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. Bannister Wines Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Demuth Vnyd (www.BannisterWines.com; 13.5%) 2000: Light color; attractive slight earthy/cherry/Pinot Noir slight pencilly/oak nose; tart/lean/thin/hard bit dried out little fruit flavor; thin/lean/hard slight cherry/earthy finish w/ some tannins; pretty nose but hard & lean on the palate. $15.00
2. Siduri WillametteValley Pinot Noir Oregon (13.9%; 55% ShawMtnVnyd, 45% MuirfieldVnyd) 2002: Med.light color; fragrant toasty/pencilly/oak slight smokey some black cherry/cough syrup slight dusty/walnutty very attractive nose; bit lean/hard pencilly/smokey/oak light cherry/Pinot Noir/ cough syrup flavor; med.long cherry/cough syrup light smokey/pencilly/oak finish w/ light tannins; very attractive nose and a bit lean on the palate; fairly priced at  $25.00.
3. Siduri Central Coast Pinot Noir (14.4%; 69% Garys'Vnyd, 27% CargasacchiVnyd, 4% ClosPepeVnyd) 2002: Dark color; strong toasty/smokey/tobaccoy/oak black cherry/Pinot Noir/cola very interesting nose; soft/rich toasty/smokey/Fr.oak black cherry/cola/Pinot Noir slight earthy/Dr.Pepper/CrownCola flavor; med.short black cherry/cola/Pinot Noir some earthy/smokey/tobaccoy/oak finish w/ light tannins; pretty terrific Pinot for the price. $25.00
4. Dehlinger Pinot Noir Russian River Valley Estate (14.4%) 2001: Med.light color; some buttery/smokey/ pencilly btight/spicy/vibrant/cherry/Pinot Noir spicy/cloves/complex nose; soft very pencilly/oak bright/cherry/spicy/Pinot Noir flavor; long bright cherry/Pinot Noir fairly pencilly/oak slight earthy finish w/ light tannins; bit lighter than ptrevious one; classic/pretty Dehlinger Pinot. $38.70
5. De-Fin-I-Tive Carneros Pinot Noir (14.4%) P&B by Definitive Wines, Napa,Napa; 2002: Med.color; rather earthy/dusty slight pungent/charred/oak slight volatile some black cherry/Pinot Noir bit simple nose; rather hard/sour earthy some black cherry/Pinot Noir bit pungent/charred/oak flavor; med.short sour/hard rather tannic slight black cherry/earthy/Pinot Noir finish; needs age but lacks fruit; rather clunky Carneros Pinot Noir. $22.00
6. Siduri Hirsch Vnyd Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir (14.9%) 2002: Med.dark color; some toasty/pencilly/smokey/ oak slight chile/herbal very strong cherry/black cherry/Pinot Noir very lush/perfumed nose; tart bright cherry/cough syrup/cherry cola some toasty/pencilly/oak spicy/lush flavor; very long slight earthy bright cherry/cough syrup/cola/Pinot Noir finish w/ modest tannins; can use a yr or two; loads of bright cherry/spicy Pinot fruit. $45.00
7. Siduri Garys' Vnyd Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir (14.8%) 2002: Med.dark color; bit herbal/dusty blackberry/black cherry some toasty/smokey oak nose; soft some charred/toasty/pungent slight herbal black cherry/cola slight herbal/chile flavor; med.long bit herbal/plummy toasty/charred/ oak rather black cherry/cola finish w/ light tannins; nice touch of SLH/herbal w/ strong black cherry cola character; bit lighter than the 2001; lovely Pinot. $42.00
8. Siduri Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir Pisoni Vnyd (14.9%) 2002: Dark color; deeper/richer black cherry/ licorice bit herbal strong toasty/Fr.oak quite spicy/herbal/plummy more complex nose; soft black cherry/cola/licorice some herbal/cinammon/quite spicy some toasty/oak flavor; very long herbal/black cherry/cola/licorice bit chocolaty quite spicy/thyme/cinammon light toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; bigger/richer/more intense than Garys'; lots of spice & low-key herbal interesting character; terrific Pinot. $50.00
9. Joseph Swan Vineyards Russian River Valley Saralee'sVnyd Pinot Noir 2001: Light color; very fragrant/perfumed earthy/stewed fruit/dusty/cherry/spicy quite Burgundian/toasty/charred/oak rather complex nose; tart rather charred/toasty/pungent/smokey/oak cherry/Pinot Noir/dusty/earthy elegant/delicate flavor; very long toasty/charred/oak cherry/earthy finish w/ light tannins ; rather complex quite Burgundian elegant Pinot.
