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. Heinrich Blaufrankisch Burgenland/Neusiedlersee (13.5%) 2002: Med.dark color; rather earthy/ grapey/licorice/jammy some pungent/tobaccoy/used fireworks(roman candles) attractive nose; rather earthy/dusty/metallic/rough/rustic/coarse very tart licorice/jammy/grapey some tobaccoy/pencilly flavor; med.long rough/rustic/hard/earthy licorice/grapey finish w/ some hard tannins; great nose but rough on the palate; maybe needs a few yrs age. $20.00
2. Ridge Calif Zin Paso Robles Dusi Ranch (14.9%; Drk:2/94-2/00) 1992: Med.dark color; terrific spicy/blackberry/Paso jammy/lush buttery/Am.oak fragrant nose; soft/lush blackberry/jammy slight tannic/dried-out/astringent/hard flavor; med.long bit astringent/dried-out lush/ jammy/blackberry finish; terrific classic PasoZin nose but drying out a bit on the palate; ready to drink up. $16.00
3. Jory Winery Pfenix Santa Benito County Cabernet Pfeffer RTW (12.5%; 90 yr old 5-acre vnyd/ CienegaVlly; 1,151 cs) 1996: Med.light color; bit fecal/sewer gas/diaper pail/funky nose that blows of to an underlying cranberry/earthy/peppery bit tired/aged/tobaccoy nose; tart/ astringent/dried-out bit sewer gas/funky/pungent slight cranberry flavor; med.short tired/ astringent funky/sewer gas slight cranberry/candy nose; pretty much on its last legs. $nc (DL)
4. Jory Winery Pfenix Cabernet Pfeffer SanBenitoCnty CienegaVlly (12.5%; 850 cs) 1997: Med.light color; some complex/cigar box/cedary/coffee grounds/tobaccoy/pungent bit jammy some Cab/ herbal/peppery/cranberry/spicy quite interesting nose; light some jammy/cranberry/strawberry bit tannic/dried-out light cedary/pencilly flavor; med.long bit astringent/dried-out complex/pencilly/cedary old Cab slight herbal/peppery finish; rather an interesting wine w/ some old Cab character but drying out on the palate. $nc (DL)
5. Jory Winery The Purple Gang Calif RTW 1997: Med.color; strong minty/eucalyptus/sage/pungent/ Indian smudge pot/smoked pork complex fascinating nose; strong sage/pungent minty/menthol/ eucalyptus bit dried-out/astringent flavor; med.long strong eucalyptus/pungent/sage/herbal some dried-out/astringent finish; really interesting/bizarre nose but drying out on the palate; drink up. $nc (DL)
6. Jory Winery Old Barrister Calif RTW 1996: Med.color; strong licorice/strawberry loads of fruit some pencilly/cedary/oak rather complex nose; soft spicy/licorice/strawberry/cranberry some cedary/pencilly/oak flavor; med.long cedary/pencilly/oak spicy/strawberry/licorice bit pungent bit dried-out finish; very interesting/complex nose but starting to dry out a bit; drink up. $nc (DL)
7. Jory Winery Mano Nera Black Hand Calif RTW 1997: Med.dark color; attractive pungent/licorice rather blackberry/gamey/spicy slight eucalyptus complex nose; very attractive licorice/ blackberry/jammy quite spicy/peppery bit gamey/raw meat slight eucalyptus slight dried-out flavor; very long spicy/licorice/blackberry/boysenberry/jammy slight eucalyptus/menthol slight astringent finish; seems like a lot of Zin therein; very lovely/complex/interesting wine; ready to drink. $nc (DL)
8. Jory Winery RW Central Coast Calif Sangre Del Vez OldVines (13.4%; PS/Carignane/Grenache) 1997: Dark color; slight volatile/EA very ripe/overripe/raisened/angel-food cake some late harvesty nose; very ripe/overripe/raisened/angel food cake/coarse very chocolaty/ earthy very toasted coconut bizarre flavor; med.long soft/flat overripe/raisened very chocolaty/toasted coconut/ZagNutBar earthy/coarse finish w/ little tannins; pretty weird stuff; much like a Cucamonga Zin about ready to crash&burn. $nc (DL)
