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.

I was invited to judge by Wes Hagen this year at the Santa Barbara County Fair (the WINES... NOT the pigs and the goats... though I DO have some expertise in that area as well). So I managed to fold in a few other wine-related events along the way.

Visit With Craig Jaffurs

Arrived in Ontario late morning, got my car and immediately headed up towards SantaBarbara. Since I had plenty of time, thought I'd stop in SB and pay a visit to Craig's winery. This time I managed to drive directly to it, once I negociated the round-about coming off Hwy 101. In the past, I've twice managed to get lost, once winding 5 miles up into the mountains, the second time winding up 5 miles out to sea. Fortunately, Craig happened to be there that day, shipping out the futures order. Even got to see my 12 cases being assembled. Also got the opportunity to meet Dave, the new hired hand at Jaffurs. After catching up on a few things, I taste a few things: 

1. Jaffurs Stolpman Family Vineyard Roussanne 2002: Very strong fragrant/floral/honeysuckle/spicy nose; soft/rich/lush perfumed/floral/honeysuckle flavor; a classic rich Roussanne that should age well; rich and textured. 
2. Jaffurs Viognier 2002: Rather shy/closed light pear/Viognier/fragrant nose; tart/tight light pear/Viognier quite spicy flavor; both whites had been bttld two weeks afore and the Viognier was still recovering from btl shock; should come out fine. 
3. Craig Ho-Made Sauvignon Blanc Lafond Vineyard 1993: Rather tropical fruit/pineapply/figgy rather complex nose; tart figgy/tropical fruit/pineapply fairly rich flavor; from a Vineyard this far west, I was expecting a very herbaceous SB. It was not, a very unusual SB; still very much alive and tasty. 
4. Jaffurs Bien Nacido Vineyard Chard 1994: Med.gold color; some toasty/smokey/oak light melony some complex nose; soft/rich slight nutty/pungent/toasty/smokey bit melony/ripe complex flavor; a very slight nutty/oxidized character but still very much alive and going strong. 
5. Jaffurs Bien Nacido Vineyard Chard 1995: Rather dark gold color; pretty oxidized/nutty/tired no fruit bit toasty nose; somewhat bitter rather oxidized/nutty flavor; pretty much a goner. 
6. Jaffurs Melville Vineyard Syrah 2001: Med.dark color; very strong cracked black pepper dusty some toasty/pungent some blackberry/Syrah cold-climate nose; tart very spicy very cracked black pepper light toasty some blackberry/Syrah flavor w/ modest tannins; very much a cold-climate Syrah w/ very peppery character; very interesting Syrah. 

Tasting At Bob Senn's Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium

Head on up the highway and make my way directly to Bob Senn's Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium, thumbing my nose at Chris Benzinger as I pass thru Los Olivos. In no mood for rude treatment today!! Bob is off doing chores, but Lee is up to the task of taking care of me. I introduce myself and she gives me a quizical look, as if she should know me from somewhere.

So I try a few things I've not had before:

1. Silver Vogelzang Vineyard Viognier 2001: Light pear/Viognier fragrant nose; tart/lean/tight pear/ Viognier slight steely flavor; nice austere-style Viognier; needs some age. $20.00 
2. Huber Vineyard SantaRitaHills Chard 2001: Rather toasty/Fr.oak very ripe/melony/Chard nose; rather tart/lean/earthy strong toasty/Fr.oak pungent flavor; fairly priced at $18.00 
3. Whitcraft Melville Vineyard Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir 2001: Very fragrant spicy/floral/light cherry some pencilly/oak nose; tart/lean slight cherry/earthy/Pinot rather strong/pencilly/Fr.oak flavor w/ some tannins; a bit low on fruit on the palate. 
4. Domaine Alfred Chamisal Vineyard DaRed TW (50% Pinot/Syrah) 2001: Rather interesting bit earthy/spicy/ peppery slight cherry light pungent oak nose; rather strong toasty/pungent/Fr.oak light cherry/ peppery bit rough/rustic flavor; good-drinking red at $18.00 
5. Hank's Fault Line Red Paso Robles (14.9%; mostly Sangiovese) 2001: Earthy/dusty/rough slight cherry nose; tart spicy light cherry/toasty slight metallic/steely bit rough/tannic flavor; another good-drinking/rough red. $18.00 
6. Vandale Sangiovese 2000: Very attractive spicy/licorice/black cherry light toasty/oak nose; tart/ lean light cherry some toasty/pungent/earthy/dusty cherry/licorice/black cherry flavor; bit rough and needs a yr or two of age; interesting pungent Sangio but would like more fruit. 
7. Isenhower Cellars ColumbiaValley Syrah (14.1%; 15% CS) 2000: Dark color; rather chocolaty/licorice/ smokey/pungent earthy/dusty slight blackberry nose; tart/lean earthy/dusty rather hard/tannic some smokey/pungent/licorice flavor; not a lot of fruit but an interesting Languedoc-like character; well-priced at $12.50

