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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.

Pinot Noir - July 14, 2004
  1. Sticks Yarra Valley Pinot Noir (13.5%) Coldstream/Victoria 2003: Med.light color; pleasant/ fragrant cherry/black cherry/Pinot slight earthy nose; tart bit lean/metallic/thin very light cherry/spicy flavor; med. light cherry/earthy lean/metallic finish w/ light tannins; a pretty little Pinot but doesn't deliver much on palate; much like a Spatburgunder. $15.00
  2. Patz & Hall Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir (www.PatzHall.com; 14.2%) 2002: Med.dark color; lovely black cherry/perfumed/floral some pencilly/oak bit dusty nose; fairly rich black cherry/ floral/violets/spicy/cherry cola lots of sweet fruit light pencilly/oak flavor; rather long perfumed/violets/black cherry/cola light pencilly/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a really lovely Pinot w/ lots of black cherry character. Bit pricey at $33.50
  3. Rustys Ripple Chuck Wagon Trail Riders (Mendocino PinotNoir) 2002: Med.light color; rather grapey/cherry/Pinot some raspberry/Zin attractive no-oak nose; tart sweet fruit/ cherry/Pinot raspberry/Zin fairly diacetyl/buttery slight bitter/sour slight tomatoey/ Mendocino flavor; med. buttery raspberry/Zin/cherry finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant wine w/ slight Pinot character and more like a basic Rosenblum Zin. $nc
  4. Jacques Puffeney Arbois Pinot Noir (13%) Montigny-Les -Arsures 2000: Rather light color; quite earthy some bretty rather Beaujolais/simple nose w/ little Pinot character; thin/weak some bretty/unclean tart/lean/hard/earthy little fruit flavor; med. thin/hard quite earthy/dusty slight Beaujolais-like fruit bit bretty finish w/ some tannins; plenty of terroir but not much fruit and quite unattractive as Pinot; way overpriced at $27.00
  5. Harlequin Hoodview Vineyard Willamette Valley Eola Hills Oregon Pinot Noir (12.5%) 1999: Med.light color; very strong toasty/roasted/quite Burgundian some floral/cherry complex nose; tart/ hard rather toasty/coffee/pungent/Burgundian light cherry/dried cherries bit earthy somewhat lean flavor; long lean/hard/tart rather toasty/coffee/smoky/oak finish w/ some tannins; still seems to need age; lots of smoky Burgundian character. $30.00
  6. Harlequin Hoodview Vineyard Willamette Valley Eola Hills Oregon Pinot Noir (14.0%) 2000: Med.color; less toasty/roasted/oak more black cherry/cola quite spicy/cherry lovely nose; softer/ lusher ripe cherry/black cherry/cola light earthy/walnutty light toasty/smokey/oak/ Burgundian flavor; very long lush black cherry cola/cherry/Pinot Noir light toasty/smoky/oak finish w/ light tannins; near ready to drink; lovely rendition of Oregon Pinot. $30.00
  7. Blue Jay Anderson Valley Pinot Noir (www.RoesslerCellars.com; 14.4%) RoesslerCllrs/Wells Guthrie/SantaRosa 2002: Med.dark color; slight volatile/fumey overripe/cherry/stewed fruit/jammy some toasty/Fr.oak nose; soft/fat overripe/cherry/lush bit toasty/oak rather stewed fruit flavor; med. overripe/stewed/jammy some cherry/soda finish w/ light tannins; lots of overripe character and lack that Anderson Valley bright Pinot Noir fruit. $30.00
  8. Londer Vineyards Pinot Noir Van der Kamp Vineyard (14.2%) 2001: Med.dark color; some floral slight geranium/pungent/toasty/oak low fruit some earthy/dusty nose; soft earthy/mushroomy light black cherry some toasty/pungent/oak flavor; med. very ripe rather earthy light cherry/cola finish w/ some tannins; rather strange/unattractive nose and lots of very ripe character but lacks the bright fruit; rather overrpriced. $36.00
  9. Londer Vineyards Anderson Valley Pinot Noir (14.5%; www.LonderVineyards.com) LarryLonder /GregLaFollette 2001: Med.dark color; rather pencilly/toasty/oak some black cherry/Pinot Noir bit chocolaty/ earthy slight wet dog fur nose; soft/ripe/overripe some black cherry/Pinot Noir bit funky/ rustic light toasty/oak flavor; med. ripe/overripe slight black cherry slight funky finish w/ light tannins; has a bit of funky character and rather overripe tasting; bit pricey for what it is. $28.00
  10. Londer Vineyards Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Paraboll Ferrington Vineyard/ValleyFoothills Vineyard (15.5%) 2001: Med.dark color; much more fragrant/Pinot Noir/floral/black cherry/cola light toasty/oak attractive/ripe nose; soft/lush ripe/black cherry/cola/Pinot slight earthy light toasty/ pungent/oak flavor; med.long soft/lush black cherry/cola/spicy/very ripe light toasty/ pencilly/oak finish w/ light tannins; best of the Londers and fairly priced; ripe but not much overripe character; good drinking. $28.00
  11. Labyrinth Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Vineyard (14.3%) Ariki Hill 2001: Med.light color; slight volatile/EA fragrant/BN/black cherry/Pinot Noir/cola light pencittly/toasty/Fr.oak rather perfumed nose; tart slight earthy bright/black cherry/BN/floral/violets light pencilly/oak flavor; med.long ripe/black cherry/BNPinot Noir/spicy light toasty finish w/ light tannins; nicely done classic BN Pinot. $28.00
  12. Ojai Vineyard Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Vineyard (14.5%) 2001: Very dark color; intense black cherry/blackberry/ripePinot Noir/cola some floral/lilacs rather toasty/pungent/smoky/oak nose; hard/tannic black cherry/chocolaty/cola/Pinot Noir/CherryMash very intense some toasty/pungent/ charred/Fr.oak flavor; long tannic/extracted/hard cherry/chocolaty/Pinot Noir/CherryMash bit floral/violets finbish w/ ample tannins; needs much age; a big/extracted style of Pinot that should be terrific down the road; an unusual rendering og Wes' grapes. $39.00