9. Jory Winery Red Zeppelin Calif RTW 1996: Med.color; lovely/complex herbal/smokey hot dogs/very fragrant/perfumed slight strawberry/jammy bit alcoholic pencilly/cedary rather complex nose; soft/smooth/round jammy/strawberry/spicy light pencilly/oak complex flavor; long fragrant/ perfumed spicy/elegant/strawberry/cherry some pencilly/cedary/oak finish w/ light tannins; a beautiful/complex fully-mature/ready to drink Rhone blend; lovely & elegant. $nc (DL)
10. Jory Winery Red Zeppelin Cantral Coast Syrah Lion Oaks & Massa Vnyds (13.9%) 2001: Dark color; rather blackberry/Syrah/ripe/jammy/very spicy slight gamey/walnutty/chocolate cake very interesting nose; soft/fat jammy/blackberry/Syrah/strawberry/spicy/Nehi soda pop loads of bright fruit flavor; long very ripe/jammy/spicy/strawberry/blackberry/chocolaty bit pungent/ walnutty/earthy finish w/ light tannins; quite a nice/drinkable Syrah for a good price. $nc (DL)/ $22.00
11. Bodegas Estefania S.L. Tilenus Mencia DdO: Bierzo (13%) 2000: Dark color; strong toasty/ Fr.oak slight dusty/blackberry/fragrant nose; slight earthy/funky spicy/toasty/Fr.oak some blackberry/earthy flavor; med.short Fr.oak/toasty blackberry/earthy finish w/ light tannins; very much in the international-style of wine; attractive/interesting/fairly priced. $21.00
12. Orin Swift Cellars The Prisoner Napa Valley RW (15.2%; 53% Zin, 15% Cabernet, 15% Syrah, 10% PS, 7% Charbono) 2002: Near black color; strong toasty/Fr.oak/pungent/coffee rather blackberry/Zin/licorice/tarry very chocolaty/boysenberry/very ripe nose; soft quite toasty/ Fr.oak ripe/chocolaty/blackberry/boysenberry loads of ripe/intense fruit flavor; very long tannic/structured toasty/coffee/pungent/Fr.oak very ripe/chocolaty/licorice/blackberry finish; needs 21-5 yrs age; much like in the Turley style of old; big/rich/ripe but fairly balanced; fairly priced. $26.00
13. Radio-Coteau Russian River Valley Zin (Robert von Weidlich Vnyd/Occidental; 300 cs; 15.4%; U/U) 2002: Med.dark color; beautiful/intense blackberry/Zin/boysenberry very fragrant/perfumed quite dusty/old vines complex nose; very tart very spicy/lean/elegant bright/blackberry/ raspberry/Zinberry very/very spicy light Fr.oak/pencilly complex/elegant flavor; very long/ lingering very spicy/perfumed elegant/tart very blackberry/raspberry/Zinberry light Fr.oak/ pencilly beautiful finish w/ modest tannins; needs a yr or two but should last longer; tastes like an Occidental Zin made by a Pinot producer; beautiful Zin. $35.00                        
14. Montevina AmadorCnty Zin LateHrvst (16%; RS: 3.1%; SaH: 30%) 1978: Very dark/black color; very overripe/raisened/pruney/LateHarvesty bit oxidized slight blackberry nose; bit sweet very overripe/pruney/raisened/LateHarvesty flavor; getting pretty feeble & on its last legs; tons of slimey/black/gunky sediment. $11.00

1. The Jory wines were given to us to try by DanLewis, co-owner of Jory, who lives here in NM.
2. When I first saw the OrinSwift on the shelf at LiquorMart/Boulder I gasped.... the btl is a dead-ringer for a SQN btl; weighs a ton, wood-cut drawing on the label like SQN, a name that M&E would use. But the price was an immediate give-away that it wasn't SQN. Nonetheless, the wine was quite good and fairly priced.
