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. Jean-Francois Fayel Balandran Les Mugues Costieres de Nimes (14%) 2001: Med.color; lovely lush Grenache/strawberry rather spicy bit dusty/earthy nose; soft spich/strawberry/Grenache light dusty/earthy rather CdP-like flavor; med.long dusty/earthy bright Grenache finish w/ light tannins; very CdP-like and a great value. $15.95
2. Jean-Francois Fayel Vieilles Vignes de Balandran Costieres de Nimes (Syrah, 14%) 2001: Dark color; deep blackberry/Syrah some spicy/earthy bit smokey/pungent/oak peppery nose; big/ rich/chewey dusty/old vines strong blackberry/Syrah bit roasted/charred/oak flavor; very long chewey/tannic strong blackberry/Syrah/green olive/peppery some tarry/roasted/charred/ pungent finish w/ fair tannins; much like a very good St.Joseph; needs 2-6 yrs; bit rough & rustic but a great value for a serious Syrah. $22.95
3. Eagle Point Ranch Winery Mendocino County Grenache (13.8%) 2002: Light color; lovely very fragrant/ perfumed/floral/strawberry/Grenache loads of bright/vibrant fruit nose; tart very lush/ bright floral/strawberry/Grenache spicy flavor; med.long loads of Grenache/strawberry/ strawberry soda pop finish w/ light tannins; just brimming w/ bright/vibrant/strawberry/ Grenache fruit; a frivolous/quaffable wine that I suspect will put on a bit of weight over then next few months; the antithesis of an Alban; a fun wine at a more than fair price. $14.00
4. Eagle Point Ranch Winery Mendocino County PS (14.1%) 2002: Very dark color; deep blackberry/PS some spicy/earthy/dusty lots of deep fruit nose; big/beefy/peppery very blackberry/PS slight dusty/earthy slight tomatoey light oak flavor; long/beefy/blackberry/PS/dusty light oak finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-6 yrs; lots of spicy/blackberry fruit for PS and not rough/clunky like many are; one of the best Mendocino PS I've had; what Casey calls his "wet T-Shirt" wine. $24.00
5. Eagle Point Ranch Winery Mendocino County Syrah (13.9%; www.EaglepointRanch.com) 1999: Med.dark color; slight herbal/earthy/dusty some blackberry/Syrah/spicy slight spicy/tomatoey nose; tart bit Mendocino/tomatoey slight earthy/dusty some black cherry/blackberry/Syrah flavor; med.long bit tannic tomatoey/Mendocino/spicy rather black cherry/blackberry finish; a somewhat rough/rustic rendition of Syrah, more like a PS style Syrah. $22.00
6. Eagle Point Ranch Winery Mendocino County Syrah (13.9%) 2000: Med.dark color; strong smokey/pungent strong black cherry/blackberry/Syrah much more spicy/perfumed nose; tart more spicy bit tomatoey strong black cherry/blackberry/Syrah slight earthy/dusty flavor; long slightly pungent/smokey bit earthy/dusty strong black cherry/Syrah finish w/ some tannins; displays more more competent winemaking over the '99; almost a St.Joseph style of Calif Syrah; very interesting & well-made Syrah at a great price. $20.00
7. Ceago Vinegarden Estate Grown Dry Farmed Biodynamically Grown Grapes Petite Sirah Mendocino County (13.5%; 24 yr old vines; Hrvstd: Sept28&29 at 24.6Brix; 600 cs; www.Ceago.com) Jim Fetzer 2000: Med.dark color; rather Mendocino/tomatoey slight volatile/ perfumed some black cherry/cherry/peppery/spicy light earthy rather Zin-like nose; soft some buttery/Am.oaked light black cherry/peppery/PS light tomatoey/earthy flavor; med.short buttery/Am.oak light peppery/spicy/cherry/PS finish w/ light tannins; interesting/well-made PS much in the style his Dad made in the mid-'70's. $24.00
8. McDowell Valley Vnyds Seabiscuit Mendocino County Syrah (14.5%) 2001: Med.dark color; rather charred/ burnt/oak/smokey slight herbal/celerey seed slight pungent/boysenberry/Syrah rather weird nose; soft some meaty/gamey light blackberry/Syrah quite smokey/pungent/charred/burnt/oak slight roasted/pungent slight tomatoey flavor; med.long very charred/toasty/burnt/oak rather pungent/roasted finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; best McDowell Syrah in a fair number of yrs; very interesting if weird Syrah; way overpriced at $45.00.