  13. Ojai Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard (14.5%) 2001: Very dark color; slight volatile very fragrant/perfumed intense chocolaty/herbal/black cherry/blackberry/floral/ Pinot Noir nose; softer more intense black cherry/chocolaty/Dad'sRootBeer/cola/Pinot Noir some pungent/ toasty/Fr.oak big/extracted flavor; very long softer intense black cherry/chocolaty/ spicy/herbal finish w/ ample tannins; needs a few yrs; a big/extracted Pinot w/ nice SLH herbalness to it. $39.00
  14. Brewer-Clifton Santa Rita Hills Melville Vineyard Pinot Noir (15.1%; 1728 btls) 2002: Med.dark color; beautiful very spicy/cloves/cinammon slight green olive tiny volatile/fumey very perfumed/fragrant strong black cherry/Pinot Noir somewhat Burgundian nose; tart/tannic/hard slight stemmy very spicy/perfumed/cloves strong black cherry/Pinot Noir rather toasty/charred/ smoky/oak rather Burgundian flavor; very long hard/tannic very spicy/cloves perfumed/ black cherry/cola toasty/smoky/oak finish w/ ample tannins; more bright fruit than the Ojais but very hard & tannic; needs age; love the perfume on this wine. $70.00
  15. Brewer-Clifton Santa Rita Hills Cargasacchi Vineyard Pinot Noir (15.6%; 1440 btls) 2002: Med.dark color; slight stemmy/herbal intense black cherry/cola/boysenberry some chocolaty/floral/ violets/Pinot Noir some toasty/charred/oak nose; big/huge/extracted classicCargasacchi/black cherry/cola/blackberry/boysenberry strong toasty/charred/Burgundian/oak very spicy/ perfumed flavor; very long charred/pungent/smoky/Burgundian/oak intense black cherry/cola finish w/ ample tannins; needs some age; carries the alcohol well; a classic Cargasacchi Pinot w/ Burgundian overtones; killer Pinot. $70.00
  16. Frederic Magnien Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Les Morgeots 2000: Med.dark color; slight funky/bretty/unclean/horseshit earthy/Burgundian light cherry/violets nose; rather earthy/tart some bretty/unclean light cherry/Pinot Noir flavor; med.long earthy/dusty some unclean/bretty finish w/ light tannins; suffers in comparison; rather earthy Burgundy lacking in fruit. Larry's mystery/$23.00
    17.
And the profundities of a BloodyPulpit:
  1. Rustys Ripple: This was a ho-made wine made by Trey Naylor down in RanchoJacona. He bought Pinot grapes from somewhere in Mendocino (doubt it was Anderson Valley). They couldn't ship the grapes immediately, so they crushed them into plastic tubs & then shipped. They were already fermenting when they arrived in NM. Trey grows grapes and will be making wine comercially eventually. He's also a big horse guy and does trail rides. This label was created for one of some organizations large trail ride get-togethers up in Valle Vidal near the Colorado border.
  2. Harlequin Cellars: This is a tiny operation up in Renton, WA run by a long-time friend, Robert Goodfriend. He used to own a restaurant in SantaFe (e.k.mas) that did wine right and was one of my favorite SantaFe restaurants. Alas, Robert gave up the hot stove when he was lured by the siren song of winemaking. He makes WA Syrah, Cab, Merlot, and Chard and Oregon Pinot. Very interesting wines all, but Pinot is his passion.
  3. Londer Vineyards: This is a new Anderson Valley operation recently opened by a former Albq wine lover, Larry Londer. The wines are being made by Greg LaFollette. They seemed like a shakey first effort and pricey for what they are; not showing much of that bright cherry character I expect from Anderson Valley Pinot. But Larry knows wines very well and I expect much better in the future. A winery I'll keep checking on.
  4. Ojai Pinots: I have, of course, followed Adam's Pinots from the very  start, up in the dairy barn in LosAlamos. It's been a fun train ride. The early ones were much more Burgundian in style; less perfume/more earthy/lots of charred Fr.oak. Since then, they've evolved into much more Calif in style w/ lots of extraction and lots of fruit; but structured for aging. These two were probably the hardest, most tannic Pinots at this stage I can recall from Adam; maybe even a little closed. Some like a young Leroy Burgundy perhaps. I have, however, let doubt they'll be pretty terrific down the road in a few yrs. Adam's Pinots are often lost in the din and clamor of his Syrahs; but they are consistently some of my favorites from Calif.
  5. BrewerCliftonPinots: I really loved these wines. The alcohol levels are high but they certainly didn't come thru as hot & fumey or tasting overripe. Big/huge Pinots but still much of that nimble skip in its step that Pinot should have.
  6. Cargasacchi Vineyard: This has clearly become rapidly one of the top SRH Pinot vnyds in an area studded w/ top-flight vnyds. Grapes have been going to AdamLee (Siduri), Brian Babcock and now Brewer-Clifton. They all seem to be rendering big/huge fruit/black cherry/cola Pinots from these grapes; though I would not label them Syrah-style Pinots. There's definitly some of that come-hither character in all those Pinots. I would be very interested in seeing what Wes Hagan or Norm Yost would do w/ those grapes. But clearly, Peter is one of the most intense/esoteric growers of Pinot in Calif.

