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.

We tasted last night (11/30/05) Some New Rhones:

1. Carlisle TwoAcres/RussianRiverVlly RW (15.9%; 75% Mourvedre, 18% PS, 5% Valdepenas,
2% AlicanteBouschet; 105 cs) 2003: Very dark color; big/ripe plummy/Mourvedre very spicy/
cloves light toasty/oak very perfumed/complex nose; tart slightly hot big/plummy/spicy/black cherry perfumed/aromatic very interesting flavor; very long rather tannic very plummy/
Mourvedre exotic/perfumed finish; needs 2-6 yrs; amazing aromatics and one of the best
Twackers yet. $32.50
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2. OwenRoe ColumbiaVlly SinisterHand (36% Grenache, 32% Syrah, 22% Mourvedre, 10% Counoise;
14.1%; www.OwenRoe.com) 2004: Med.dark color; dusty strawberry/earthy/candied/cheap
Christmas candy slight spicy nose; soft rather dusty/earthy some strawberry/Grenache/candied
flavor; med.short candied/strawberry finish w/ light tannins; unthrilling and a tawdry character that reminds me of that wavy/cheap/hard candy ribbons of Christmas time that were
always the last ones eaten from my stash. $22.00
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3. TyrusEvan DelRioVnyd/RogueVlly/OR Syrah (14.5%) 2002: Black color; deep peppery/ spicy /black-berry some toasty/pungent/coffee lovely/interesting nose; soft rich blackberry/ peppery/ gamey rather charred/toasty/oak interesting some Rhonish flavor; med.long charred/ toasty/oak blackberry/meaty finish w/ light tannins; very interesting nose but a bit lacking in structure on the palate. $35.00
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4. Pro Jec T-3000 LakeCnty Syrah (14.8%; www.Project3000.Net) 2002: Black color; very interesting pungent/root beer rather blackberry/chocolaty/black cherry/CherryMash fairly complex nose; soft bit toasty/pungent rather blackberry/Syrah/black cherry spicy/root beer bit rustic flavor w/ hard/astringent tannins; med.long blackberry/black cherry/root beer/pungent rather hard/tannic finish; very interesting aromatics but w/ rather gritty/hard tannins; needs some
age; best LakeCnty Syrah I've yet had. $25.00
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5. Stolpman Hilltops EstateGrown Syrah SantaYnezVlly (14.8%; www.StolpmanVineyards.com)
2003: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/Syrah toasty/smokey/oak spicy/peppery rich/
chocolaty bit Rhonish nose; tart bit lean/hard rich/mouthfilling/blackberry/Syrah/strawberry
meaty/pungent toasty/oak/coffee flavor; very long bright/strawberry/blackberry/Syrah rather
espresso/roasted/coffee/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-6 yrs; best Stolpman wine I've
yet had; terrific Syrah at a good price. $35.00
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6. Harrison Clarke SantaYnexVlly Syrah (14.5%; www.HarrisonClarkeWine.com) 2003: Black color;
bit reduced pungent/charred/coffee/espresso/roasted ripe blaclberry/boysenberry interesting
nose; soft/lush bit pungent/earthy ripe boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/chocolaty bit tannic flavor; long ripe/lush blackberry/boysenberry/ripe/Syrah some charred/espresso finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a very impressive/interesting/intense nose but not quite as intense on the palate; (yet) another Syrah producer to follow from the very start. Very fair price at $30.00
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7. Novy Page-NordVnyd/NapaVlly Syrah (16.1%; 192 cs) 2003: Very dark color; big/ripe blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah loads of fruit bit fumey/hot nose; soft slight fumey/hot loads of ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah very ripe flavor; med.long lots of ripe/Syrah fruit bit hot
finish w/ light tannins; attractive bit fumey Syrah w/ loads of very ripe fruit. $25.00
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8. Neiman CaldwellVnyd/NapaVlly Syrah (14.1%; www.NeimanCellars.com; 73 cs) 2002: Black color; very intense jammy/overripe/boysenberry/Syrah very Oz-like rather hot/fumey/volatile; soft very overripe/jammy/boysenberry/pruney rather hot/fumey over-the-top flavor; long overripe/plummy/boysenberry/Syrah soft/porky quite late harvesty finish w/ little tannins; way too overripe & pruney and probably put thru RO. Stupid price. $70.00
