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. La Conrevia d'Scala Dei Les Brugueres Priorat ViBlanc (14%; GrenacheBlanc) 2000: Med.color w/ slight copper tinge; beautiful/fragrant floral/honeysuckle/gooseberry FralichViognier- like complex nose; soft/fat/underacid very lush/floral/honeysuckle slight earthy/stoney very exotic/floral flavor; very long floral/honeysuckle/Sprite/7Up soft/fat finish; very exotic/perfumey wine but on the soft/porky side. From 100+ yr old vines. $25.00
2. Andrew Murray Vnyds Santa Ynez Valley Enchante (60% Roussanne, 40% Marsanne; 14%) 2002: Med.gold color; beautiful/fragrant/perfumed/honeysuckle rather peachy/Viognier-like nose; very soft/ fat/flat floral/peachy/Viognier-like slighht buttery/oak flavor; med. lush/floral/peachy/ honeysuckle finish; more like Viognier than Roussanne; beautiful floral nose but rather soft & porky on the palate. $22.00
3. Westerly Vnyds Santa Ynez Valley Viognier (EG; www.WesterlyVineyards.com; 15.2%) 2001:Pale yellow color; very fragrant/perfumed/Viognier/pear pure Viognierr varietal nose; soft/lush/ rich very strong Viognier/pear some monerally/Condrieu-like flavor; long pure/Viognier/ pear ripe/lush slight minerally finish; very clean/pure/varietal Viognier. $32.00
4. Garretson Viognier Rozet Vnyd/Paso Robles "The Duine" (14.9%; black stripe) 2003: Med.yellow color; very fragrant very strong peach/Viognier slight toasty bit alcoholic slight toasty/ oak nose; very soft/lush/rich very ripe/peachy/Viognier/rotted peach flavor; very long soft/rich very peachy/rotted peach/Viognier/bit pineapply finish; lots of very ripe/peach/ Viognier character. $nc
5. Garretson Viognier Central Coast "The Chumbra" (15.2%; RS: hint; 300 cs) 2003: Med.gold color; very ripe/peachy/Viognier quite perfumed/fragrant/aromatic slight minerally nose; soft/lush off-dry very lush/ripe/peachy/Viognier slight minerally almost botrytis-like flavor; very long very rich/lush intense/ripe/peachy/Viognier off-dry finish; loads of very ripe/pure/ Viognier character; great Viognier for the price. $nc/$20
6. Failla Viognier Alban Vnyd Edna Valley (14.8%) 2002: Light yellow/gold color; very light toasty/ oak rather minerally quite spicy/perfumed some complex/aromatic nose; tart very spicy/ minerally perfumed/aromatic/floral/pear slight toasty/oak flavor; very long very spicy/ very minerally light oak finish; not much like Calif Viognier but more like a Rhone Roussanne; some like an Alban Viognier w/o the charred oak; very interesting Viognier that needs some age. $39.00
7. Yves Cuilleron Condrieu Petite La Cote (13.5%) 2002: Light yellow color; beautiful/classic/ textbook minerally/Condrieu/Viognier/pear fragrant/perfumed/complex nose; tart bit thin/lean/ pinched rather minerally/Condrieu slight earthy/pear/peach slight herbal flavor; med. classic Condrieu/minerally/pear/herbal finish; a beautiful/classic Condrieu nose but a bit tight/ pinched on the palate; a good Condrieu experience at a very good price. $20.00
8. Philippe Faury Condrieu (14%) 2000: Med.yellow color; strong ripe/grapey very ripe like Lodi Viognier w/ no/little Condrieu minerality; very soft/fat slight earthy very ripe/grapey/porky no Condrieu/Viognier flavor; very short/fat/ very grapey/ripe/Chard-like finish; totally devoid of Condrieu character; more like an R.H.Phillips Viognier; a big/fat St.Bernard planting this sloppy/wet kiss to the chops; way overpriced. $56.00
9. Garretson Carolina Cuvee Central Coast White Wine (16.2%; 200 cs) 2003: Med.gold color; very strong perfumed very floral/honeysuckle very ripe/peachy lovely/aromatic slight volatile nose; tart very rich/lush intense/floral/honeysuckle off-dry huge/ripe flavor; very long/tart floral/honeysuckle finish; lots of very ripe character but tart & zingy on the palate. $nc
10. Turley The White Coat San Luis Obispo Cnty (Roussanne; 15.6%) 2002: Med.gold color; bit reduced/ stinky strong toasty/oak/butterscotchy slight floral/pear nose; very tart/hard/lean strong toasty/charred/butterscotchy/oak slight floral/pear flavor; med.long tart/lean/hard very charred/toasty/oak slight pear/honeysuckle finish; needs some age but not that much fruit lurking under there; hard to tell where this will go. $39.00
11. Louis Bernard Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc (13%) 1999: Med.gold color; very strong pencilly/oak fragrant/grapey almost Chard-like nose; soft/smooth bit celery seed/grapey some butterscotchy/ oak slight nutty/aged/stony flavor; med.short soft/appley/grapey/celery/herbal strong caramel/ butterscotchy/oak finish; interesting wine but getting a bit shakey. Steve's mystery.
12. J.L.Chave Hermitage 1983: Dark gold color; rather nutty/oxidized slight maderized toasty/smoky/ oak bit botrytis/complex/ripe almost Ygrec-like nose; smooth/round/soft/lush slight nutty/ oxidized/honeyed/stoney/earthy bit toasty/oak slight stony/metallic flavor; long rather nutty/oxidized toasty/caramel finish; a classic old HermitageBlanc w/ just enough nutty/ oxidized character to make it interesting. Blair's mystery.
13. Garretson "The Celeidh" Paso Robles Rose Wine (14.2%; 425 cs) 2003: Light red color; very strong strawberry/cranberry/peppery/spicy slight reduced/gunpowder nose; dry/tart/lean/crisp bright cranberry/spicy/strawberry slight earthy flavor; med.long lean/tart/zingy/crisp bright/spicy/ strawberry/cranberry slight earthy finish; a bright/zingy Provencal-like rose; great drinking. $nc/$18.00
14. Domaine de la Janasse Vin de Pays de la Principaute d'Orange RTW (14%; Syrah/Merlot) 2000: Med.color; almost Italian/grapey/Merlot rather earthy no Syrah rustic/earthy nose; very hard/tannic/lean earthy/dusty little fruit flavor w/ a nasty acidic streak; short earthy/hard/lean finish; more like a nasty Italian wine than a Rhone; skip at any price. $9.00
15. Fabrice Rousset Domaine du Chateau Vieux St.Joseph (12.5%) 1999: Med.color; bit corked earthy/charred slight roasted/pungent/toasty nose; tart/lean/hard no fruit no Syrah flavor; a mean hard little wine that may or may-not be due to the slight corkiness. $20.00
16. Les Vins de Vienne Cuilleron-Gaillard-Villard Cornas Les Barcillants (13%) 2000: Dark color; loads of intense/new/Fr.oak/toasty quite bretty/horsecollar rather violets/lilacs/fragrant slight roasted/espresso nose; very bretty/unclean/horsecollar slight roasted/coffee rather strong toasty/charred/new Fr.oak slight floral/violets flavor; med.long very bretty/unclean intense toasty/Frr.oak/burnt finish w/ fair tannins; totally obliteratec by the charred/oak and bretty/unclean character; way overpriced. $40.00

