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. Paul Jaboulet Aine Hermitage La Chapelle (13%; www.FrenchWinesSuck.com) 1989: Dark color; light roasted/dusty some complex slight Syrah/fruit/coffee rather Calif- style nose; smooth/tart rather lean pretty metallic low fruit bit tannic bit dried out flavor; med.long metallic very light slight smokey/roasted/coffee bit dried-out finish; this btl seems to be on its last legs and rather disappointing; very light and little Rhone character and little fruit. $50.00
2. Qupe EB Syrah Santa Maria Valley Bien Nacido Hillside Estate (13.5%) 1999: Med.dark color; beautiful/complex smokey/toasted/roasted/pungent some meaty/gamey some blackberry/ Syrah nose; soft/smooth/balanced lovely toasted/roasted/smokey bit meaty rather Syrah/blackberry flavor; long bit tannic pungent/smokey/roasted rather blackberry/ Syrah/ripe finish w/ some tannins; lovely roasted/pungent character but not quite the coffee/espresso roasted of NorthRhone; lovely/complex/balanced Syrah. $40.00
3. Kestrel Yakima Valley Syrah (13.8%) 1999: Very dark color; rather strong black cherry/ cough syrup earthy/dusty some smokey/coffee/roasted bit tarry some pencilly/Fr.oak very interesting nose; soft/lush rather tannic/earthy some tarry/root beer bit smokey flavor; very long quite tannic bit roasted/smokey/tarry/coffee bit earthy/dusty finish; not a lot of fruit but very interesting pungent/tarry character; more like a Languedoc Syrah than anything. $32.00
4. Ch. Ste. Michelle Columbia Valley Syrah Reserve (13.8%; www.Ste-Michelle.com) 2000: Black color; some toasty/charred/oak slight herbal/walnutty little fruit nose; soft bit tannic slight herbal/walnutty rather charred/oak/licorice flavor; med.long rather hard/tannic bit earthy/herbal/walnutty soft finish; rather hard/tannic and needs age but not a lot of fruit to carry the tannins. $25.00
5. Latah Creek Wash State Syrah (12.2%; www.LatahCreek.com) 1999: Dark color; bit minerally/ herbal smokey/oak/licorice very dusty tarry/walnutty some roasted complex nose; soft/ smooth tarry/licorice/pungent rather roasted/coffee low fruit flavor; long rather roasted/coffee/toasty bit licorice/tarry/walnutty finish w/ some tannins; very/very interesting/exotic Syrah that needs some age; lots going on here. $20.00
6. Barnard Griffen Columbia Valley Syrah (13.5%; www.BarnardGriffen.com) 2001:Near black color; strong cherry/black cherry/Pinot-like some floral/perfumed talc rather alcoholic/fumey complex almost Cab-like nose; bit hard/tannic cherry/black cherry rather Cab-like/herbal bit floral/perfumed talc little Syrah flavor; med.long floral/ perfumed talc some cherry/herbal finish w/ light tannins; interesting wine but little Syrah character; bit pricey. $34.00
7. Seven Hills Columbia Valley Syrah (14.0%) 2000: Dark color; pleasant plummy/grapey/ Syrah slight smokey/toasty/oak nose; soft/fat lush/plummy/grapey bit soupy light toasty/oak flavor; med.long soft/plummy bit smokey/pungent finish w/ little tannins; a rather underwhelming Lodi/ContraCosta-style of Syrah, some like the RHPhillips EXP Syrah. $22.00
8. Seven Hills Walla Walla Valley Syrah (14.0%; www.SevenHillsWinery.com) 2000: Black color; slight musty/corked/cardboardy strong blackberry/Syrah bit toasty/roasted/oak pungent nose; big rich some black cherry/blackberry/Syrah bit toasty/oak bit supressed flavor; long/big lush/blackberry/black cherry/cola/Syrah finish w/ some tannins; bit of corkiness marrs the nose and robs the wine of some character but there are some terific things on the palate. $32.00
9. Syncline Wine Cellars Columbia Valley Syrah Milbrandt Vnyd/WahlukeSlope (13.8%; 291 cs; www.SynclineWine.com) 2001: Very dark color; strong dusty/earthy pungent/ smokey rather roasted/espresso/walnutty some blackberry/Syrah/framboise complex nose; tart/rich roasted/coffee pungent walnutty some cherry/sour cherry/framboise flavor; very long roasted/pungent/toasty black cherry/cola/framboise/Syrah bit walnutty rather exotic finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; very exotic & complex and rather Rhonish in character; great wine for the price. $30.00
10. Januik Columbia Valley Syrah (13.5%) 2000: Near black color; beautiful blackberry/boysen- berry/black cherry/Syrah/framboise loads of fruit nose; tart very rich boysenberry/ blackberry/Syrah/cola framboise smooth bit cinammon/spicy flavor; very long loads of fruit/blackberry/boysenberry/cola/framboise/Syrah finish w/ fair tannins; needs a few yrs yet; very Calif in style and a dead-ringer for a Novy Syrah. $34.00
11. Reininger Walla Walla Valley Syrah (13.5%; www.ReiningerWinery.com) 2000: Dark color; strong toasty/smokey/oak bit earthy/pungent some roasted/complex slight chocolaty low fruit nose; tart chocolaty/dusty/pungent slight stewed tomatoes/ripe charred/ toasty/oak bit gritty tannins flavor; long tannic/astringent lots of charred/burnt/ toasty/oak some chocolaty/earthy finish; needs more age; not a lot of Syrah fruit but a very interesting bit eccentric Syrah. $34.00