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9. Novy UntiVnyd/DryCreekVlly Syrah (15.5%) 2003: Med.dark color; attractive/spicy blackberry/
raspberry/Zinberry/Syrah lots of DCV spiciness nose; soft very spicy/exotic bright/raspberry/ Syrah almost Zin-like flavor; med.long very spicy/Zinberry/raspberry slight blackberry/Syrah
finish w/ light tannins; this is how DougNalle would make Syrah if he did. $25.00
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10. Novy ChristensenFamilyVnyd/RussianRiverVlly Syrah (15.4%; 162 cs) 2003: Very dark color;
rather pungent/reduced nose that blows off to quite black pepper/toasty/pungent big blackberry/
Syrah rather Rhonish/roasted/smokey nose; soft beautiful peppery/spicy/cracked black pepper/
pungent/roasted strong blackberry/Syrah flavor; very long black pepper/roasted/smokey/toasty
strong blackberry/Syrah finish w/ modest tannins; needs a few yrs; a lovely peppery/Rhonish
Syrah and one of Adam's best yet. $25.00
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11. Carlisle PelkanRanch/KnightsVlly Syrah (15.9%; 110 cs) 2003: Black color; very intense black-
berry/boysenberry/Syrah very spicy/aromatic light toasty/oak bit coffee/pungent nose; softhuge/ lush blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah light/toasty/oak very perfumed coffee flavor; med.longripe/ lush blackberry/Syrah light toasty/oak slight pungent/coffee finish w/ some tannins; loads of intense Syrah fruit but seems a bit simple on the palate; needs time. $38.00
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12. Carlisle BennettVlly Syrah JudgeFamilyVnyd (15.9%; 255 cs) 2003: Black color; very toasty/oak intense blackberry/Syrah very spicy/peppery/cracked black pepper very perfumed/fragrant/aromatic very spicy/exotic slight eucalyptus nose; big/huge/extracted intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah very peppery/spicy aromatic some charred/oak/coffee/roasted complex flavor; very long intense/extracted boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah slight roasted/coffee/charred/oak fairly tannic very exotic finish; needs 3-8 yrs of age; huge impressive Syrah; killer stuff. $38.00
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13. Carlisle RussianRiverVlly Syrah (15.9%; 130 cs) 2003: Black color; intense blackberry/Syrah
very peppery/dusty/spicy/cloves/cold-climate complex/spicy beautiful nose; tart very rich/
extracted blackberry/Syrah/DrPepper/RCCola peppery/cold-climate exotic/spicy rather tannic/
structured flavor; very long/lingering intense blackberry/Syrah/DrPepper very spicy/exotic cracked black pepper tannic/structured finish; definitely a keeper; killer Syrah at a great
price. $29.00
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14. Carlisle DryCreekVlly Syrah RayTeldeschiRanch (15.8%; 310 cs) 2003: Black color; very spicy/
bright/raspberry/blackberry/Syrah almost Zin-like slight toasty/oak perfumed/fragrant nose;
tart very spicy raspberry/blackberry/Syrah Zin-like/spicy light toasty/oak flavor; very long
bright/raspberry/Syrah/Zinberry perfumed light toasty finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-5 yrs;
loads of bright raspberry fruit; lovely Syrah. $29.00
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15. BoordyVnyds 86% Grenache/14% Syrah (12.0%; www.Boordy.com) 2003: Med.light color; earthy/dusty little fruit slight candied/cherry nose; tart/thin/lean rubharb/cherry/strawberry rather earthy/dusty flavor; short lean/hard/thin strawberry/cherry finish w/ little tannins; bit too much terroir. Steve's mystery wine.

1. The prices on the Carlisles are pre-release prices plus shipping. As we tasted each of
the Carlisles, there was much weeping & wailing & gnashing of teeth....the Carlisle
lament it's called..."I should have ordered more"!!
They were all killer wines. What's amazing to me is that the alcohols are all on the
hefty side. The only one that showed any heat was the Twackers...and it wasn't very much.
None of the wines showed any of the overripe smells or flavors that usually accompany
those kinds of alcohols.