1. Walter Filiputti Dai Vigneti Dell'Abbazia di Rosazzo Monasterium Rosarum Picolit  ColliOrientali del Friuli (13%) 1999: Med.gold color; quite perfumed/fragrant very ripe bit botrytis/peachy very lush rather volatile/EA almost Sauternes-like clean rather complex nose; slightly sweet lovely/peachy/pineapply/very ripe/spicy soft/grapey/elegant bit hot/ volatile fairly complex flavor; very long/lingering slightly sweet light peachy/botrytis/ pineapply quite elegant/perfumed finish; best Picolit I've ever had; about German Spatlese level in character; lovely dessert or cheese wine. $51.30/500ml
2. Garretson The Berwyn Roussanne VinDouxNatural RozetVnyd/PasoRobles (17.1%; SaH: 40 Brix; RS: 4.94gm/100ml) 2001: Med.dark gold color; very ripe/rotted peaches very perfumed/honeysuckle/floral very fragrant/aromatic/grapey slight butterscotchy complex nose; quite sweet very ripe/passito-like honeyed/floral/honeysuckle very honeyed bit butterscotchy slightly hot/alcoholic flavor; very long/lingering very sweet intense floral/ honeysuckle/grapey some creme caramel/honeyed/rotted peaches/butterscotchy finish; a bit of alcoholic heat but a lovely example of a passito-style dessert wine.  $30/hl

1. Picolit: A legendary grape of the ColliOrientali/Friuli region in Italy. It was once thought to be afflicted by a "malady" termed "floral abortion", according to all the references on Italian wines. The "disease" was characterized by a very poor set, flowers that drop off resulting in bunches with very few grapes and uneconomically low yields. These sparse crops were then allowed to ripen to high sugar levels. I once did a Wines&Vines article on the grape. After conferring w/ ?? (Olmo I think) at UC/Davis; I found out that this "malady" was no such a thing. It was merely that Picolit is a sterile grape variety and relies on wind-borne pollen to polinate the flowers. Thus, interplanting Picolit w/ varieties like Verduzzo is the solution to this "disease" and allows for more reasonable yields. I try virtually every Picolit I come across, for intellectual reasons mostly. Of the 10-12 I've had, most have seemed to be on the clumsy/clunky side w/ often a bit of oxidation in them. This Filiputti was easily the best one I've yet had.
2. The Berwyn: This was a gift from Mat Garretson from his recent visit for us to try. Passito wines are a genre that I think should be pursued a whole lot more in Calif. In particular, Roussanne seems to be well-suited for this style of wine, maybe even more so than Viognier. This Berwyn is one of the better examples I've had from Calif.

   TomHill