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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.

New Rhône Wines - September 29, 2004
  1. Domaine de Couron Cote du Rhone Viognier (14%) Jean-Luc & Marie-Lise Dorthe 2003: Pale gold color; attractive/ fragrant pear/Viognier slight earthy nose; fairly rich slight toasty low key/pear/Viognier bit earthy/minerally somewhat bitter flavor; med.long light pear/Viognier rather bitter finish; pleasant nose but too bitter on the palate.
  2. Garretson Calif Roussanne The T aistela (14.8%; Lake County; 430 cs) 2003: Pale/med. gold color; very perfumed/fragrant/near-volatile intense floral/honeysuckle/jasmine almost Viognier-like aromatic nose; soft/fat off-dry (?) very lush/ripe intense floral/honeysuckle/perfumed flavor; very long soft/lush intense floral/honeysuckle finish; big/powerful incredibly aromatic almost Viognier-like wine for the near term; very much a DP style; best Lake Cnty wine I've ever had.
  3. Ch. Beauchene Les Seys de Syrah Cote du Rhone (13%; www.WineAdventures.com) Piolenc/France 2003: Med.dark color; very strong grapey/jammy loads of ripe berry fruit rather Oz-like nose; soft/fat/flabby very overripe/jammy blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah some bitter/metallic flavor; short some bitter very ripe/overripe jammy/Syrah flabby finish w/ no tannins; very Oz or 2$Chuck like Syrah.
  4. Andre Brunel Cote du Rhone-Villages Cuvee Sabrine (13.5%) 2001: Med.color; strong strawberry/Grenache bit earthy attractive Cote du Rhone nose; tart earthy/dusty bright strawberry/Grenache/garrigue flavor; med.long strawberry/Grenache light dusty/earthy finish w/ light tannins; attractive CdP Jr. wine. $18.00
  5. Betts & Scholl Barossa Valley Grenache (www.BettsandScholl.com; 14.9%) 2001: Med.light color; strong jammy/strawberry/grapey/Grenache light Am.oak pretty nose; tart/bright very strawberry/Grenache/ Alpine strawberries some spicy/Am.oak/vanilla flavor med.long bright strawberry/Grenache finish w/ light tannins; a bright/zippy/attractive Oz Grenache. $23.00
  6. Tulocay El Dorado Syrah (13.4%) 2002: Dark color; strong mushroomy/dusty/earthy rather Rhonish bit funky some toasty/oak slight herbal some blackberry/Syrah interesting nose; tart bit rough/hard/ tannic classic ElDorado/mushroomy/earthy some blueberry/Syrah light toasty/pungent flavor; med.long rough/tannic mushroomy/blueberry finish w/ fair tannins; needs several yrs; classic ElDorado terroir w/ a bit of SouthernRhone funk to it; well priced at $21.00
  7. Scali Syrah Paarl Wine of Origin (14.0%; 9 brls) 2001: Near black color; strong toasty/pungent/ charred/oak slight roasted/coffee lovely/strong framboise/exotic nose; rough/coarse/sour quite toasty/charred/burnt/oak light framboise rather hard/tannic/gritty bit unclean/bretty flavor; long hard/rough/gritty/tannic light framboise bit bretty/unclean/funky quite sour finish; needs a lot of age; very exotic nose but unattractive on the palate; almost Pinotage in character; a rather strange and unlikable wine. Too expensive at $30.00.
  8. Peju Province Napa Valley Syrah Persephone Ranch (EB; 13.5%) 2000: Med.dark color; slight licorice/ toasty/pungent light blackberry/Syrah somewhat buttery/oak nose; soft light blackberry/Syrah some buttery/toasty/oak/pungent simple flavor; med.short soft buttery/oak light blackberry/Syrah finish w/ light tannins; rather simple/boring Syrah and way overpriced at $34.00.
  9. X Winery Paso Robles Petite Sirah (268 cs; 13.9%; www.XWinery.com) 2002: Black color; intense boysenberry/ jammy/Petite Sirah/licorice very ripe loads of boysenberry fruit nose; very soft/fat intense boysenberry/ jammy/licorice/chocolaty some tannic flavor; very long soft/fat intense/boysenberry/jammy fruit finish w/ some tannins; loads of overripe/jammy fruit but lacking in structure; probably won't age very well I would guess. $23.00
  10. Pride Mountain Vineyards Napa Valley Petite Sirah (14.8%) 2001: Black/black color; beautiful very intense boysenberry/ blackberry/Syrah-like rather peppery dusty/old vines very spicy strong toasty/Fr.oak complex quite aromatic/perfumed cloves nose; huge/tannic very intense boysenberry/blackberry/peppery/very spicy rather toasty/Fr.oak flavor; very long/lingering intense boysenberry/peppery strong toasty/Fr.oak dusty/old vines rather tannic finish; a huge wine yet retains it's sense of balance; the closest Petite Sirah I've yet seen to a young Ridge YS Petite Sirah '71; has the balance & structure to carry it for decades; incredible stuff.
  11. Ridge Calif Buchignani Ranch Carignane (1% Zinfandel; 14.3%; 46 brls; Drk: 11/02-11/07) 2001: Light color; lovely cherry/black cherry/Draper-perfume some oaked bit dusty nose; tart/light bit lean/ tannic attractive cherry some Am.oak flavor; med. slightly tannic bright/spicy/cherry light Am.oak finish; a bright pretty little wine for early drinking. $24.00
