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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 February 9,2000:

Jaffurs (Mostly)

Tasted last night (mostly) New Jaffurs releases:
  1. Rabbit Ridge Sonoma County Viognier Heart Break Hill Vineyard (13.4%) '95: Med.gold color; pleasant piney rather toasty/oaked/pungent Chard-like little Viognier nose; soft light pear/Viognier glycerined rather toasty/oaked flavor; med.long glycerined soft pungent/toasty/oaked light pear finish; very little Viognier character & more liked a somewhat oaked Chard.
  2. Rabbit Ridge Sonoma County Viognier Heart Break Hill Vineyard (13.4%) '97: Med.dark gold color; light fragrant pear/Viognier low-key little oak nose; tart light pear/Viognier light toasty/oaked rather weak/thin flavor; med.short some bitter light pear/Viognier bit thin/weak/lean finish; more Viognier varietal character but rather thin like a Pays d'Oc Viognier.
  3. Fess Parker Santa Barbara County Viognier (13.8%) '97: Med.light gold color; attractive fragrant pear/Viognier clean nose; tart/lean/thin somewhat bitter very low-key pear/Viognier flavor; med.long bit bitter/thin light pear/Viognier finish; pleasant nose but a bit to thin & weak on the palate; must like the RHPhillips EXP version.
  4. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Viognier (58% Stolpman Vnyd, 42% BienNacidoVnyd; 13.9%; 609 cs) '98: Med.gold color; strong perfumed talc/peachy/Viognier some charred/toasty/oak nose becomes very fragrant pear/peach/Viognier very lovely/aromatic nose; tart ripe pear/Viognier/perfumed talc textured/glycerined light pungent flavor; long perfumed/pear/peach/Viognier light pungent finish; a rather elegant rather than bombastic style of Viognier; seems a bit tight and needing a little age.
  5. Storrs Central Coast Grenache (14.5%) '95: Med.light color; pleasant strawberry/Grenache/perfumed/ fragrant bit smokey nose; tart/pungent light strawberry/spicy flavor; med.short tart/fresh strawberry/Grenache finish w/ little tannins; nice strawberry/perfumey bit smokey character; somewhat brighter than Clos du Gilroy; pleasant/light Grenache.
  6. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Grenache Stolpman Vnyd (14.5%) '95: Med.light color; some toasty/oaked/pencilly/ pungent light licorice/strawberry/Grenache nose; tart spicy pencilly/pungent lean spicy/ strawberry/Grenache/strawberry soda flavor; med.long tart elegant spicy/strawberry/Grenache some pencilly/pungent/oak finish w/ light tannins; a lean/elegant spicy/strawberry Grenache; some like a medium-weight Cotes du Rhone; holding well.
  7. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Grenache Stolpman Vnyd (13.5%; 150 cs) '98: Med.color; attractive licorice/Grenache/ strawberry/perfumed talc very spicy/aromatic nose; tart spicy/licorice/strawberry/strawberry soda perfumey/elegant flavor; med.long very spicy/strawberry/Grenache/soda light pungent/licorice finish w/ light tannins; very attractive very spicy elegant Grenache.
  8. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Mourvedre Stolpman Vnyd (13.8%; +Stolpman Syrah; 325 cs) '98: Med.color; some licorice/plummy/black cherry cola bit pungent/earthy nose; soft plummy/licorice/black cherry cola light pungent/smokey flavor; long soft very plummy/black cherry cola/licorice finish w/ some tannins; more fragrance & aromatics and not as much earthy/dusty character of many Calif Mourvedres; attractive plummy/forward wine. Good value at $18.50
  9. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Syrah (13.9%; Thompson, Stolpman, BienNacido, French Camp Syrah + Stolpman Viognier; 1200 cs) '98: Dark color; deep earthy/pungent/smokey/Rhonish plummy/black cherry nose; soft plummy/ Rhonish bit toasty/oak smokey/pungent/chocolaty flavor; med.long pungent/smokey/Rhonish bit plummy/black cherry finish w/ light tannins; interesting Rhone-like red similar to the Qupe CentralCoast but a bit bigger & richer; the FrenchCamp seems to dominate & gives it a pungent/ Rhonish character.
  10. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Syrah Stolpman Vnyd (14%; 75 cs) '98: Med.dark color; fragrant/perfumey/strawberry/ Syrah aromatic spicy/elegant nose; tart elegant/spicy/strawberry/Syrah fragrant/perfumed flavor; med.long fragrant/strawberry/spicy/Syrah elegant finish w/ some tannins; more of the elegant/ fragrant/perfumy part of the Syrah spectrum; reminds me a lot of the Eberle Syrahs.
  11. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Syrah Bien Nacido Vnyd (14.0%; 300 cs) '98: Very dark color; intense blackberry/plummy/ black cherry/licorice/loads of fruit some smokey/pungent nose; tart ripe blackberry/Syrah/plummy/ black cherry spicy bit pungent light oak flavor; long clean plummy/black cherry/black cherry cola finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; lots of clean spicy Calif Syrah character w/ lots of that BienNacido/black cherry character; very good Syrah for the price. $25.25
