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. O'Connor Sauvignon Blanc Sisquoc Vineyard Santa Maria Valley (12.6%) 2001: Pale gold color; fragrant/perfumed slight herbal/gooseberry/perfumed talc/figgy/Viognier-like floral nose; soft off-dry 7Up/gooseberry bit NZ-like/grapefruity flavor; short/ light bit floral/gooseberry finish; rather a NZ-style SB; great nose but doesn't deliver as much on the palate; soft/fat & a bit K-J'd flavor. Well priced. $12.00
2. Fiddlehead Cellars Santa Ynez Valley Sauvignon Blanc Gooseberry (14.2%; www.Fiddlehead Cellars.com) VogelzangVineyard 2001: Light yellow color; light toasty/ oak somewhat shy/closed bit perfumed/floral rather minerally complex nose; tart/ rich citric/figgy rather minerally fairly rich/glycerined flavor; quite long minerally/grapefruity finish; very unusual rendition of SB; rather closed nose but great flavor; an intriguing/complex SB that needs some time. $35.00
3. Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium Santa Maria Valley Blanc de Noir (14.7%) Tantara Winery/SantaMaria 2002: Med.gold color; rather fragrant cherry/earthy slight cinammon/cloves very interesting/ exotic nose; off-dry soft/lush earthy/spicy/cinammon/cloves almost Chard-like flavor; long exotic/spicy/clives/cinammon/flowery finish; a very interesting/exotic wine at a good price. $23.00
4. Novy Family Santa Lucia Highlands Rosella's Vineyard Chardonnay (13.9%) 2002: Light gold color; light toasty/oak/vanilla fragrant/spicy rather Monterey/celery/melony/Chard nose; lush/crisp/rich very melony/Chard/celerey light toasty/oak very spicy flavor; med. tart/lush celerey/Monterey/melony/honey-dew/Chard spicy finish; a very attractive at a great price; very nice/low-key touch of oak. $16.00
5. Saint Clair Marlborough New Zealand Pinot Noir Doctor's Creek (13%; www.SaintClair.Co.NZ) 2001: Med.color; beautiful/fragrant pure Pinot/violets some minty very perfumed nose; tart very lovely floral/violets/lilaCabernet Sauvignon slight candied/ minty flavor; med.short floral/violets/Pinot slight minty finish w/ light tannins; one of the purest expressions of Pinot I've seen; loads of bright/vibrant Pinot fruit; good price at $19.50.
6. Byron Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir Nielson Vineyard (2.5tons/acre; #04734 of 19,956; www.ByronWines.com) 1999: Light color; very strong toasty/charred/pencilly/Fr.oak bit reduced some complex low fruit nose; soft bit candied rich very toasty/charred/ Fr.oak some Burgundian low fruit flavor; med.long off-dry/candied very charred/ toasty/pungent/oak finish w/ light tannins; rather RedBurg style of Pinot; bit priceyat  $46.00
7. Roessler Cellars Sonoma Cnty Pinot Noir (14.2%; www.RoesslerCellars.com) 2001: Med. light color; attractive pencilly/oak slight volatile bit stewed tomatoes/chiles slight Pinot/cherry nose; tart stewed tomatoes/cherry tobaccoy/pencilly/oak little fruit rather unattractive/weird flavor; med. stewed tomato/chile finish w/ light tannins; rather strange wine w/ little Pinot character; overpriced at $26.00
8. Roessler Cellars Russian River Valley Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir (14.4%) 2001: Med.color; deeper black cherry/Pinot rather pencilly/Fr.oak attractive nose; strong pencilly/ Fr.oak light black cherery/Pinot simnple flavor; med. pencilly/Fr.oak fairly strong black cherry/RRV/Pinot finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant Pinot but pretty pricey at  $35.00
9. Siduri Sonoma Cnty Pinot Noir (34% SonateraVineyard/SonomaCoast, 23% NelsonEstate/RRV, 21% Van der KampVineyard/SonomaMtn, 10% HirschVineyard/SonomaCoast, 9% SapphireHillVineyard/ RRV, 3% OlivetGrangeVineyard/RRV; 14.9%) 2002: Med.color; lovely pencilly/toasty bright cherry/Pinot very fragrant nose; soft/lovely pencilly/Fr.oak spicy/cherry/Pinot slight Burgundian flavor; med.long pencilly/oak bright cherry/Pinot slight earthy/ dusty finsih w/ light tannins; very attractive basic/Siduri Pinot. $23.00
10. Siduri Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir (15.1%; Pisoni, Garys', & Rosella Vineyards) 2002: Med.dark color; rather toasty/Fr.oak very spicy/slight herbal strong black cherry/Pinot nose; bit hard/tannic some black cherry/plummy slight herbal light toasty/oak flavor; med.short rather herbal/black cherry some toasty finish w/ some tannins; needs yr or two; good black cherry/Pinot fruit w/ bit of herbal/Monterey character. $27.00
11. Caernarvon Cellars San Lucas Monterey Cnty Pinot Noir (13.2%; SaH: 24.0%; pH: 3.64; 239 Cabernet Sauvignon; 30 yr old RioSanLucasVineyard) 2000: Light color; somewhat Monterey/herbal strong black cherry/plummy/chocolaty bit sweetish/licorice/coffee toasty/oak nose; rich sweetich/chocolaty/plummy/herbal/black cherry some smokey/toasty/coffee/oak flavor; light rather herbal/plummy/licorice/black cherry rather toasty/pungent/ oak finish w/ light tannins; very interesting Monterey Pinot at a very attractive price. $21.00
