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The Tom Hill Archives

The Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium presents the musings and reflections of Tom Hill. We think it's great that Tom, who has sampled so many wines, has shared his tasting notes with us. We do have, or have had for sale a few of the wines Tom writes about, and we include a link to our stock page whenever it is a producer we carry (but since the stock page is kept up-to-date and the wines are for sale, don't expect any but the newest of wines to show up in our stock!). Mostly though, since we specialize in County of Santa Barbara Wine and Central Coast Wine, we don't carry a lot of the wines Tom writes about. But we think it is important that you be able to have an idea what they're like in case you are planning to buy some somewhere, or have them in your own collection. Enjoy. 

Here are Tom's notes from April 22, 1998:

New California Reds (Mostly Zinfandel)

We tasted this week (4/22/98) some new Calif Reds, mostly Zins: 
 
 
  1. Ridge Calif Carignan Oat Valley Cooley Family Ranch (12.9%) '95: Med.dark color; dusty earthy bit cherry/black cherry some oaked/fragrant nose; tart bit  horsecollar/bretty rather dusty/mushroomy light cherry fruit some oaked flavor; med. tart light cherry/dusty/earthy bit funky/horsecollar finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant Ridge red.
  2. Ridge Calif Carignan Oat Valley Vineyard Cooley Family Ranch (13.1%) '96: Med.dark color; lots of bretty/horsecollar slight burnt rubber rather deep black cherry mose;  softer rather horsecollar/bretty dusty low fruit bit black cherry flavor; med.long some unclean/bretty/ horsecollar low fruit finish w/ some tannins; softer &  bigger than the '95; needs several yrs of age.
  3. La Spinetta Ca'di Pian Barbera d'Asti (12%) Giuseppe Rivetti '96: Dark color;  fragrant spicy fruity Barbera/cherry bit dusty nose; tart bright/cherry/spicy lean fragrant aromatic bit spritz/sharp flavor; med.long very tart very spicy bright cherry/Barbera finish w/ light tannins; a fine bright spicy Barbera.
  4. Matteo Correggia Barbera d'Alba (12.5%) '96: Very dark color; dusty pungent smokey bit oaked fragrant spicy/Barbera nose; tart hard pungent/dusty/earthy/smokey big Barbera flavor; long hard tannic dusty/earthy very spicy/Barbera finish; needs 2-5 yrs of age.
  5. Seghesio Calif Barbera (13.6%) Noble Vines '96: Very dark color; rather bretty/ horsecollar some oaked dusty/spicy spicy-sausage/Barbera nose; tart ripe black cherry very spicy/Italian sausage/Barbera lush floral rich fruit flavor; long tart fairly rich lush very spicy/Italian sausage/Barbera dusty finish w/ some  tannins; needs several yrs; blows away the LaFamiglia (Mondavi) Barbera; a fine example of what a good wine Calif Barbera can be. Great price @ $14.25
  6. Seghesio Alexander Valley Sangiovese (13.7%) Nonno's Clones '96: Med.color; fragrant spicy cherry/Sangiovese light oaked bit pungent nose; tart lean spicy/cherry/Sangiovese bit Zinberry/raspberry very spicy light oaked flavor; long tart spicy/cherry/Sang lean bit astringent finish; a fairly bright spicy Sangiovese. Good price @ $14.25
  7. Seghesio Sonoma County Zinfandel Old Vine (14.2%) '96: Dark color; deep rich blackberry/ dusty/old vines raspberry perfumy/aromatic pencilly/oaked nose; rich lush very spicy/blackberry/raspberry pencilly/oaked almost Syrah/gamey flavor; soft long lush blackverry/licorice very spicy rather pencilly/oaked perfumed talc very aromatic finish w/ some tannins; needs a yr or two; easily the best Seghesio wine I've ever tasted. Fairly priced at $20.00
  8. Ch.Montelena The Montelena Estate Saint Vincent Napa Valley RW (Zin,Primitivo, Sangiovese; 14.1%) '95: Very dark color; deep dusty smokey Fr.oaked bit stemmy rather complex nose; hard tannic lean dusty smokey Fr.oaked low fruit very claret- like flavor; long hard tannic Fr.oaked toasty/smokey complex perfumed low fruit finish; needs 4-8 yrs of age; Zin not obvious in this wine; very much like the Montelena Cab in style.
  9. Saucelito Canyon Arroyo Grande Valley Zinfandel (15.0%) '96: Med.dark color; slightly volatile very aromatic very ripe blackberry/jammy dusty/old vines alcoholic nose; bit bretty/horsecollar rather hot/alcoholic very ripe blackberry/jammy licorice lilacs dusty/old vines bit herbal/near vegetal very dusty some walnutty flavor;  very long very ripe blackberry/jammy rather hot/alcoholicbit herbal/walnutty/dusty finish w/ light tannins; an interesting Zin but the alcohol really stands out & lots of overripe character; not the richness & extract & lushness of previous SaucCnyn Zins.
  10. Scherrer Alexander Valley Zin Old & Mature Vines (14.5%; U&U) '96: Med.dark color; deep rich ripe blackberry complex smokey/pungent dusty/old vines some toasty/oak nose; soft rich ripe lush big blackberry/spicy/complex dusty/old vines pungent/ toasty/oak flavor; very long blackberry/very spicy/complex dusty/old vines lush mouthfilling finish w/ some tannins; needs yr or two; a killer Zin w/ lots of classic old vines character. Fairly priced at $23.00
  11. Martinelli Russian River Valley JackAss Vineyard (15.8%) Zin '96: Med.dark color; very  strong menthol/petrol Burgundian/oaked charred/toasty some blackberry/spicy very eccentric nose; tart hard astringent very charred/Burgundian/toasty/oaked/smokey espresso some blackberry/raspberry flavor; very long hard tannic loads of toasty/ charred/oak espresso smokey some blackberry finish; very weird/eccentric Zin w/ not much fruit; needs much age & may be a good one.
  12. Wild Hog Vineyard Russian River Valley Occidental Vineyard (14.2%) Zin '96: Very dark color; very intense grapey/blackberry dusty/old vines complex rather roasted/Rhone/ espresso nose; soft bit off-dry very rich/grapey/intense blackberry/blueberry roasted/Rhone complex very dusty/old vines espresso finish; very long off-dry very intense blackberry/jammy/grapey/blueberry dusty complex roasted finish w/ fair tannins; needs some age but hope they sterile filtered this; very interesting complex Zin much like the Eric Ross or the (in)famous Sea Ridge. Great price $18.00
  13. Hanna Alexander Valley Reserve Zin Pourroy Vineyard (13.5%) '96: Dark color; very intense blackberry/blueberry loads of fruit dusty/old vines bit gamey/Syrah nose; soft fat loads of fruit blackberry/licorice very ripe mouthfilling dusty/old vines flavor; very long very lush very ripe intense blackberry/blueberry dusty licorice bit milk of magnesia finish; loads & loads of blackberry fruit but typical AlexValley soft/fat structure. Stupid price of $35.00
  14. Sierra Vista El Dorado Cabernet Sauvignon 5* Reserve (12.9%) '94: Black color;  intense Fr.oaked pungent dusty smokey/charred mushroomy/herbal/Cabernet complex aromatic slight volatile nose; big rich mouthfilling dusty/mushroomy tannic charred/pungent/pencilly/oaked herbal/Cab rather Bordeaux/Wash flavor; very long tannic dusty/mushroomy pencilly/smokey/Fr.oaked some herbal/Cab intense finish; needs 4-10 yrs; very Bordeaux/WashState like; killer Cab; great price @ $22.00
  15. Matanzas Creek Sonoma Valley (13%) Merlot '92: Black color; intense charred/pungent smokey oaked dusty rather gamey/Syrah nose; loads of vanilla/Fr.oaked charred/ smokey dusty complex toasty/pungent flavor; very long charred/toasty/pungent/oaked dusty finish w/ ample tannins; needs more age. Not like Merlot at all.
  16. Tobin James James Gang Reserve Paso Robles Dessert Zin (16.1%) '96: Black color;  intense blackberry/jammy essence-like bit herbal/vegetal/Kansas feed store bit alcoholic nose; sweet blackberry/jammy bit herbal/Kansas feed store lush bit hot flavor; long hot/alcoholic intense blackberry/jammy Kansas feed store/herbal finish w/ light tannins; interesting & a bit strange. 
 