Dinner With Peter & Becky Work

Tonight I'm having dinner with Peter & Becky Work, two long time friends from their coming to the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta with Dave Jones. They have started their own Vineyard in the SantaRita Hills just off Mail Road, with Pinot, Chard, Syrah, and a bit of Viognier. They recently ended their contract w/ both Babcock and Royal Oaks, so there'll be some primo grapes available this year, their first crop. Craig is hoping to take some of their Syrah for a test drive. They now have Jeff Newton managing their Vineyard, always a good sign. After a warm and sloppy greeting from the dogs, go inside to say hello. Their son, Don Schroeder, is also there. He is de-facto winemaker for Lucas & Lewellen Winery, in addition to making the wine for Wine@Work, or whatever their new name is to be. After getting caught up on things, we adjourn to the patio for a few wines and dinner: 

1. Palmina Bien Nacido Vineyard Tocai Friuliani 2002: Light gold color; very attractive fruity/fragrant/ pear/floral rather spicy nose; soft/lush pineapply/floral/pear very fruity/zippy/clean flavor; really quite a nice Tocai; I've been very impressed w/ Steve Clifton's Italian varietals made under this label. 
2. Melvelle Estate Santa Rita Hills (16.0%) Viognier 2002: Light gold color; very unusual melony/ celery almost Chard-like/appley light toasty/oak nose; very tart celery/melony/appley/pear quite minerally bit austere slight toasty/oak flavor; at 16% I was expecting a fat/DollyParton-style of Viognier, but this is an unusual rendition of Viognier; I liked the wine quite a bit for its unusual style. 
3. La Crema Reserve Pinot Noir 1990: Med.light color; rather smokey/toasty/pungent/charred/oak bit earthy/dusty low fruit rather complex nose; tart bit dried-out smokey/pungent/Burgundian low fruit; a bit on the downside but still interesting to drink and great w/ the grilled Cornish hens. 
4. Qupe Bien Nacido Reserve Syrah 1995: Beautiful smokey/pungent/roasted/complex some NorthernRhone slight blackberry nose; tart/metallic bit lean/hard/astringent quite smokey/pungent/roasted flavor; great nose but rather hard on the palate; this was the wine I brought and the rigors of the SouthWest cargo hold might not have been good for it. 
5. Work Santa Barbara County Syrache (60% Grenache, 40% Syrah; 13.4%) 2001: Dark color; lovely blackberry/strawberry/ Grenache quite fragrant light smokey/oak nose; rich slight bretty some smokey/pungent ripe strawberry/Grenache/blackberry flavor; a lovely bright/spicy red. 6. W Santa Barbara County Grenache (13.6%) 2001: Much the same character but a bit more bright/vibrant strawberry character and lighter on the palate; very nice/tasty Grenache.

The Work wines are two wines that Peter/Becky/and Don have put together using some barrels of Grenache and Syrah purchased from Steve Beckman. Knowing they are probably not some of Steve's best barrels, I thing they two wines show a lot of very bright/lush spicy/strawberry Grenache character. In the 2002 vintage, the Works purchased grapes directly and Don is making the wines at the Lucas& Lewyellen facility. They have one high praise from Bruno d'Alfonso and Chris Curran.

Santa Barbara County Fair Judging

Wes Hagen, organizer of this, the 2'nd Santa Barbara County Fair wine judging asked me a few months ago if I'd consider coming in to judge at the competition. Since my last judging gig at the NewMexico State Fair, when I had to slog thru the potato sherries and the red&green chile-flavored wines; I gave a tentative "yes" after pondering the offer for about two milli-seconds. Since I've followed SantaBarbara wines from the very start, back when Bob Lindquist, Adam Tolmach, and Jim Clendennen were making their mark up in LosAlamos, I guess Wes felt I had something to offer. I know it wasn't the good looks and charming personality!!

