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. Seven Peaks Central Coast Chard 2001: Med.gold color; some fragrant/appley bit spicy/perfumed/ aromatic/perfumed talc nose; tart spicy bit austere/stoney/appley fragrant flavor; med.short perfumed/appley bit stoney finish; I thought this might be a Pay d'Oc Viognier; pretty decent Chard for a good price.
2. Sea Ridge Calif Cabernet Sauvignon (12.5%) 2001: Med.light color; rather buttery/Am.oaked slight fruity/Grenache-like/strawberry slight earthy/smokey nose; soft light/mild fruity/strawberry/ grapey no Cabernet light toast/oak flavor; very mild rather bland red; I thought it some sort of Calif Rhone blend.
3. Qupe Lazy Acres Cuvee Syrah (50% AlisosCanyon/50% BienNacido) 2001: Dark color; rather earthy/dusty some blackberry/Syrah/cracked black pepper light toasty/oak nose; tart rather cracked black pepper/blackberry/Syrah slight roasted/pungent/toasty fairly tannic flavor; not that Qupe in style; I thought it a cold-climate Syrah; very good value at $22.00, only at Lazy Acres.
4. Edmunds St.John Calif Syrah 2000: Very dark color; very strong plummy/blackberry/Syrah some pungent/toasty/roasted bit black pepper slight bretty/Rhonish nose; tart/acid some green olive rather blackberry/Syrah/peppery some roasted/pungent/minerally flavor; very long pungent/roasted acid blackberry/peppery finish w/ fair tannins; needs several yrs yet; I thought this was an Eric Texier Syrah.
5. Bogle Phantom (OldVine 40% Zin/50% PetiteSirah/10%Mourvedre) 2000: Med.dark color; very strong plummy/blackberry/black cherry some pungent/toasty/toasted coconut bit roasted nose; soft/ lush very plummy some strawberry/blackberry rather toasty/pungent/smokey blueberry some hard/tannic flavor; needs 2-4 yrs of age; I thought it a big Calif Grenache or The Gourt; surprisingly big & tannic for Bogle; very good value at $15.00
6. Ojai Vnyd Santa Barbara Syrah 2000: Very dark color; bit reduced/wet army blanket rather toasty/smokey/pungent pungent/black pepper/boysenberry big nose; rich dusty/tannic strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/peppery toasty/pungent/smokey/roasted some Rhonish/coffee/mocha flavor; bit musty/funky nose but terrific on the palate; I thought is was an Alban Grenache; great value at $22.00
7. Chateau Paul Mas Coteaux du Languedoc (Mostly Syrah plus Grenache) 2001: Very dark color; rather roasted/pungent/toasty strong blackberry/Syrah some gamey/smokey/NorthernRhone nose; big/hard/tannic bit metallic intense blackberry/Syrah some dusty/earthy flavor; has that classic Languedoc hard/earthy edge; loads of blackberry/Syrah; needs 2-6 yrs of age; an absolute steal at $13.00
8. Chateau Valcomb LeSeirine Cotes du Ventoux 1999: Very dark color; rather earthy/gamey somewhat funky/wet army blanket strange lilacs/floral nose; tart/lean bit funky/wet army blanket/ musty (not corked)/rustic quite earthy some walnutty slight blackberry flavor w/ some tannins; lacking in fruit; the LaSeirine implies it's a Syrah. Bit overpriced at $19 but it may evolve into something interesting.
9. Clape Cornas 2000: Very dark color; rather earthy/dusty bit funky/green beans/walnutty some tarry/roasted/pungent some blackberry/Syrah nose; strong dusty/earthy roasted/tarry/ pungent/smokey light gamey/blackberry flavor w/ ample tannins; bit lacking in fruit but a very big wine that may become something great; needs much age; a gamble at $64.00
10. Clape Renaissance Cornas 2000: Dark color; rather dusty/earthy licorice/pungent/tarry somewhat gamey/minerally light blackberry/Syrah nose; tart bit metallic licorice/pungent/ tarry/earthy slight blackberry flavor w/ some tannins; needs a few yrs; better gamble at $35.00.
11. Clusel-Roch Cote-Rotie 2000: Dark color; very strong toasty/pungent/charred/Fr.oak/roasted very fragrant/menthol/green olive blackberry/Syrah fairly complex/gamey nose; tart rather menthol/toasty/charred/roasted/espresso blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah complex flavor; needs a few yrs; good C-R/Northern Rhone character.
12. Levet Cote-Rotie 1999: Very dark color; strange stinky/funky/earthy/green olive/walnutty bit roasted/pingent low fruit some complex nose; tart/lean/hard funky/tarry/green olive slight blackberry/gamey flavor w/ fair tannins; rather peculiar C-R; a big gamble at $50.00

1. The Sea Ridge Cabernet was a personal tribute by Larry to me, because of the infamous Sea Ridge Occidental Zin I love so much. The old Sea Ridge Winery folded and has now become Eric-Ross, also a producer of some pretty terrific Zins. When they folded, the name was apparently sold. The Cellared&Bttld address suggest that it's probably a Fred Franzia wine now. The label design is different, the wine pretty boring. The lovely Laura Chancellor spotted a $hitload of it stacked at Von's in SantaBarbara and, of course, the SeaRidge name brought my name to her mind. When Larry returned that evening to buy a bottle to use to needle me a bit, the stack was entirely gone and he had to root around (Kansas pig term) on the shelves to find a remaining bottle.
2. Qupe LazyAcres Cuvee: This is a blend Bob Wesley put together from Bob's single-vnyd wines for the Lazy Acres store in SantaBarbara. I was mightly impressed w/ the wine, especially for its price tag. A real steal.
3. Value Syrahs: For upper-teens/low $20's; the Ojai SantaBarbara and Calif Syrahs, and the EdmundsStJohn Calif Syrahs are no-brainers. Absolutely the best Syrahs around for the $$'s. Easily the equivalent of many $30-$40, even $60 Syrahs. And they seem to age for a few yrs amazingly well.