  Pretty frazzled today so not much from the bloody pulpit:
  1. The Seghesios...... a long old-time Sonoma winemaking family. I used to really dislike their wines.... old-Calif style of winemaking a la Foppiano/Martini/ Pedroncelli.... rather unclean/bretty... not much richness or extract... but they always were cheap!! I kept reading about how Seghesio Wnry was on a comeback trail and improving quality of their wines. Over the last 2-3 yrs, I've seen a rather slow but steady improvement, but their Zins (any of them) still did not inspire me to buy any. This new release of wines ARE a dramatic step up in quality; the OV Zin I will buy when it comes to NM. They have some great old vnyds up there.. it's going to be exciting to follow their continued improvements, especially w/ the Italian varietals.
  2. The Sierra Vistas..... they last few yrs, John & Barbera MacCready have been quietly ratcheting up the quality of their wines. Their '95 5* Reserve Zin was (is) terrific. But this 5* Reserve Cab was a dynomite wine (and I don't much care for Cabs)... their best wine I can recall and,therefore, the best ElDorado wine I've ever had. A bit like SantaCruzMtn Cab, a bit like WashState Cab, a lot like Bordeaux Cab. NOT like Napa Cab!!
  3. The Martinelli JackAss Vineyard Zin..... this was poured at ZAP in January & a lot of people did NOT like this wine at all. I liked it at ZAP and liked it even more here. But it is a very different/weird/eccentric Zin and has to be approached with an open mind. I think it's going to be quite a good wine down the road with some age.
  4. WildHog Vineyard.... I've only had a few of their wines, but have been mightly impressed with the, Need to find out more about them.
  5. In response to a recent newspaper article quoting me as glibly dismissing Merlot as "simple, fruity, and one-dimensional"; Howard Sherry brought the Matanzas Creek Merlot in a blatent attempt to humiliate & disgrace me afore my group as a mystery wine. Unfortunately, it's been done too many times before. I was totally clueless on this wine, convinced it was some sort of Syrah, probably French. Terrific Merlot, so Howard wins this round!!
TomHill

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