  12. Ridge Calif Buchignani Ranch Carignane  (100% OldVines; 13.7%; 40 brls;  Drk: 11/03-11/06-11/08) 2002: Med.color; strong black cherry/cherry some dusty/old vines very perfumed/fragrant some Am.oak nose; tart rich/lush black cherry/cherry rather tannic fairly dusty/old vines some Am.oak/vanilla rather perfumed flavor; very long black cherry/cherry rather tannic/hard Am.oaked/vanilla dusty/ old vines finish; needs 2-5 yrs of age; one of the best Ridge Carignanes, young or old, I've had; maybe I'm beginning to understand Carignane. $24.00
  13. Ridge Calif Bridgehead Mataro (100% Mourvedre; OldVines, ContraCostaCnty; 13.5% Drk: 1/96-1/00-1/04) 1994: Med.color; strong gamey/earthy/plummy some cedary/cigar box rather complex nose; soft/ripe plummy/gamey/earthy cedary/cigar box bit pencilly/oak slight mushroomy flavor; med. long soft ripe/plummy/earthy rather cedary/cigar box smooth finish w/ light tannins; smooth/round fully-mature plummy/ContraCosat red.
  14. Spencer and Roloson Palaterra Calif RTW (14%; Syrah/Carignane/Valdiguie) 2001: Med.dark color; attractive dusty/earthy slight blackberry/black cherry some toasty/pungent/oak nose; tart rustic/rough earthy/ dusty some blackberry/floral/black cherry some toasty/oak flavor; med.long rough bit tannic fairly earthy/blackberry finish; needs a yr or two; quite a tasty if a bit rustic red at a good price. $13.60
  15. Neyers Cuvee d'Honneur Napa Valley Syrah (14.7%) 2001: Very dark color; beautiful/intense roasted/ smoky/coffee some blackberry/Syrah floral/fragrant complex very NortherhRhone nose; tart rich/strong roasted/coffee/smoky/pungent/charred some blackbery/Syrah/berry slight earthy complex flavor; very long strong roasted/espresso some blackberry finish w/ fair tannins; needs several yrs at least; much like a great Cornas; Syrah fruit seems a bit beaten down right now; terrific Syrah. $46.00
  16. Summerfield Calif Shiraz (13.5%) 2001: Med.light color; pleasant/grapey slightly Syrah/berry some raspberry bit earthy nose; soft ripe/overripe grapey/non-descript slight earthy/berry flavor; short non-distinct grapey finish w/ no tannins; incredibly dull & boring red. $2.99
All the usual nonsense from the Bloody Pulpit:
    1. TheTaistela: Mat lost access to the JamesBerry Roussanne in '02 when they went to Randall Grahm. Scrambling around for another Roussanne source, BillEaston pointed him towards this vnyd up in LakeCnty. Quite a gamble on Mat's part I thought. I've never had any wines, red or white, from LakeCnty that ever did much for me, including JedSteele's Catfish Zinfandel. Well I'm here to shout that this wine shows that Lake County CAN produce some mighty fine, if not great, grapes...they just don't appear under the Trinchero label. This Roussanne is, by far, the best wine I've ever had from Lake Cnty.
    2. TulocayWnry: I've followed Bill Cadman's wines from the very start...an incredible '76 (or '77) AmadorCnty Zinfandel. I've made several visits to his tiny winery out on CoombsvilleRd just East of the town of Napa. He's made some pretty exceptional Pinots over the yrs and some awfully good Cabs as well. Used to make a PinotBlanc that was one of the best around. Hell...I even like his Chards. A winery that just doesn't get the notice it deserves. Bill used to (maybe still does) work as a tour guide at Mondavi Wnry, so many may have encountered him over there.
    3. Pride: The Pride Petite Sirah, one of the best PSs I had in recent memory, was a recent gift to me from Rick Halterman, whom I finally met in RealSpace on my recent trip to Boulder. Mightly impressive wine I thought.
    4. RidgeMataro: This '94 Mataro was a gift from Donn Reisen during his recent trip to SantaFe, for us to try. As per Draper's rec, it was probably pretty much at its peak for drinking now.
    5. Cuvee d'Honneur: Another wine I've followed from the very start. This '01 version seems not quite as big & intense as the '99 & '00, but it's still a terrific wine. This wine is consistently one of the most NorthernRhone-like Syrahs. Not Cote-Rotie, but more like a great Clape or Verset Cornas than anything. Ehren Jordan is doing one of the best jobs w/ Syrah as anybody in Calif. Though I still (slightly) prefer his Failla Syrah from Al Rago's QueSyrah vnyd out on the SonomaCoast.
    6. Summerfield: Address is American Canyon (near the Bronco operation) and BW# indicates that this is a CharlesShaw knock-off from GoldenState Vintners. Not worth wasting your alcohol consumption on.

      TomHill

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