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.

Last night a few of us had Santa Cafe's SwineFest dinner (every course had pork in it). The menu: Glazed Baby Back Ribs Jambon Persille (Ham in Aspic w/ Parsley) Housemade Boudin Blanc en Brioche w/ Mushrooms & Sherry (Pigs-In-A-Blanket) Pork Scallopine w/ Dijon Mustard, Braised Pork Breast, Capers & Lemon Maple-Glazed Apple & Bacon Tartlet

The meal was a killer meal. Jill Cashman selected our wines, which were equally stunning:

1. Edmunds St. John Knight's Valley Viognier (13.8%) 1992: Med.dark color; rather nutty/hazelnutty bit toasty/smokey some fragrant/pear/Viognier rather complex nose; big/lush/ripe smokey/ pungent/toasty slight pear/Viognier nutty/hazelnutty off-dry (?) huge flavor; very long/ lush/ripe soft/fat pungent/toasty/hazelnutty/smokey complex finish; a bit on the nutty/ oxidized side but still delivers a lot of pleasure
2. Turley Napa Valley Hayne Vineyard Zinfandel (17.1%) 1997: Very dark color; huge earthy/dusty/ripe blackberry/boysenberry old vines some pencilly/toasty/smokey/oak nose; soft/big/huge/lush  blackberry/boysenberry off-dry rather toasty/smokey/pungent/oak flavor; very long huge/ripe dusty/old vines blackberry/plummy/boysenberry finish w/ some tannins; a huge mouthfilling Zin but no overripe/pruney character and carried the alcohol well; probably best to drink up afore the fruit fades more.
3. Werner Tyrell Eitelsbacher Karthauser Hofberg Kronenberg Riesling Auslese 1976: Deep gold color; incredible complex pungent/Mosel valve oil/petrolly classic old Riesling nose; soft off-dry incredibly complex Mosel valve oil/pungent flavor; extremely long/lingering complex Mosel valve oil finish; stunning example of old German Riesling.
4. Zind-Humbrecht Clos Windsbuhl Hunawihr GWT (14.5%) 1989: Med.gold color; huge lychee/GWT intense spicy/cinammon/nutmeg some complex nose; soft off-dry (?) huge/lush intense lychee/ GWT/hair oil spicy nutmeg flavor; long/viscous/oily intense lychee/GWT finish; loads of intense GWT fruit but not much complexity showing.
5. Louis Jadot Beaune Boucherottes Beaune 1er Cru 1990: Dark color; deep pungent/smokey/truffly slight funky some black cherry/Pinot light pencilly/oak nose; tart rather hard/tannic pungent/dusty/truffly/earthy/damp basement some black cherry cola/Pinot flavor; med.long tannic/hard truffly/earthy finish; still a young wine.
6. Domaine de Baummard Quarts de Chaume 1995: Med.gold color; beautiful peachy/botrytis lush/ CheninBlanc/flowery some complex nose; rather sweet some acid lush/botrytis/peachy/botrytis/ apricotty tart/flowery/CB flavor; very long/lingering intense botrytis/peachy finish; loaded w/ botrytis but not a whole lot of complexity yet; still a baby of a wine; terrific Loire.

1. The Edmunds St. John Viognier was about as good example of a mature Viognier as you can find. Many people would dismiss it as over the hill because it had lost most of that Viognier/ pear fragrance. To me, I found a great deal to like in the smokey/pungent character that it showed, like some of the old Rhone Roussannes I've had. Even Larry Archibald, who shows little proclivity to liking the old whites I sometimes serve thought it a good wine.
2. The Eitelsbacher was a stunning example of what old German Riesling is all about. Incredible complexity and gout de petrol. One can only hope all these 2001 Germans will show this same degree of development with 25-30 yrs of age.
3. The Zind-Humbrecht GWT was an excellent example of the Z-H style; soft/fat/plush/underacid/ bit sweet w/ very intense fruit. But, like I often find with those wines, the first few swallows are very pleasurable, but then they start to become a bit cloying and fatiguing on the palate. Good in small doses only.