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 tried last night (6/7/06) Some New Calif Pinots:

1. Nalle HopkinsRanch/RussianRvrVlly PinotNoir (13.8%; www.NalleWinery.com) 2004: Very light color; attractive fragrant/bright/cherry aromatic light pencilly slight earthy nose; tart/lean slight metallic/astringent pretty/bright/cherry/PN flavor; med.long bit astringent light/bright/cherry/PN light pencilly/oak finish; quite light but nice aromatics; a pretty wine but just that. $40.00
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2. JusSoliWnry MendocinoCnty PinotNoir (13.5%; www.JusSoli.com) 2003: Light color; deeper cherry/fragrant slight earthy/dusty some vanilla/oaked old Calif style Pinot nose; light bit buttery/oak dusty/earthy some cherry/PN old-style Pinot some earthy/ tomatoey flavor; med. buttery/oak light cherry/earthy finish w/ light tannins; pleasant wine in an old-Calif Pinot style. $20.00
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3. DavidNoyes SonomaCnty PinotNoir (14.5%; 820 cs; www.DavidNoyesWines.com; FarinaVnyd/ SonomaMtn, LepetichVnyd/BennettVlly, DuttonRanchVnyd/RussianRvrVlly) 2004: Med.dark color; attractive spicy/black cherry/PN some earthy/herbal nose; soft/smooth spicy/ black cherry/PN bit toasty/oak flavor; med. smooth/soft attractive/black cherry/PN light earthy/spicy finish w/ light tannins; an attractive smooth/polished Pinot at a great price. $14.00
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4. JosephSwanVnyds TrentonEstateVnyd/RussianRvrVlly PinotNoir (14.3%; www.SwanWines.com) 2003: Med.dark color; deep/strong black cherry/PN/cough syrup/cola quite perfumed/ floral/aromatic slight licorice/toasty/oak nose; tart lush/black cherry/ripe/cola/PN light licorice/pungent some toasty/oak flavor; long bit tannic ripe/black cherry/cola rather floral/perfumed finish; needs several yrs; very attractive Pinot. $45.00
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5. ElizabethSpencer ProprietorBlend/SpecialCuvee SonomaCoast PinotNoir (24 brls; 14.3%-16.3%; www.ElizabethSpencerWines.com) 2004: Dark color; slight reduced/pungent some dusty/ earthy rich/black cherry/PN slight herbal/spicy some toasty/pencilly/oak nose; tart bit hard/tannic/astringent bit green/herbal some ripe/black cherry/PN/licorice flavor; med.long hard/astringent somewhat green/herbal light/ripe/black cherry/PN/licorice finish; a slight funky character and seems a bit closed/hard but a rather interesting Pinot that needs some age. $24.00
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6. DuNah DuNahEstateVnyd/SonomaCoast PinotNoir (14.2%; www.DuNahWinery.com) GregLaFollette/ Sebastapol 2004: Dark color; lovely spicy/black cherry/PN bit pungent/coffee/toasty/ oak somewhat Burgundian/earthy nose; very smooth/polished lovely black cherry/PN/ floral/very spicy some coffee/toasty/Burgundian/oak flavor; very long lush/ripe/ black cherry/PN/very spicy some toasty/Burgundy finish w/ light tannins; needs a yr or two; very lovely Pinot. $45.00
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7. Peay PeayVnyds/SonomaCoast PinotNoir (14.0%; 575 cs;www.PeayVineyards.com) 2004: Med. dark color; lovely very spicy/black cherry/cherry/PN peppery/very spicy light toasty/ oak nose; tart very spicy/cherry/black cherry/PN bit earthy light toasty/pencilly/ oak flavor; very long peppery/spicy bright/cherry/black cherry/PN finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a lovely very spicy Pinot. $48.00
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8. DavisFamilyVnyds RussianRvrVlly PinotNoir (14.1%; www.DavisFamilyVineyards.com) 2004: Med.light color; slight herbal/eucalyptus some charred/toasty/oak bit green/leafy/ stemmy some black cherry/PN nose; soft attractive cherry/PN slight green/herbal some toasty/pencilly/oak flavor; med. black cherry/PN light herbal some pencilly/oak finish w/ light tannins; an attractive/pretty Pinot. $35.00
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9. Kosta Brown SonomaCoast PinotNoir (14.7%) 2004: Dark color; strong toasty/charred/oak some spicy blackberry/black cherry/PN very ripe nose; tart/lean some black cherry/ ripe/PN some toasty/charred/oak rather spicy tannic flavor; long hard/lean tannic some charred/oak some black cherry/PN/ripe finish; very attractive black cherry nose but rather hard/lean on the palate; needs several yrs. $45.00
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10. Kosta Brown RussianRvrVlly PinotNoir (15.2%; www.KostaBrown.com) 2004: Dark color; bigger/deeper/riper fairly black cherry/blackberry/PM bit simpler/straightforward nose; big/rich rather tannic ripe/black cherry slight toasty/charred/oak bit ripe/ coarse/simple slight earthy flavor; long big/ripe/black cherry/PN bit earthy slight toasty/oak finish; needs several yrs. $52.00