There were a lot of long-time friends judging here as well... Dan Berger, Russ Parsons, Bob Senn, Rina van de Kamp (work's at LOW&SE for a long time), Sashi Moorman (Stolpman winemaker, formerly at Ojai), Peter Hunken (Sashi's assistant), Diana Lee (Siduri/NovyFamily), Jeff Newton (regarded as the primo Vineyard manager in the Santa Ynez Valley), Lane Tanner (winemaker of some note), Bob Wesley (wine manager at Lazy Acres in SantaBarbara), and Mike Dunne (Food/Wine Editor for the SacBee. I hadn't seen Russ for some 20 yrs, back when he was food editor for the Albq Tribune, afore he stepped up to the LATimes, so we got caught up on each other's lives and mutual friends. Also serving were a few I had long wished to meet... Norm Yost (Foley/LinCourt/FlyingGoat winemaker) and KenBrown (ZacaMesa winemaker who started off Lindquist & Clendennen, now of Byron and Io.

I was assigned the panel that was lead by KenBrown, and included Rina, Norm, and myself. It was easily the best judging panel I've ever served on; very collegial in nature, hard working, fast- paced, no strong egos (though some decisive opinions), and we didn't once resort to fisticuffs to attain consensus. We were given four categories: 6 Mixed Whites, 9 2000 Chards, 10 2001 Pinots, and 6 RhoneBlends/Syrahs. A sigh of relief for escaping the potato sherries.

Wes' instructions were pretty direct: We were to celebrate the singular character and complexity of these SantaBarbara wines, not to focus on trying to pick out winemaking flaws, and to help guide the consumer to wines of unique examples of SantaBarbara's finest wines. This I thought we did to a great degree. Our panel, and most others I think, probably awarded medals (Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Double Gold) to some 90% of the wines we tasted. Some might argue that that is much too high a fraction. I didn't think so, given our instructions. Any of the wines that I awarded medals to were wines I could have drunk with great pleasure. I was struck as to the overall high quality of the wines and didn't thing there was that much separation between the DoubleGolds and the Bronzes. That is to say... use these medal awards as a guide to what wines to go out and try on your own, but I would hesitate about buying any of the wines, sight unseen, in any quantities. The medal winners are all wines I think can be drunk w/ a great deal of satidfaction.

After all the panels had completed their work (?), we were then formed to a single panel, en masse, to look at all the DoubleGolds and choose the best of Show in the various categories. In the whites it was a SauvignonBlanc (Brander Natalie), two '01 Chards (Lafond & Rusack), a '99 GoldenCellar Chard ('99 J.Kerr Bien Nacido Vineyard), a '01 Viognier (Curtis 2001), a Rose (Lucas&Lewellen Mandolino Rosato) and a GoldenCellar LateHrvst SauvignonBlanc ('99 SantaBarbaraWinery Lafond Vineyard). The '99 Kerr received the White Best of Show. I liked the wine, thought it was maturing very well, but didn't vote for it as I thought it didn't show the brightness & vibrancy I like in SantaBarbara Chard.

My vote in this category went to Lafond Vineyard 2001. The SantaBarbaraWinery LateHrvst SB rightfully garnered the Dessert BoS. It's a stunning dessert wine. I recall the wine as being 9.7% alc. It struck me as being much more like a Riesling TBA than a Sauternes. Don't know the price, but the '98 version, also a terrific wine, is $30/hlf. Quite a fair price for a wine that shows this degree of intensity and botrytis. For the Red BoS, things became a little more complicated. With 11 wines, and 18 judges; the BoS would likely result in a GeorgeBush type of victory, where the wine with 2 or 3 votes took the award. Lane Tanner made the brilliant (I thought) suggestion that each judge be allowed two votes; which you could award both to one wine if you felt strongly about it; or you could split your two votes if you found two favorite. The wines we reviewed were: 3 '01 Pinots (Foley, Casa Cassara, and LinCourt.... so two Norm Yost wines), 3 '00 Pinots (Brucher, Clos Pepe, and Gainey), one Golden Cellar Pinot ('99 Lafond), 1 Nebbiolo (surprise...surprise.... SantaBarbara Stolpman '98), and 3 '01 Syrahs (Beckman/Purisma, Casa Cassara, and Rusack). This was a much tougher flight to judge. The Red BoS was the Casa Cassara BurningCreek Vineyard Pinot '01. This was probably my favorite of the Pinots, with loads of toasty Burgundian character but lots of bright black cherry fruit as well. I split my two votes betwixt 2 Syrahs (dohhhhh!!), the Rusack and the Beckman. Both were loaded w/ intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah fruit.