9. Laurel Hill Estate Shiraz Alexander Valley Exsil Vnyd (14.5%) 2000: Med.dark color; rather herbal/ spicy mostly Cab-like/little Syrah some light/oaked nose; soft/fat bit buttery/oak rather Cab/herbal some perfumed talc flavor; med.short soft/fat herbal/Cab finish w/ little tannins; a rather dull AlexVlly Cab and no Syrah character to speak of. $24.00
10. Armagh Wines Armagh Sonoma Coast Syrah Chileno Valley 2000: Med.dark color; quite stinky/fecal/ very reduced quite toasty/burnt/charred/oak nose claers some to Graillot-like/pungent/smokey/ toasty/charred/oaked bit roasted slight green olive/blackberry/Syrah nose; soft strong charred/ toasty/burnt/pungent/roasted slight blackberry/Syrah flavor; long bit roasted quite burnt/ charred/pungent finish w/ light tannins; rather Graillot-like but woefully lacking both fruit and structure; peretty bizarre Syrah. $27.00
11. Skewis Russian River Valley Syrah Salzgeber Vnyd (13.4%; 18 mo. in FrenchOak; 130 cs; www.SkewisWines.com) 1999: Dark color; rather horsecollar/bretty/pungent pretty funky/ Burgundian/toasty complex/strange nose; tart very barnyardy/bretty/horsecollar little Syrah slight cherry rather toasty/oak flavor; long bretty/funky/barnyardy finish w/ light tannins; overpriced and much too unclean for my tastes. $30.00
12. Leeuwin Estate ArtSeries Margaret River Shiraz (14.5%) 1999: Dark color; very dusty/earthy slight peppery/cracked black pepper/pungent/walnutty herbal little fruit strange nose; tart austere low fruit earthy/dusty/walnutty/peppery slight bretty flavor; med.long very dusty/ earthy no fruit very austere finish w/ fair tannins; pretty lacking in fruit; interesting but doubtful aging potential; pricey at $29.00.
13. Paraiso Monterey Cnty Santa Lucia Highlands Syrah (14%; www.ParaisoVineyards.com) 2000: Dark color; rather herbal/plummy chocolaty/black cherry dusty some toasty/oak nose; soft very plummy/chocolaty/boysenberry/Syrah some herbal light/toasty/Fr.oak flavor; med. soft/fat plummy/chocolaty light toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; a bit on the soft & soupy side; some like a lessser Novy SLH Syrah; decent value. $15.70
14. Garretson The Reliquary Central Coast (15.2%; 67% Syrah, 20% Grenache, 8% Mourvedre, 5% Viognier) 2001: Black color; beautiful/intense roasted/pungent/coffee/mocha intense boysenberry/Dr.Pepper/cola/blackberry/licorice very complex nose; huge/rich boysenberry/ Dr.Pepper/spicy/blackberry coffee/roasted some toasty/pungent/Fr.oak complex flavor; very long lingering boysenberry/Dr.Pepper/mocha/coffee/black cherry/cola/Dr.Pepper/RC Cola some toasty/Fr.oak finish w/ fair tannins; a huge/complex blend packed w/ fruit & flavor; one of the best CdP-style blends I've had from Calif; mightly impressive wine; on the pricey side but probably worth it. $75.00
15. Quinta da Carvalhosa Testa Bianca Campo Ardosa  Duoro/Portugal VinhoTinto (13.5%) 2000: Black color; very spicy/pungent toasty/charred very licorice/boysenberry/loganberry very ripe nose; dry very ripe licorice/pungent/very spicy rather toasty/pungent/oaked some smokey/earthy bit Port-like rather hard/astringent flavor; very long ripe/pungent/licorice smokey/toasty/oak finish w/ ample tannins; very much like a dry Port; big/extracted/rough red that badly needs age; fairly priced at  $29.00.
