up at the Vail WinterWine Festival. They just seem to keep getting better and better. Although they are huge/intense Syrahs with lots of charred Fr.oak, they also seem to be in balance and everything in the right proportions. Because of their high acidity, I think these will only be incredible down the road with age. I'll be taking data for yrs to come.