12. Hendry Vineyard Napa Valley Pinot Noir Blocks 4&5 (14.1%) 2001: Med.color; rather earthy/ dusty low fruit slight cherry slight toasty/oak nose; hard/tannic dusty/earthy/ mushroomy pungent/oak low fruit quite tart flavor; med.long hard/tannic dusty/ earthy finish; lacking in fruit & pretty hard/tannic; needs age but not sure where this will go. $28.00
13. Failla Pinot Noir Russian River Valley Keefer Ranch (14.2%; 400 Cabernet Sauvignon) 2001: Med.color; lovely/fragrant very spicy/cherry/Pinot slight stemmy/dusty/earthy slight toasty/ smokey/Burgundian nose; tart stewed tomatoes/cherry/walnutty/Oregon-light bit earthy some smokey/pungent/Fr.oak flavor; med.long earthy/walnutty/dusty rather cherry/black cherry/Pinot bit hard/tannic finish; needs 2-5 yrs; much like some Oregon Pinots w/ it's walnutty character; interesting if atypical Pinot. $41.33
14. Sea Smoke Cellars Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir Southing Santa Barbara Cnty (14.4%; www.SeaSmokeCellars.com) 2001: Very dark color; very intense black cherry/ boysenberry/Pinot rather pencilly/toasty/Fr.oak slight earthy/dusty/walnutty nose; big/extracted black cherry/boysenberry/Pinot huge fruit strong toasty/pungent/Fr. oak flavor; very long big/black cherry/boysenberry rather toasty/smokey/oak slight walnutty/dusty finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-6 yrs; a big/huge Pinot that'll be fun to watch it evolve. $49.00
15. De La Montanya Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Tina'sVineyard (14.7%; www.DLMWine.com) 2000: Light color; light spicy/fruity/cherry/Pinot slight funky/pungent some vanilla/oak nose; tart/lean/hard somewhat vanilla/oaked some bright/cherry/Pinot bit Oregon-like/dusty flavor; med.short hard/tart/austere light cherry/fruity rather vanilla/oak finish; needs age; Jame's mystery; interesting Pinot but overpriced at $30;
16. Babcock GrandCuvee EstateGrown PinotNoir (14.4%) 1998: Dark color; deep earthy/ pungent/slight reduced toasty/oak almost Syrah-like nose; rich/ripe/pungent/ toasty/oak black cherry/blackberry some hard/dusty flavor; med.long hard/dusty big toasty/pungent/oak finish w/ some tannins; drying out a bit; a big rather oafish Pinot. Larry's mystery.

1. Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium Blanc de Noir: Larry Archibald tried this at Bob Senn's and found it to be a very interesting/exotic wine. I concur. I presume the wine to be made from saignee Pinot juice. Most of these types of wine have a bit of color to them, the Vin Gris or Eye of the Partridge sort of thing. This was a golden/Chard-like color with a very slight/near imperceptible gray cast to hit; very unusual. I struggled to find any Pinot in the nose, but couldn't. But it did have a very spicy/exotic character to it that I really liked. An experience worth trying.
2. Novy Chard: First Chard I've had from Adam & Diana. I'm not much of a fan of Chard but this is one I really liked. The standard Siduri/Novy lament...didn't buy enough.
3. RoesslerCellars: This is an operation of Roger Roessler, owner/founder of the Season's group of Italian restaurants in Albq and elsewhere. Wine is made by Wells Guthrie, from purchased grapes. It'll be interesting to see what he comes up with when his own Vineyard on the Sonoma Coast come into bearing.
4. Monterey Pinot: It's no secret that MontereyCnty is producing some pretty terrific Pinots these days. Guess I've sort of followed them from the very start. In the beginning, Chalone was all there was. They were big, but a bit on the earthy/clunky side and not a lot of fruit. But good for their time. Then in the early '70's, there were a lot of planting in the Salinas/valley/floor. The early Monterey Vineyard ones of Dick Peterson were borderline vegetal, lots of green chile character, and loaded w/ very charred/burnt oak in attempt to emmulate (not very successfully) a Burgundy style. Now many from the SantaLucia Highlands are comming on-line and are quite impressive. Many seem to have a slight herbal/spicy undertone that makes them identifiable Monterey, but plenty of plummy/black cherry fruit so that herbal character doesn't dominate. Both the Siduri and the Caernarvon were good examples of that character.
5. CaernarvonCellars: These are wines made by long-time PasoRobles fixture, Larry Roberts. After making ho-made wines for a number of yrs, Larry transitioned to a professional winemaker a few yrs ago, though think he kept his day job. Grapes come primarily from the Rio San Lucas Vineyard, just south of King City on the southern border of MontereyCnty.