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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 2, 2003:

Schrader Cellars 

Had lunch last Thursday w/ Fred Schrader (Schrader Cellars) and Margaux Singleton (Enoteca) during their SantaFe visit. No detailed notes, but:
 
  1. Schrader Cellars Napa Valley ToKalon Vineyard (take THAT, Bob Mondavi!!!) Cabernet Sauvignon 2001: Cuvee RMS(?): Designed to be a bit more approachable & drinkable than the other two cuvees. Loads of black currant/Cab fruit, bit more forward in character but still pretty big & structured and hardly what you'd call a Cabernet-light.  Cuvee S: The main cuvee of the 2001 Cab. Very big, dark structured w/ perhaps a bit more toasty oak, a Cab for the long haul. Cuvee MX: Two barrels selected to be put up in magnums only. Much like the S but maybe a  tad bit more oak.
  2. Schrader Cellars Vieux OS IraCarter Vineyard Zinfandel 2001: very dark color; loads of very perfumed blackberry fragrant almost PS/peppery nose; rich peppery/blackberry floral/fragrant flavor w/ light touch of oak; needs some age
Bloody pulpit:
  1. I've followed the Schrader Cabs from the very start ('98). Addmitidly not a Cabernet fan, but  I liked these Cabs and thought them the best I've yet tried (not yet had the '00), especially the Cuvee S. Seemed to be a bit toned down on the oak from previous vintages.
  2. Vieux OS: This comes from the tiny IraCarter Vineyard on the northwest outskirts of Calistoga. I often find Calistoga Zins a bit on the clunky/soft side. This one was definitely not. It had the tannin & extract for aging quite awhile, I thought. Comes in a specially-Fred-designed Italian btl, of the Manfred Krankl genre, that weighs a $hitload (Kansas colloquialism). Not unreasonably priced (given today's market) at $35. I'll be ordering mine. 
TomHill 
 

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