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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 sold, 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 December 17, 2003:

New Pinots

We tried this week some new Pinots:
 
  1. Stony Hill Napa Valley Chard (13%) 1998: Med.gold color; lovely minerally clean/melony/ Chard some spicy/nutmeg nose; tart very spicy/minerally ripe/melony/Chard bracing/ zippy/bright flavor; very long minerally/melony/appley/Chard very spicy/nutmeg finish; crisp/bright yet very rich Chard; beautifil wine, should age well. $36.00
  2. Sine Qua Non Albino WhiteWine (46% Chard, 40% Roussanne, 14% Viognier; Alban Vineyard & Stolpman Vineyard; 15.5%) 2001: Med.dark color; intense toasty/smokey/pungent/Fr.oak slight reduced/funky/pungent quite fragrant/Viognier/floral/perfumed/pear very aromatic nose; huge/rich smokey/toasty/pungent/charred/Fr.oak/caramel very intense floral/honeysuckle/pear/Viognier flavor; very long/lingering rich/intense floral/ perfumed/pear/Viognier/gardenia strong charred/toasty/pungent/oak finish; a pretty strong hit of oak but an incredible intensity of fruit underneath; very tart & rich and should age very well; reminds me a bit of Cuilleron Viognier w/o that minerality. $68.50
  3. Joseph Swan Vineyards Northern Sonoma Pinot Noir (EB; TW) 1984: Med.light color; attractive fragrant/pencilly/Burgundian bit earthy slight cherry/Pinot/spicy complex nose; tart bit astringent/bitter somewhat dried out light Burgundian/pencilly/oak slight dried cherries complex flavor; long rather pencilly/Burgundian/oak rather dried-out/tannic/ astringent finish; a lovely complex/Burgundian nose but a bit too dried-out on the palate. $14.00
  4. Kent Rasmussen Wnry Carneros Pinot Noir (12.5%) 1990: Med.color; lovely black cherry/cherry very fragrant some minty/menthol fairly complex nose; tart spicy black cherry/Pinot slight bitter slight minty/menthol/peppermint/licorice candied complex flavor; med.long rather black cherry/cherry slight earthy/minty/menthol dried cherries finish w/ light tannins; starting to dry out a bit but has come together quite nicely; lovely/mature Calif Pinot. $18.00
  5. Meitz Cellars Sonoma County Pinot Noir (14.1%; VineHill/WhiteDove vnyds in Sebastapol & Leveroni Vineyard in Sonoma) 2002: Light color; fragrant cherry/Pinot elegant bit buttery/ diacetyl/oak light/low-key nose; soft rather buttery/oaked light cherry/candied/Pinot/ fruity light/delicate flavor; med.short buttery/oak light cherry/earthy/Pinot finish w/ light tannins; tastes like a whole-berry maceration Pinot; pleasant light Pinot. $16.00
  6. Nalle Hopkins Ranch Russian River Valley Pinot Noir (13.5%; www.NalleWinery.com) 2001: Light color; very spicy/cranberry/black cherry slight earthy/RRV?Pinot bit pencilly/Fr.oak fragrant nose; tart very bright/zippy cherry/cranberry very spicy light pencilly/oak flavor; long very balanced/elegant very spicy/cranberry/cherry slight earthy finish w/ light tannins; very perfumed/fragrant very spicy Pinot, almost Zinberry-like; ready to drink. $27.00
  7. Copain Pinot Noir Hacienda Secoya Anderson Vlly (14.2%) 2002: Med.color; lovely/complex pencilly/toasty strong black cherry/PN rather Burgundian nose; tart very rich/spicy strong black cherry/PN bit earthy/dusty some Burgundian/pencilly flavor; tart bright black cherry/PN Burgundian/toasty/Fr.oak/pencilly finish w/ some tannins; more like RRV Pinot than AndersonVlly; a lovely rich/Burgundian Pinot. $40.00
  8. Pipers Brook Vineyard Ninth Island Tasmania Pinot Noir (13.7%; www.NinthIsland.com.Au) 2003: Med. dark color; some Am.oak/vanilla rather jammy/cherry/black cherry/Nehi soda pop bit simple/fruity nose; tart very Am.oaked/vanilla jammy/cherry/cranberry/Pinot flavor; med. vanilla/Am.oak jammy/cherry/cherry jelly finish wl little tannins; a Pinot very much in an Oz style; don't see much value in aging this. $18.00
  9. Dehlinger Pinot Noir Goldridge Vineyard Russian River Valley (EB; 14.3%) 2001: Med.light color; fragrant/ attractive pencilly/Fr.oak light toasty/smokey bright cherry nose; tart bright cherry/PN light earthy/RRV some pencilly/Fr.oak bit simple flavor; med.long spicy/cherry/PN some pencilly/Fr.oak balanced finish w/ light tannins; lovely balanced/fragrant classic Dehlinger Pinot. $31.50
  10. Dehlinger Pinot Noir Old Vine Reserve Russian River Valley (EB; 14.6%) 2000: Med.color; much deeper fruit black cherry/cherry/PN some toasty/smokey/Fr.oak/pungent some earthy/RRV more complex nose; bigger/richer/deeper more black cherry/spicy classic RRV/earthy some toasty/Fr.oak flavor; very long rich strong/black cherry/PN/cherry bit earthy some toasty/pungent/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a beautiful/classic rich Dehlinger PN. $45.00