My easy favorite were both the BennettVlly Syrah and the RussianRiver Syrah. Both had
a peppery spiciness that I really liked. Least favorite was the DryCreek, mostly, like
many DryCreek Syrahs seem to do, it had more of a bright/raspberry character that made
it resemble Zin more than Syrah. I also liked the Pelkan but was expecting more of it.
I'm not convinced that Knight'sVlly is all that great a growing area.
Anyway....another killer batch of wines from Mike & Kendall Officer.
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2. LakeCountySyrah: This is an area that I find an even greater underperformer than Mendocino
Cnty. It is/should be a great area for growing great grapes. But such great wines seem few
and far between.
Quincy Steele gave a rather bizarre seminar at the recent AmericanWineSociety convention
in LasVegas. Bizarre in the sense that some of the things he said didn't make to seem any
sense at all. He presented 5-6 of Jed's Syrahs from various LakeCounty vnyds. Most were
underwhelming except for two, one w/ a fair amount of toasty oak and intensity that I liked
it quite a lot. Alas, they will all be blended into oblivion as a simple LakeCnty Syrah.
The intent of the Seminar was to make a case that LakeCnty will be a big player in the
Calif Syrah field in the future. Maybe... but the evidence presented was weak.
The other LakeCnty Syrah I really liked was an ObsidianRidge that Sean McLaughin shared
w/ me down in Pasadena. Yet it would only rate as a mid-range Syrah from Paso or Santa
Barbara.
This Project-3000 effort is a joint one between grower Jim Fore, mind behind Jeff Welburn,
and winemaker Peter Franus. And easily the best LakeCnty Syrah I've yet had. The name comes
from the vnyd being at 3,000' elevation. The wine was quite interesting and rather different
from most Syrahs I've had. Lots of interesting aromatics, but was a bit rough/rustic on the
palate and not the structure for much aging I thought. But it certainly (finally) makes a
case that someday LakeCnty may make great Calif Syrah. A very good first effort I thought
and I intend to follow these Syrahs in the future.
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3. A bunch of these Syrahs were from my recent foray into MissionWines in SouthPasadena.
To his credit, Dave McDonald had NOT tried the Neiman Syrah and did NOT reccomend it to me.
But I just couldn't resist trying a new one. Expensive learning lesson on one to avoid.
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4. StolpmanVnyd: An impressive vnyd formed by Jeff Newton, right next to the Beckman's Purisma
Mtn vnyd and just below the Harrison Clarke vnyd, also farmed by Jeff. The early wines
under the Stolpman label, made by Craig McMillan, were pretty underwhelming. Since Sashi
Moorman took over the Stolpman winemaking duties, there has been a huge jump in their
quality. Although the Grenache wines I've had from Stolpman vnyd by various winemakers have
not really blown me away, the Syrahs have become as good as any grown in SantaYnezVlly.
This Stolpman Hilltops Syrah is probably the best Stolpman Syrah yet; dynamite wine.
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5. HarrisonClarke Syrah: New winery for me and I was impressed. Looks down upon the Stolpman
Vnyd in the eastern SantaYnezVlly. Farmed by JeffNewton, probably the best in the SantaYnezVlly.
The WebSite (www.HarrisonClarkeWine.com) doesn't have a whole lot of information, particularly
with regards to the people behind or the winemaker. But a wnry to watch.
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6. NovySyrah: These are the pre-release prices plus shipping.
The Napa Syrahs of Adam's are almost always the least interesting of his Syrah tableau and this
'03 version was no exception. Like so many Napa Syrahs, they don't seem to deliver the intensity
you'd expect of a "premium" growing area. The Unti Syrah was a very pretty Syrah loaded w/ DCV
spiciness, almost Zin-like. But the ChristensenFamily was maybe the best Syrah I've yet had from
Adam; more Rhonish than any yet. Terrific Syrah w/ that typical Siduri/Novy lushness.
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7. The T-Word: At the end of the tasting, we got into this ardent discussion on terroir, after
we had tasted thru the Novy and Carlisle Syrahs. My assertion was that French Syrahs tend
to show much more terroir (that roasted/coffee/espresso unmistakeable character in Northern
Rhone wines) than their Calif counterparts; that the Calif Syrahs usually (from good producers)
show not only a diversity of terroir character, but also a diversity of winemaker styles
that you don't see nearly as much of in French Syrahs. Perhaps too large a generalization.
Tom