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. Giaconda Nantua Les Deux Victoria (85% Chard, 15% Roussanne; 14.0%) 2000: Med.gold color; strong very buttery/Fr.oak/caramel/butterd popcorn light melony nose; soft/fat loads of buttery/buttered popcorn some lush melony/Chard flavor; long soft/fat very buttery/Fr.oak slighht Chard finish; not the acidity I'd have expected from Victoria Chard; loads of buttery oak & not that much fruit; no hints of the Roussanne; way overpriced. $50.00
2. Chateau de Nages Vieilles Vignes Costieres de Nimes (Unfltrd; 14%; 60% Roussanne, 40% GrenacheBlanc) 2001: Med.gold color; lovely fragrant/floral/honeysuckle light stoney/ earthy/dusty nose; soft rather floral/honeysuckle/gardenia light stoney/earthy slight metallic flavor; med.long floral/honeysuckle light stoney finish; a lovel/fragrant white and a steal at $11.50.
3. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Viognier (14.4%) 2002: Light gold color; lovely fragrant pear/Viognier very perfumed/aromatic some spicy/nutmeg nose; tart/lean/bit hard very fragrant/pear/Viognier quite spicy/floral flavor; very long tart/lean fragrant/pear/Viognier finish; lovely fragrance and should soften over the next few months; very well-made Viognier at good price. $25.00
4. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Roussanne Stolpman Family Vnyd (13.5%) 2002: Light gold color; lovely/lush floral/ honeysuckle/gardenia very fragrant/perfumed nose; soft/rich/lush floral/honeysuckle perfumed very lush/round slight butterscotchy/hazelnutty flavor; very long/lush floral/honeysuckle light butterscotchy finish; more DollyParton in style; great value at $20.00.
5. Andrew Murray Vineyards Enchante Santa Ynez Valley (55% Roussanne, 45% Marsanne; 13.9%; 600 cs) 2001: Med.gold color; fragrant/lush very perfumed/aromatic very floral/honeysuckle light toasty/oak slight earthy/Marsanne nose; soft/fat lovely honeyed/floral/honeysuckle spicy/cloves/light toasty/butterscotchy flavor; very long soft/lush floral/honeysuckle light toasty/butterscotchy finish; loads of Roussanne character w/ nice touch of oak; great value at $22.00.
6. Turley SLO Cnty The White Coat (14.6%; Roussanne + Viognier/Marsanne) 2001: Med.gold color; slight reduced/pungent rather toasty/smokey/slight charred rather floral/perfumed nose; very tart/hard very smokey/pungent/charred oak/toasty rich/spicy/floral/melony/honeysuckle rather lean/hard/tight flavor; very long hard/tart/lean mucho charred/toasty/smokey/Fr.oak strong floral/melony finish; a hard/austere white w/ powerful Roussanne fruit awash in toasty oak; needs age badly; will be interresting to see how this evolves; more intellectual than sensual pleasure right now.
7. Titan Hills Vineyards Paso Robles Syrah (13.5%; "TitanHills Vineyards has long produced high quality wines..."); P&B by Paso Robles Cellars, PR,SLO 2001: Med.color; lots of pencilly/oak/buttery little fruit some raspberry/Zin nose; tart/thin/bit watery rather jammy/raspberry/Zin rather pencilly/oak/buttery slight herbal/green bean very celery seed flavor; med.short jammy/ raspberry rather pencilly/oak finish w/ no tannins; virtually no Syrah character at all; not worth drinking at any price; the Paso FiveBuckChuck?? $4.99
8. McManis Family Vineyards Calif Syrah (13.5%; www.McManisFamily Vineyards.com) Ripon 2001: Med.color; rather rich blackberry/licorice bit earthy/mushroomy/hot climate nose; soft/fat earthy/ mushroomy some blackberry/plummy/soupy bit herbal flavor; med. soft plummy/blackberry/licorice earthy/mushroomy finish w/ light tannins; a rather soft/soupy kind of red w/ some Syrah character; probably worth all of the $8.50
9. Andrew Murray Vineyards Esperance (40% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, 30% Syrah; 13.9%; 1300 cs) 2001: Med.dark color; slight stemmy some blackberry/boysenberry slight Grenache/ strawberry rather overripe/jammy bit volatile/hot nose; soft/fat rather hot/volatile very ripe jammy/strawberry/boysenberry very ripe fruit flavor; rather tannic fairly hot/fumey/ volatile very jammy/ripe/boysenberry finish; lots of very ripe character; seems hoter than the 13.9%; interesting if unusual red. $22.00
10. Alban Central Coast Syrah (14.3%) 2000: Very dark color; rather reduced/stinky/diaper pail nose clears to very pungent/toasty/burnt/charred/Fr.oak/coffee/espresso dusty/blackberry/ Syrah nose; soft/rich pungent/charred/toasty/oak some blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah; very long bit tannic strong charred/toasty/pungent/charred/burnt/oak strong blueberry/Syrah finish; needs several yrs; tastes like an Alban wine made from non-Alban grapes; not the brisk/zingy acidity his estate wines show; very good Jr.Alban at a fair price. $27.00
11. Rosemont Estate Show Reserve McLaren Vale Syrah (13.5%) 1991: Dark color; ripe blackberry/Syrah slight bretty/horsecollar light buttery/oak some complex bit light nose; soft/round rather spicy/blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/Dr.Pepper/cola slight bretty flavor; med.long spicy/ blueberry/cola finish w/ light tannins; ready to drink; lots of black cherry cola/cherry soda pop character.
12. Ojai Vnyd Calif Syrah (14.0%; mostly RollRanch + BienNacido & Vogelzang) 2000: Very dark color; very spicy/blackberry/boysenberry some licorice/cola/mocha some toasty/Fr.oak nose; soft/ lush licorice/blackberry/Syrah/black cherry/cola rather toasty/pencilly/Fr.oak very spicy flavor; long toasty/pencilly/oak licorice/blackberry/Syrah/Dr.Pepper/cola finish w/ light tannins; lots of RollRanch character; ripe & lush and a steal at $24.00.
13. Ojai Vnyd Santa Barbara Cnty Syrah Bien Nacido Vnyd (14.0%) 2000: Black color; very intense strange/Milk of Magnesia/bit reduced/stemmy intense boysenberry/Syrah light toasty/oak bit dusty/earthy nose; very intense/extracted hard/tannic dusty intense boysenberry/blackberry/ black cherry cola light mocha/coffee/pungent/toasty oak flavor; huge/extracted tannic very intense boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah some toasty/oak finish; very unusual rendition of Ojai Bien Nacido Syrah, almost like over-saigneed perhaps; doesn't have that plummy/black cherry fruit that BN often shows; a huge/extracted Syrah that'll be interesting to follow; needs much age.
14. Ojai Vnyd Santa Rita Hills Syrah Melville Vineyards (14.0%) 2000: Black color; very strong cracked black pepper complex blackberry/Syrah/spicy nose; hard/tannic/acid/lean angular intense cracked black pepper intense blackberry/Syrah almost metallic/salado/Barbera flavor; very long intense cracked black pepper hard/tannic intense blackberry/Syrah tart/acid finish; needs much age; classic cold-climate Syrah; going to be a killer Syrah w/ age.
15. Ojai Vnyd Calif Syrah 50% Bien Nacido Vnyd/50% Roll Ranch (14.5%; 90 cs) 2000: Black color; very intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/very spicy perfumed peppery/licorice/cola/Dr.Pepper complex some pungent/toasty/Fr.oak nose; big/rich/extracted intense blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah/licorice/Dr.Pepper light toasty/oak flavor; very long/lingering tannic intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/cola some toasty finish; needs 2-6 yrs of age; killer Syrah.