12. L'Ecole No.41 Seven Hills Vnyd Walla Walla Valley Estate Syrah (14.4%; www.LEcole.com) 2001: Black color; strong pungent/toasty/charred/oak some roasted/ smokey/minerally some blackberry/Syrah quite complex nose; tart pungent/smokey/toasty/ roasted/Rhonish minerally/complex very lush/chocolaty full-bodied mouthfilling flavor; very long lush/ripe/chocolaty balanced strong roasted/toasty complex finish w/ some tannins; loads of deep/lush/Pisoni-like Syrah fruit w/ very good roasted/ pungent/Rhonish character; a stunning/complex Syrah. $36.00
13. McCrea Syrah Yakima Valley Cuvee Orleans (small % Viognier; 125 cs; 14.5%; www.McCreaCellars.com) 1999: Dark color; lovely/fragrant very perfumey very ripe rather blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry some roasted/espresso/walnutty bit vintage Porto/ grapey very complex nose; very strong rich/lush/boysenberry soft/ripe very coffee/ roasted/espresso porty/grapey complex flavor; very long/lingering ripe/porty strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry espresso/roasted/pungent complex finish w/ some tannins; starting to show some maturity but still yrs ahead of it; a stunning/complex Syrah. $45.00
14. K Syrah Pepperbridge Walla Walla Valley Syrah (13.5%; www.K-Syrah.com) 2000: Dark color; bit reduced/stinky/stenchy terrific roasted/espresso/very Rhonish pungent/cracked black pepper some blackberry/peppery/cold-climate very complex nose; tart big/huge/ extracted roasted/espresso/toasty/charred very cracked black pepper/Rhonish very complex terroir-driven flavor; some hard/tannic very pungent/roasted/espresso rather cracked black pepper/cold-climate complex finish w/ ample tannins; needs 3-6 yrs; a stunning very Rhone-like Syrah; reminds me of a EhrenJordan/SteveEdmunds/Alain Graillot-made Syrah with the best of all worlds; stunning/stunning Syrah; my favorite of an exceptional bunch of Syrahs. $45.00

1. Qupe Hillside Syrah: Always one of my favorites, year in & year out. BobLindquist takes the saignee juice from this wine and barrel ferments/barrel ages it in new Francoise Freres barrels. This light red wine (which is actually pretty tasty stuff on its own) is then back-blended into the primary wine to achieve to appropriate smokey/toasty level Bob desires. It's sort of an ersatz-Rhone roasted character that would never be mistaken for a real Northern Rhone/roasted character; but it does give his Hillside a unique smokey/pungent character that's unmistakable.
2. Hermitage: This '89 is a legendary wine and everyone had very high expectations for it. Some of the Francophiles in the group were waxing eloquent over what a great example of not-yet mature Hermitage it was. There were a few folks exchanging puzzled glances until finally one person (Dave Jablonski) audaciously tossed out the question "Does anyone else not care for this wine?" Suddenly there was a lot of backtracking by folks who admitted that the wine was not showing very well. Interesting group dynamics.
3. These wines were a selection of WashState Syrahs that was put together by Glenn Magelssen on a recent trip up to that area.
4. WashState Syrahs: I've followed them from the very start when I tasted David Lake's/ ColumbiaWnry/RedWillow Syrah from the barrel in '??. My first immediate reaction was "Wow...they're onto something w/ Syrah up here"!! Although I'm not able to follow all of them because of the scarcity of some, I always make an effort to taste all of them I can at Rhone Rangers and HdR. My opinion hasn't changed one iota on their Syrahs. A was expecting many of the early ones to be much like their Cabs & Merlots, with a huge hit upside the head w/ an oak plank. Surprisingly, that has not been the case w/ a few exceptions. Although I wouldn't characterize WashState as either better nor worse than the Calif ones, they are certainly different. They seem much more towards the Rhone part of the spectrum, but more Hermitage or St.Joseph than Cote- Rotie. If anything, they most closely resemble Margaret River or Victoria Shiraz than any others. Or maybe very good Languedoc w/o the hard tannins. The WashState Syrahs seem to display much more terroir than their brethern to the south. Or maybe the winemakers are more skilled at coaxing the terroir out in their wines than down South. And they manage to do it at alcohol levels that would be considered anemic down South. At any rate, we know that Wash State is making world-class Syrahs. After all.. the WineSphincter has told us so!!!
5. McCreaCllrs: I've followed their wines from the very start, when Doug McCrea first showed up w/ samples at HdR. I've been mightly impressed with thewines he makes across the board; not just the Syrah, but the Grenache, Viognier, and blends as well. And they seem to get better and better with each vintage.
6. 6. K-Syrah: I hah had a more generic labeled Syrah from this producer a yr ago that I stumbled across down in Atascadero, about $20/btl. I liked it quite a lot, especially for the price. This is the first single-vnyd Syrah I've had from them. Blown away by it; one of the greatest Syrahs yet from this country. Wish I had more to follow it with age. This guy better show up at HdR this summer I think.