16. Wynn's Coonawarrs Estate Michael Coonawarra Shiraz (13.0%) 1993: Black color; strong blueberry/ Syrah strong vanilla/oak rather toasty/pungent/charred bit complex nose; tart/hard bit dried- out very vanilla/oak bit blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah toasty/pungent bit hard flavor; long very vanilla/Am.oak some boysenberry/blackberry finish w/ some tannins; lots of Am.oak/vanilla/ Oz character but seems to be drying out a bit on the palate. Larry's mystery. $28.99

1. EaglePoint Grenache: Casey snagged me out of the crowd at RhoneRangers in March and wanted me to try his new Grenache. I was mightly impressed with the loads of effusive fruit the barrel sample showed. Tried it again at HdR w/ much the same result. I'm glad to see it went to btl whilst it still had all that lush fruit. Not a style that'll appeal to those looking for "serious" Grenache a la Alban or Clarendon or d'Arenberg; but it's going to make for some fun drinking this Spring & Summer. A Mary Carey Grenache w/ lots of bounce and pizzazz. He has a new/larger block of Grenache coming on line w/ this yr's harvest. So more Eaglepoint Grenache down the road. Some will be going to Wells Guthrie at Copain, so it'll be interesting to see how Wells interprets that fruit.
2. Eaglepoint Ranch: I did a visit to Eaglepoint & Casey Hartlip a month ago when I was out there in Calif; partly because I've been impressed w/ some of the wines from his grapes I've tried, partly to see what's doing up in Mendocino County. It's a vnyd way up in the mountains, overlooking the UkiahVlly. Obviously much cooler than down below. With his contract with K-J going away after this year, I'm hoping these terrific grapes find their way into the hands of more small winemakers like Wells and Kent Rosenblum. Would love to see what Mike Officer could do with Casey's PS and Syrah and Zin. And Steve Edmunds as well.
3. MendocinoReds: Back in the '70's, there were some first-rate reds being made up in Mendocino by Jed Steele at Edmeades, Greg Graziano and Jim Milone at Milano, and Barney Fetzer and RidgeVnyds; Zins/PSs/Cabs/Carignanes as good as anywhere in Calif. And then things sorta went to hell in a handbasket, with Fetzer and Parducci sort of being the county's flagbearer. It became sort of a vinous backwash in Calif, except for the Pinot grown up in the Anderson Vlly. Those things need to change. There are a few glimmerings of a rennasiance up there, but hardly the resurgence that is possible. Mendocino has some great growing conditions and some terrific vnyds. It behooves winemakers outside the area to recognize that; that some pretty extraordinary grapes can be had at reasonable prices. I, for one, hopes it happens. In some Mendocino reds, I find a kind of a tomatoey/spicy tomato sauce character. This tasting had far more Mendocino wines than I usually have and I found it in several of these. It's something I kind of like in those wines. Must be that terroir thing again.
4. Garretson Reliquary Red: Had this wine at HdR as I recall and don't remember being particularly impressed with it. But this bottle was absolutely amazing; one of the best Rhone-blends from Calif I've had. Reminded me a bit of Manfred's SQN reds but w/ more richness and lushness to it. A stunning wine.
5. From ClassicWines/Seattle Web Site on Quinta da Carvalhosa: As if his superlative Rieslings were not privilege enough for us to represent, we are now the lucky recipients of Bernhard Breuer's latest estate project in Portugal's Alto Douro region. Together with the three Duero estates of Alejandro Fernández, Campo Ardosa completes our representation of this great wine river's range of world-class red wines. The twenty-acre hillside estate is planted to Portugese varieties Tinta Roriz, Touriga Francese, Touriga Nacional and Tinta Barocca. The biodynamic style is opulent, structured and concentrated, with malolactic and two years' aging in French barriques, bottled without filtration. Among the most important new wine releases in 2003. Guess I'd quibble w/ that last statement a bit.