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11. Corral De Tierra Vnyd Monterey PinotNoir SilacciVnyd (13.8%; www.DeTierraVineyards.com) 2004: Dark color; rather herbal/dusty/earthy very spicy/black cherry/PN slight volatile/dishwater/aromatic slight cedary rather exotic/interesting/weird nose; tart exotic/minerally/herbal some black cherry/cola/PN rather cedary/oaked flavor; med. long exotic herbal/perfumed some black cherry/PN cedary/oak finish w/ light tannins; kind of a bizarre/exotic Pinot a bit like lesser Caleras; not much like other SantaLuciaHighlands Pinots. $30.00
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12. Capiaux PinotNoir SantaLuciaHighlands Garys'Vnyd (14.2%; 359 cs) 2004: Dark color; some earthy intense black cherry/PN very floral/aromatic/perfumed quite toasty/oak slight herbal nose; big/rich/intense black cherry/PN/cola very floral/perfumed rather strong toasty/oak flavor; very long big/rich black cherry/cola rather toasty/oak bit tannic finish; needs several yrs; much like the Siduri Garys' w/o the polish and elegance; my easy favorite of these three. $41.25
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13. Capiaux PinotNoir SonomaCnty Chimera (14.5%; www.CapiauxCellars.com; 687 cs; 50% Hendricks, 20% Freestone&Widdoes, 15% Wilson, 15% Garys'&Pisoni vnyds) 2004: Very dark color; very strong black cherry/PN some toasty/oak some dusty/walnutty bit simple nose; bit hard/tannic rather toasty/Fr.oak strong black cherry/PN dusty/earthy flavor; med.long tannic strong black cherry/PN fairly toasty/oak finish; needs several yrs; a bit too simple & rustic compared to the others. $27.25
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14. Capiaux PinotNoir RussianRvrVlly WiddoesVnyd (13.7%; 300cs) 2004: Dark color; strong/ intense black cherry/PN very toasty/charred/Fr.oak some earthy/dusty nose; very strong black cherry/PN some spicy/peppery very taosty/oak flavor; long intense black cherry/PN light spicy/peppery/dusty very oaked some earthy finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; a big/intense/bit clunky PN. $37.25
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15. Frederic Magnien PremierCru Pommard Grand Epenots 2003: Med.dark color; strong black cherr/PN/cough syrup very ripe somewhat earthy/dusty slight pencilly/oak exotic nose; rich/ripe strong black cherry/PN rather earthy/dusty light pencilly/toasty perfumed flavor; med.long soft ripe/black cherry/PN light pencilly dusty/earthy finish w/ light tannins; speaks much more of Calif PN than RedBurg. Steve's mystery.
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16. BartlettWnry WildBlueberryWine Winemaker'sReserve Oak Dry (11.5%; www.BartlettWinery.com) Gouldsboro, ME NV: Very dark color; very bizarre/exotic intense blueberry dusty/earthy rather oaked nose; tart/lean exotic/blueberry rather spicy/oaked/vanilla flavor; long exotic blueberry some oaked finish; very exotic wine that's amazingly good. Bit like an acidic Mourvedre. Dave Jablonsk's mystery.
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17. BethelHeightsVnyd OR PinotNoir WilametteVlly (EG; 13%) 1994: Med.dark color w/ slight browning; rather dusty/walnutty/earthy nose that develops an attractive spicy/blue- berry flavor; bit dried-out/astringent quite earthy/walnutty slight blueberry/ perfumed flavor; med. tannic/astringent earthy/dusty/walnutty slight blueberry finish; some interesting character but drying out on the palate. Sonny's mystery. $18.00
    

1. JusSoliPinot: This is a wine made by Tom Garrett, formerly of the WS, who now makes wine under his Detert label. It was a very unusual wine in that it was such a retro- Pinot. It reminded me a lot of the Calif Pinots made back in the '70's, like Martini or Parducci; very old Calif style Pinot, before they started trying so hard to make RedBurgundy in Calif.
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2. BartlettBlueberry: This was served as a mystery wine. The nose was very exotic but there seemed to be something just a bit "not right" with the wine that I couldn't put my finger on. My guess was an Italian Marzemino because of the exotic fragrance. Though the balance wasn't the same of a grape wine, I thought this blueberry wine was amazingly good...and NOT for just a blueberry wine. ____________________
3. KostaBrown: I thought these two Pinots were pretty good, but not at all worth their price. I much preferred the SonomaCoast for its more interesting fragrance. The RRV was much simpler and sort of a blocky/chunky Pinot. I'm a bit underwhelmed by the K-B, given their prices and the buzz they get generated by Arpy on eBob.

TomHill