 

And some dessert wines in honor of Jim & Nancy Holt's departure from Los Alamos:

  1. Jekel Vineyard LateHrvst Riesling ArroyoSecco Home Vineyard (10%) 1982: Dark murky/brown color; slight oxidized intense botrytis/peachy/apricotty slight pineapple/BanannasFoster pretty complex nose; quite sweet complex intense botrytis/apricotty/apricot syrup slight boxidized flavor; very long/complex loads of botrytis finish; despite the color, this is still in great shape.
  2. Beringer Nightengale Botrytis Napa Valley (70% Semillon, 30% SB; 14.7%; BarrelFrmtd) 1997: Med.gold color; intense figgy botrytis/peachy/peach syrup some caramel/butterscotchy/ vanilla/oak complex nose; soft very sweet very lush intense figgy/botrytis/peachy/ apricotty strong CremeBrulee/butterscotch pudding/vanilla/oak flavor; very long/ lingering butterscotchy/CremeBrulee/vanilla intense botrytis/peachy buttery finish; a killer botrytis wine much in the style of the Oz versions.
  3. Rare Wine Co New York Special Reserve Malmsey Madeira (19%) NV: Med.brown color; beautiful/ classic Madeira/oxidized minerally complex/fragrant/perfumed nose; slightly sweet very acid maderized (doh!!)/oxidized/minerally/complex/raisened flavor; very long/lingering tart/acid oxidized/minerally smoky finish; killer Madeira and a fair price. $41.00

    Tom Hill

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