3. Radio-Coteau Occidental: This is a Zin I've been dying to try. The vonWeidlich Vnyd is an old-vine vnyd on the north side of Occidental, not far from the SeaRidge/Eric-Ross property. This was the same vnyd that Ridge used to take grapes from to make their Occidental Zins until PaulDraper gave up on it after the '73 vintage because of the difficulty in ripening the grapes. It (and the LafondVnyd/SantaRitaHills) is one of the coldest Zin vnyds in Calif; nobody in their right mind would grow Zin here. The Ridge Occidentals were legendary wines, some of the greatest Zins ever produced in Calif. The Ridge Occidental '70, which I had 5-6 times is probably the greatest Zin in my memory bank. Huge/black/intense/tannic, often w/ a searing acidity to them that allowed them to age extremely well, though they were always pretty hard/mean wines in their youth. So I was expecting this R-C to be along those lines; huge & intense. Surprise, surprise; it was not. Though it has good intensity; it was a much more elegant/balanced/svelte kind of Zin than I expected. If anything, it had the incredible spiciness of DryCreekVlly Zin and the perfume of a great RRV Pinot. Small wonder, since the winemaker is Eric Sussman who used to make wine at Dehlinger. It's not your usual style to see Zin made into; but it's a beautiful/beautiful extression of Occidental Zin. One of the most exciting new Zins I've had in some time. A winery, definitely, to watch.    www.radiocoteau.com.  Trivia question: What was the old Italian guy's name of this old vnyd??
4. Montevina LateHrvst '78: A great example of how big/intense/extracted LateHrvst Zins can go astray. This was one of my ideals for a LateHrvst Zin when it was released in 1980. I was sure it would age forever, maybe even outlive me (well....that IS asking an awful lot of ANY wine!!). It did not. Pretty much a goner now. Have one left.
5. Blaufrankish: This Austrian grape is also known in WashState as Lemberger (what a marketing disaster THAT name is!!). The familial resemblance to Lemberger was clearly here in this wine, but it lacked to round/supple/lushness of most I've had from WashState. It's a variety I'd like to see growing in both Calif and Beaujolais.
6. Cabernet Pfeffer: This was a cross between CabernetSauvignon X ?? (nobody seems to know) developed in the mid-1800's (well before MY time...I have NOT followed this grape from the very start!!). It had significant plantings in Calif until the phylloxera pretty much wiped it out. It did survive and was replanted in the CienegaVlly in the early 1900's (again...well afore my time) and has survived there. Only about 10 acres reportedly exist. In the late '70's, the premium line of Almaden wines under the Charles LeFranc label made some CabernetPfeffer from these grapes that I recall being quite good. In fact, the whole Charles LeFranc line had a bunch of quite nice wines in it, much better than you'd expect from Almaden. Trivia question: Who was the winemaker for the Charles LeFranc line??
7. JoryWinery: I have followed Dan Lewis and Stillman Brown's Jory wines from the very start. They make a pretty wide-ranging/ecclectic bunch of wines; drawing a lot on their contacts and old vnyd sources in SanBenitoCnty. They've never had their own wnry and probably have their wines scattered on dozens of nooks and crannys betwixt SantaCruz and Paso. Probably even they don't know where they all are. Nonetheless, they've made a bunch of pretty interesting wines over the yrs; wines that I have, by and large, liked quite a bit. These assorted wines that Dan gave us to try were wines not meant o be aged. Some are a bit shakey; some have aged remarkably well I thought. The RedZep, making fun of RandallGrahm's CigarVolant (though they will assure you they are not and the similarity of the label is pure coincidence), has been there blended/ Chateauneuf-style wine in the past. The label now is supposed to be the focus of their Syrah wines. They have already realeased one 2001 RedZep from the LockeVnyd/Paso that I thought was a killer Syrah at a great price ($21). Alas, our inept (that's a kind word for my true thoughts) NewMexico distributor, WinePatrol, didn't not take their allotment and the wine never made it to NM, save the btl Dan gave me to try. This 2'nd 2001 RedZep (a bit confusing I think) Syrah comes from the LionOak & Massa vnyds in SanBenito/Gilroy. Not quite as good, I feel, as the LockeVnyd version; but still awfully good for the price. They have made some absolutly killer Sangre de Donohue/Lion Oak Syrahs from that vnyd over the last few yrs. Not what you'd call a stodgy/stick-in-the-mud type of operation. www.jorywinery.com  

   TomHill