10. Longoria Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Vnyd TW 2000: Med.light color; strong toasty/charred/ smokey/oak rather bretty/funky/unclean bit barnyardy light black cherry/Pinot Noir nose; tart rather earthy/bretty/horsecollar/leathery slight black cherry/plummy/Pinot Noir rather strong charred/toasty/ oak flavor; med.long toasty/charred somewhat leathery/bretty light black cherry/plummy finish w/ light tannins; rather rustic & a bit too bretty for me.
11. Siduri Clos Pepe Vnyd Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir (14.4%; 3/4 tons/acre; 67 cs) 2002: Dark color; beautiful black cherry/cola/blackberry/licorice/almost Syrah-like intense perfumed/complex light toasty/oak slight earthy/dusty nose; high acid/tart rich/intense black cherry/cola/ blackberry light toasty/Fr.oak flavor; very long/lingering black cherry/cola/licorice/ bit framboise/blackberry light toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; loads of intense almost Syrah-like fruit & high acidity that should really make this a beautiful Pinot w/ age; killer stuff. $50.00
12. Siduri Cargasacchi Vnyd Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir (14.6%; 121 cs) 2002: Very dark color; beautiful/ intense boysenberry/blackberry/black cherry/cola/Dr.Pepper/chocolaty bit gamey/Syrah-like rather strong toasty/oak/charred complex nose; very tart/acid intense blackberry/black cherry/ cola/Dr.Pepper some chocolaty/spicy strong toasty/Fr.oak/charred/smokey flavor; very long/ lingering complex intense blackberry/black cherry/cola/Dr.Pepper strong toasty/charred/oak quite acid perfumed/complex finish; a big/huge Syrah-like Pinot yet still retains its balance; will be a killer Pinot w/ age; stunning wine. $50.00
13. Failla Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir (14.4%) 2002: Med.dark color; very strong cherry/Pinot Noir slight stemmy very spicy/cinammon/rosemary light toasty/charred/oak nose; tart rather hard/tannic bit charred/toasty/oak very cherry/cough syrup some earthy flavor; very long hard/tannic bit lean very cherry/spicy/Cheracol bright light toasty/charred/oak finish w/ ample tannins; seems to have a rather hard/young-vine character on the palate; loads of vibrant/cherry fruit but hard on the palate. $36.00
14. Failla Keefer Ranch Pinot Noir (14.3%) 2002: Very dark color; very intense black cherry/black cherry cola bit walnutty/stemmy/pungent some toasty/charred/smokey/Fr.oak very spicy/perfumed nose; hard/tannic very tart very intense black cherry/cola/cough syrup bit dusty/earthy some charred/smokey/oak flavor; very long very intense black cherry/cola/cough syrup/licorice bit walnutty/Oregon-like some toasty/charred/oak finish w/ ample tannins; made to be an ager; should be a great one. $42.00

1. Siduri Pinots: Wisht I could say I followed these from the very start. I didn't. I got first sucked in by Adam&Diana's Novy Syrahs. So I thought I'd give their a Pinots a shot whilst I was buying the Syrahs. My group pretty much fell in love with them (as did I) and we've been buying a fair amount (read...more than our fair share!!) over the last three yrs. A&D's Pinots are all stylistically similar. Yet every one of the single-vineyard Pinots are distinctively expressive of their terroir. The Garys' and the Pisoni are always got that slight herbal/SLH very spicy character, yet are distinctive from one another. I thought this yr's SRH Pinots were more similar than the '01 were. Both have a very zippy acidity to them that I think will permit long aging. And even the blended wines always seem characteristic of their origins... not to mention real bargains. A&D manage to express their distinctive winemaking style in the Pinots, yet w/o bludgeoning away the terroir of the grapes; a feat that not a lot of other wineries can accomplish. And the oak level always seems to be in exactly the right balance w/ the amount of fruit each wine is delivering. Some of Calif's most compelling Pinots.
2. Failla: This is, of course, the former Failla-Jordan wnry, until TomJordan got worried the wines would be confused as his by the marketplace. He should be so lucky!! Winemaker is Ehren Jordan of Turley/Neyers fame. Most people associate Ehren w/ over-the-top winemaking because of the Turley Zins. Nothing could be further from the truth. It's hard for me to put Ehren's winemaking style in a nice/neat/tidy/labelled box. It seems to be different depending upon whose hat he's wearing. His Failla wines are the hardest to categorize for me. They all seem to be made to age, though, both the reds and the whites. It's going to be fun watching how they evolve. His Syrah from Al Rago's QueSyrah SonomaCoast vnyd is, to my mind, one of Calif's greatest Syrahs.

   TomHill