  11. The Ojai Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard (13%) 1996: Med.color; strong black cherry/PN slight herbal/earthy/leathery/barnyardy some complex/earthy nose; tart/ spritzig schreechy/acid/sour some barnyardy/leathery/funky bit black cherry/herbal flavor; med.long rather funky/leathery some black cherry schreechy/acid spritzig finish; not done good things in the btl. $nc
  12. The Ojai Vineyard Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Vineyard (14%) 2000: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/black cherry/cola slight reduced/pungent quite spicy rather pungent/toasty/ Fr.oak/smokey complex nose; very tart/acid hard/tannic very rich boysenberry/black- berry/black cherry cola some toasty/Fr.oak/cinammon/cloves flavor; very long very tart/ acid very strong blackberry/black cherry/cola perfumed toasty/pungent/Fr.oak/cloves finish w/ fair tannins; lots of acidity but also lots of ripe character; this Pinot is going to be a killer w/ age but a bit hurtey to drink now. $30.50
  13. The Ojai Vineyard Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Vineyard (14.5%) 2001: Dark color; strong black cherry/black cherry cola/fragrant some toasty/pungent/Fr.oak/pencilly ripe/lush loads of Pinot fruit nose; rich/ripe tart very black cherry/cola/Dr.Pepper/spicy somewhat hard/ tannic rather toasty/pungent/Fr.oak fragrant/perfumed flavor; very long black cherry/ cola/Pinot very spicy some toasty/pungent/Fr.oak finishj w/ fair tannins; a classic Bien Nacido w/ lots of black cherry cola; needs 2-5 yrs of age; terrific big/ripe Pinot. $38.50
  14. Sine Qua Non No.6 Oregon Pinot Noir (Block 28 of Shea Vineyard/YamhillCnty; 14.3%) 2001: Med. dark color; strong pungent/smokey/Fr.oak complex walnutty/black cherry/spicy almost Syrah/blackberry very fragrant nose; tart very rich very spicy/cherry/black cherry/cola somewhat pencilly/toasty/Fr.oak/smokey complex flavor; very long/lingering very spicy/ cherry/black cherry/cola ripe/round/lush rather toasty/pungent/pencilly/Fr.oak finish w/ fair tannins; needs some age; dynamite Oregon Pinot. $68.50
  15. Robert Mondavi Wnry Napa Valley Pinot Noir (Unfltrd; 13%) 1990: Med.color; rather earthy/mushroomy slight musty (not corked)/skunky slight herbal/pickle juice bit pungent/pencilly/Fr.oak rather interesting/strange nose; tart/lean bit dried-out/astringent rather pencilly/ toasty/Fr.oak rather earthy/mushroomy/funky flavor; med. mushroomy/earthy some toasty/ pencilly/oaked finish w/ light tannins; almost more of a Rhonish character than Pinot; interesting but strange. Sonny's mystery.
  16. Robert Groffier Chambolle-Musigny 1erCru "LesHauts-Doix" 1996: Med.color; rather stewed tomatoes/earthy/mushroomy slight pencilly/Burgundian/oaked slight floral/violets nose; tart/very screechy/searing/acid rather earthy/mushroomy slight violets/floral/ lilacs/Pinot some pencilly/oak slight cherry/Pinot flavor; searingly acid/lean rather earthy/mushroomy/funky slight floral/violets/Pinot/cherry some pencilly/oak finish w/ light tannins; maybe will age into something interesting but the acidity is hurtey. Larry's mystery wine.
  17. Rene LeClerc Gevrey-Chambertin 1erCru "CombAuxMoines" (13.5%) 1996: Med.dark color; slight mousey/funky bit smokey/charred/oak slight dusty/walnutty some violets/floral/ black cherry/Pinot rather interesting nose; tart pungent/toasty/burnt/charred some walnutty/dusty rather spicy/cloves some floral/violets bit hard/lean flavor; med.long hard/tannic dusty/walnutty rather toasty/charred/oak slight floral/violets/lilacs finish w/ some tannins; bit on the hard/tannic/lean side but some interesting things therein. Howard's mystery wine.
Yet another sermon from the BloodyPulpit:
  1. The white-on-white label is virtually unreadable; you have to hold it up to the light at just the right angle. Guess what.....you immerse the label in water and the lettering becomes much darker and easy-to-read. It couldn't be just an accident.
  2. I've followed Kent Rasmussen's wines from the very start, though I haven't been keeping up with them very well the last few yrs. Always one of my favorite Pinot & Chard producers. He doesn't get the recognition Kent really deserves.
  3. SQN #6: I've found previous versions of Manfred's Oregon Pinots to be rather on the hard/tannic side. I thought this probably is his best Oregon Pinot he's yet made; much more balanced & lush and less austere. A stunning Pinot.
  4. Ojai Pinots: Adam gets a lot of good press, and rightfully so, for his Syrahs. I think sometimes his Chards and Pinots (certainly his SauvignonBlancs) or overlooked as being some of the best made in Calif. These two versions are certainly stellar. The ClosPepe, though having a lot of ripe Pinot character, will, I suspect, because of its acidity, age into the better of the two. It's going to be a fun journey w/ this wine.
TomHill
 

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