  12. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Syrah Bien Nacido Vnyd (14.0%) '97: Black color; intense blackberry/Syrah rather bretty/ horsecollar tobaccoy/pungent/smokey funky/complex nose that clears to very strong blackberry/Syrah smokey/complex character; rich ripe/blackberry/Syrah funky/brett/horsecollar/Rhonish smokey/oaked/ tobacco flavor; long strong blackberry/Syrah funky/brett/horsecollar pungent/tarry finish w/ fair tannins; a noticible brett gives this a very interesting funky/SouthernRhone-like character; not as bretty as most Beaucastels though; needs another 2-5 yrs; should evolve into a very good/ Rhonish Syrah.
  13. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Syrah Thompson Vnyd (14.0%; 75 cs) '98: Dark color; intense smokey/pungent/ blackberry/Syrah/gamey some earthy/licorice light oak nose; tart rich intense blackberry/Syrah/ fragrant very spicy some licorice/pungent flavor; long spicy/blackberry/Syrah clean fruit some pungent/smokey finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-4 yrs; more bigness & gamey/Syrah character than the other '98 Syrahs; my favorite of the '98's.
  14. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Syrah Thompson Vnyd (14.3%) '97: Black color; very intense blackberry/Syrah/ boysenberry very perfumed/aromatic slight bretty/funky complex rather gamey/sauvage nose; slight petilliant intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/gamey smokey/pungent slight bretty/horsecollar rather licorice complex flavor; very long intense blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry some gamey/licorice pungent bit bretty/horsecollar finish w/ ample tannins; lots of gamey/Rhonish character and complexity; perhaps Craig's best Syrah yet; terrific gamey/sauvage Syrah.
  15. Whitcraft Winery San Luis Obispo Cnty Nebbiolo French Camp Vnyd (Unfined/Unfltrd) '97: Light bit browning color; unusual olive/herbal/cherry/rose petal very dusty low fruit nose; tart green olive rather herbal very dusty bit dried out light cherry/rose petal flavor; med.short astringent herbal bit dried out very dusty/walnutty light cherry/rose petal finish; plenty of tannins there but not much fruit; rather interesting/strange red more like a Gattinara or Lombard red.
  16. Accedemia Piemonte Barbera (12%) '97: Med.color; strong berry very coffee/espresso/charred chocolate/cocoa nose; tart very cherry/espresso/chocolaty lean/earthy astringent bit thin flavor; short very tart cherry/chocolate tarry/dried rose petal finish w/ fair tannins; a tart lean hard Barbera but not bad for the price. $3.99 from Howard & Rhoda, a gift to them from TomHill
And all the usual tripe from the bloody pulpit:
  1. Grenache: If you're looking for big/intense/black Grenache like Alban or Aussie ones, the Jaffurs are not the ones. But they're verl well-made/attractive/spicy/perfumey kind of Grenache. Very much like Oregon Pinot but w/ a strawberry/Grenache character rather than a cherry/Pinot character. I've had them several times w/ salmon dishes, where I usually go for a Pinot, and they work very well indeed.
  2. The Vnyds: It's always interesting to see what different winemakers do w/ different vnyds and try to get a handle on the character of the vnyds. The Stolpman Vnyd ( I'm generalizing beyond just Craig's wines here) seems to produce rather lighter/elegant very spicy/perfumey kind of wines, more on the lean side, w/ not a lot of tannins & extract. The BienNacido wines seem to have a bit of a soft underbelly w/ loads & loads of plummy/black cherry fruit. And the ThompsonVnyd seems to yield big/intense/extracted/tannic rather hard kind of wines. Of the Syrah from SantaBarbara area, I would have to rate the Thompson and Roll Ranch and BienNacido Hillside Block as my favorites.
  3. StolpmanVnyd: Before HdR last June, I spent several hrs w/ Jeff Newton visiting the Stolpman vnyd. Impressive vnyd w/ impeccably maintained vines. Jeff, the vnyd manager there, is more than just a guy that drives a tractor. Very sharp mind, very much a focus on producing quality grapes there, and knows wines amazingly well, knows what it takes (or at least recognizes) great wine. Tom & Marylin Stolpman have now released some wines under their own label. Cab varieties and a Syrah, I understand. Haven't yet tasted them.
  4. I've been following Craig Jaffur's wines from the very start and obviously like them quite a bit. His '97's developed a noticible brett/horsecollar to them but I didn't find it at all objectionable and thought it gave the wines a Rhone-like character. I preferred the '97's to the '98's (at this point in time) because of greater intensity & extract & complexity. The '98's were much cleaner w/ no hints of brett, but they all seemed to have a narrowness & thightness to them that I think indicates a need for some age. Craig bottles & releases his wines earlier than most wineries and they seem to show much better w/ a little age on them. I think this particularly true of his whites.
TomHill

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