The real surprise in this bunch was the Santa Barbara Nebbiolo '98. Not yet released, and they're sitting on a whole pallet of the stuff. Though showing that classic hard/tannic Nebbiolo backbone on the palate, it had a strong smokey/pungent/licorice somewhat floral/lilacs Nebb buquest. Definitely NOT Piedmontese, it DID remind me a lot of some of the Valletine Sfursats, which I regard as a far better model/goal for Nebb in Calif than Piedmontese. This wine is much like that first Eberle Syrah '78 was.... the first glimpse that the variety (Nebbiolo) has the potential to make great red wine in Calif.

The Lucas & Lewellen Rosato that received BoS Blush I was not that taken by. It was a pretty wine w/ a nice fragrance, but a bit too close to SutterHome WhiteZin for my comfort and I would have preferred a bit more dry and austere blush wine.

So..... it was a good morning's work. We finished up our chores (?) a little after noon. We could then adjourn to the back, identify a few of our favorites that we judged...and just sort of go hog-wild (Kansas term) amoungst a shit-load (Kansas term) of really good wines. This is did w/o restraint, though I was still using my cute little red spitoon.

They fair organizers than treated us to a classic SantaMaria tri-tip BarbQue and we all sat down at tables, got to finally drink a few wines w/ lunch, and visit with our fellow judges and the fair volunteers. I think Bob, Rina, and I finally closed down the place (not the first time we've done this) about two hours later, though it was a race to see if we could outlast Sashi and Peter.

A few of the wines I tried I thought were worth noting:

1. Casa Cassara Santa Ynez Valley Syrah (13.5%) 2001: Big tannic rich acid mouthfilling Syrah; needs age but packed w/ flavor. 
2. Gainey Lmtd Slctn Syrah (14.1%) 2000: Very dark color; tart bit lean/hard strong balckberry/Syrah/ boysenberry flavor; needs age. 
3. Hartley PurismaMtn Syrah (14.5%) 2000: Dark color; loads of bright black cherry/blackberry/Syrah light toasty/pencilly/oak flavor. 
4. Zaca Mesa Black Bear Block Syrah 1999: Very dark color; strong toasty/smokey some blackberry/gamey/ Syrah flavor; once a terrific wine but seems a bit hard & lean right now. 
5. Rusak Syrah 2001: Very dark color; attractive blackberry/ blueberry/ Syrah some gamey/complex/smokey nose; rich/ mouthfilling/ tannic blueberry/ Syrah flavor; quite an interesting Syrah. 
6. Santa Barbara Winery Lafond Vineyard Zinfandel (13.8%) 1999: Very strong cracked black pepper some blackberry/ Zinfandel bit toasty/pungent very spicy nose; big/rich tart black peppery blackberry/Zinfandel flavor w/ fair tannins; terrific Zinfandel much in the style of some Occidental ones. I had this Zinfandel last Fall at the Santa Barbara County Vintner's Festival and was blown away by it. Very atypical Calif Zinfandel but a killer wine at a terrific price. $18.00

Dinner At Hitching Post

After the judging, I took a leasurily drive back down to LosAlamos and Bob Senn's, where I would be staying that night. Rina is already there so we visit for awhile until Mark (her husband) decides he can't make it for dinner. So Rina departs, a take a short nap, and then Bob & I head own down to the Buelton Hitching Post, after changing our plans from the Casmalia HP. Joining us for dinner are Peter&Becky Work (after driving half-way to Casmalia), Peter Cargassachi, and Pam & Norm Yost. Surprise, surprise... there were a few wines w/ dinner: 

Foley Santa Maria Hills Vineyard Pinot Noir 1998: Med.light color; some eucalyptus/minty very perfumey/ aromatic some bright/cherry/Pinot some complex nose; tart spicy light menthol/eucalyptus bright cherry/spicy/flral/violets/Pinot flavor; nearing maturity; very lovely drinkable Pinot. 