We had a couple of dessert wines to go with the Orange-Scented White Chocolate Cheescake to celebrate my daughter Rebecca's and her husband Jeremy's visit "home" (at which time she discovered "home" is no longer "home".... part of growing up):

1. Ventana Vineyards Monterey Cnty Botrytized Chenin Blanc (SaH: 29.6%; RS: 6.0 Brix; 13.8%) 1981: Dark gold color; very strong botrytis/peachy/apricotty slight herbal rather old Calif Riesling complex nose; tart slightly sweet very botrytis/peachy/apricotty slight herbal/ earthy flavor; very long/lingering strong peachy/botrytis tart complex slight herbal finish; a lovely dessert wine that's still going strong.
2. Chateau de Rayne-Vigneau (14%) Sauternes 1988: Med.dark gold color; slight volatile/cement vat strong Sauternes/botrytis/apricotty some butterscotchy/creme brulee/caramel some complex nose; tart/hard/lean bit earthy/dusty some botrytis/peachy/caramel/cheap Christmas candy some butterscotchy/oak flavor; long hard/lean/tart rather peachy/botrytis some caramel/ butterscotchy/oak finish; still needs age; rather hard/lean on the palate but w/ the BinghamHill Rustic Blue, it was a killer match.

1. Jaffurs Viognier: This wine was bttld about 3 weeks before. I tried it at the winery about a week earlier and it seemed pretty shut down & not much fragrance, even from the btl that had been opened several days. This btl was wonderful, showing plenty of fragrance. And a classic Jaffurs Viognier; restrained & elegant, not DollyParton but more Jamie Lee Curtis.
2. Andrew Murray Enchante: This strikes me has the best white wine I've yet had from young Andrew. Loads of Roussanne character. I've followed his wines from the very start. The early whites (Viognier and Roussanne cum Viognier) tended to be a bit heavy on the oak and slightly nutty/oxidized. His more recent whites have shown much more skilled winemaking.
3. Titan Hills: First wine under this label... so the "long produced" is a bit (lot) of literary license. Second label for Tobin James... maybe even a third label.
4. Ojai Release: Another terrific passel of wines from Adam Tolmach. The Calif Syrah is, as usual, an absolute steal; not to be passed up. The BienNacido is one of the stranger BNs I've had from Ojai. The Melville and the 50-50 are killer Syrahs. You just can't go wrong w/ Ojai wines.
5. Calif Chenin Blanc: Good ones are few and far between. The dry ones seldom show much terroir like they do in the Loire, are often NOT really dry, and rather clunky/soft and boring. By far, the best Chenins I've had from Calif have been the botrytis ones. It's a genre that should be more enthusiastically pursued in Calif for they can make world-class versions. This Ventana, on its release, was NOT a particularly impressive wine, didn't show a lot of botrytis, little potential, a bit simple. So I was very pleasantly surprised how the wine had developed w/ age; more like a Loire Molleux than a heavily botrytis Loire.
6. Santa Rita Hills Syrah: This is awfully cold-climate for growing Syrah. Most of the versions I've had thus far have shown a very distinctive cracked black pepper character. And they tend to be pretty hard and mean on the palate w/ lots of acidity; much like some EdnaValley Syrahs. It'll be interesting to watch how some of them age w/ their high acidities. Perhaps it's a Syrah that would benefit from a bit of judicious blending with riper Syrah. An Ojai RollRanch/Melville Syrah might be a mightly interesting wine.