1. Testarossa Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot Noir (14.6%) 2001: Dark color; big plummy/black cherry/chocolaty very perfumed slight pencilly/oak nose; soft/ripe/lush plummy/black cherey/Pinot light toasty/ Fr.oak flavor; soft rich lush classic BN/plummy Pinot. 
2. Work Syrache (60% Grenache, 40% Syrah; 13.4%) 2001: Strong bright blackberry/strawberry/chocolaty bit toasty/smokey nose; tart/lush strawberry/blackberry/chocolaty light toasty/pungent flavor; lots of bright strawberry/Grenache character. 
3. Work Grenache (13.6%)) 2001: Strong blackberry/blueberry/strawberry/Grenache cherry/cinammon/cloves light toasty nose; tart bright cherry/strawberry very spicy/cloves light toasty/smokey flavor. 
4. Siduri Santa Rita Hills Cargassachi Vineyard Pinot Noir 2001: Very dark color; huge black cherry/Pinot very spicy/cloves perfumed/fragrant light toasty/pungent/Fr.oak nose; tart very intense/mouth- filling black cherry/plummy/chocolaty/chocolate-covered cherries loads of intense fruit flavor; a huge flavor-packed Pinot. 
5. Gatti Piero Brachetto (6.5%) 2001: Dark color; very grapey/perfumed/aromatic/floral Aleatico-like very grapey/Lambrusco-like nose; tart slight frizzante slightly sweet intense grapey/chocolaty lopads of grapey fruit flavor; much like great Lambrusco; a good chocolate match.

We finally close down the place and head on out. Peter goes to sleep under his pickup whilst the rest of us head on home. Back to Bob's and crash. Up the next morning and back to the real world after a leasurily drive (as leasurily as THAT drive can be) thru Ojai, SantaPaula, and Ontario.

1. As I tasted thru a lot of the wines, one winery whose wines I particularly liked kept showing up.... Santa Barbara Winery/Lafond Vineyard. Long ago, when I first started tasting their wines, I had more or less relegated them to the category of nice/pleasant/fairly-priced wines, and paid then little more than a second glance. Over the last few yrs, I've been quite struck by some of the genuinely GREAT SantaBarbara wines Bruce MacGuire has been turning out. Especialy some of those from the Lafond Vineyard, out on the cold/western reaches of the SantaRitaHills, near Peter Cargassachi and the SeamSmoke Vineyard. Although they have a fairly high production level, the label is a bit on the drab side, and prices remain reasonable; it is NOT a winery to be overlooked for what they are doing these days.
2. I've had a few of Norm Yost's FlyingGoat Pinots and liked them a lot; more elegant & delicate than many of the SB Pinots. This was the first opportunity I've taken to try many of his Foley wines. Also quite impressed with them as well.
3. Santa Rita Hills / Santa Ynez Valley: Some mightly impressive wines are coming from these two areas. In particular, the Pinots are stunning. I think they're, on average, better than the Pinots, on average, from the RussianRiverVlly. And they show quite a diversity of style; from the more elegant/ bright style of Clos Pepe, to the big/massive/extracted style of Babcock & Siduri Cargassechi. I didn't take the opportunity to try many of the Cabernet-based wines. But I did try a bunch of the Italian varietals. The Sangios and the Nebbiolos have a typical large amount of acidity and a pretty strong/mean tannic streak. The fragrances are there, but I'd like more lushness and roundness on the palate. Whilst the Italian varieties seem to be floundering in other regions of Calif; they are seemingly embraced with much greater enthusiasm, for some reason, in the SantaYnez Vlly. A heroic job, but they seem to be charging ahead full-bore. This may yet become the area for Italian varietals in Calif. Those from Palmina are awfully good. The ones coming out from Stolpman Vineyard under Sashi will, I think, gather some attention. It'll be fun to watch. And, of course, the Syrahs from here are world-class. The ones grown out in the West, in the SantaRitaHills, are showing incredible promise. Cold-climate Syrah is where it's at.

TomHill