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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 June 10, 1998 

A Few New Reds (mostly Zins)

Tasted a few weeks back some new reds, mostly Zins: 
 
 
  1. Eberle Paso Robles Barbera (13.5%)  '96: Med.colr; classic spicy Barbera/dusty/ cinnamon&cloves/cherry nose; tart very spicy/cinnamon&cloves spicy Barbera/ spicy sausage some Italian-like flavor; long very tart very spicy/Barbera slight brett cinnamon&cloves light oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs a few yrs; a bit lighter than previous ones, probably because the '96 has some young-vine Steinbeck Vineyard added to the mostly Norman Vineyard.
  2. Il Podere dell'Olivos Santa Barbara County Barbera Riserva Buon Natale Bien NacidoVineyard (13%) '96: Very dark color; bit stinky/reduced big rich smokey lush BN/black cherry fruit spicy nose; tart bit pungent/reduced/burnt rubber big huge lush black cherry/mouthfilling pungent/smokey oaked flavor; long very tart rich lush black cherry/BN spicy sausage finish w/ fair tannins & slight brett; needs 3-5 yrs; loads ob BN/black cherry fruit; a terrific Barbera.
  3. Eberle Paso Robles Steinbeck Vineyard (13.5%) Zin '96: Med.light color; attractive spicy raspberry light pencilly/oaked nose; soft spicy raspberry bit earthy light cloves/oak flavor; med.long light spicy/raspberry earthy bit toasted/  cloves finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant drinking lighter Zin.
  4. Rosenblum Cellars Howell Mountain Zin White Cottage Vineyard (13.7%) '96: Med.color; bright lush Zinberry some pencilly/oak dusty/old vines nose; soft very bright high- toned Zinberry/buttery light earthy light pencilly/oak flavor; very long bright Zinberry/raspberry/spicy light earthy finish w/ light tannins; a nicely done lush Rosenblum Zin w/ a bit of Howell Mountain/earthy character.
  5. Elyse Napa Valley Howell Mountain (12.9%) Zin '96: Very dark color; deep earthy/dusty/  HM some blackberry/lush slight brett nose; soft rich lush blackberry some earthy/walnutty/dusty bit tannic flavor; very long rich ripe blackberry bit dusty/earthy finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; an attractive forward lush Zin.
  6. Villa Mt. Eden Sonoma Valley Zin Grand Reserve Monte Rosso Vineyard (15.7%) '96: Dark  color; bit pungent blackberry dusty/old vine pencilly/cedary/oak nose; tart bright raspberry/blackberry pungent/toasty/oaked flavor; long bit pungent toasty/oak blackberry/raspberry/spicy finish w/ some tannins; carries the  alcohol well; nicely done wine but that typical MonteRosso narrowness on the palate.
  7. Robert Biale Sonoma Valley Zin Monte Rosso Vineyard (15.4%) '96: Med.dark color; very attractive raspberry rather pencilly/Fr.oak very spicy bright nose; tart very spicy bright high-toned raspberry very pencilly/Fr.oaked elegant/zippy flavor; very long pencilly/Fr.oaked very spicy/raspberry/Zinberry high-toned bright finish w/ light tannins; lots of bright very spicy raspberry character; one of the better Monte Rosso Zins I've had.
  8. Robert Biale Sonoma Valley Zin Valsecchi Vineyard (15.4%) '96: Med.dark color; very intense bright forward lush raspberry ripe dusty/old vine vanilla/pencilly/oak nose; tart rich lush bright raspberry/some blackberry buttery/pencilly/vanilla Fr.oak complex dusty/old vine flavor; very long lush blackberry/raspberry dusty/old vine finish; a terrific Zin much in the style of Maggie's/Samsul but more oaked.
  9. Robert Biale Napa Valley Zin Aldo's Vineyard (14.6%) '96: Med.color; rich lush bright raspberry/blackberry dusty/old vines complex fragrant/aromatic classic Napa Vlly Zin nose; soft rich lush raspberry/blackberry very spicy buttery/pencilly oak dusty/old vines very aromatic flavor; very long elegant very spicy/ raspberry lush dusty/old vines pencilly/oak aromatic finish w/ light tannins; a beautiful elegant pencilly/raspberry Zin.
  10. Robert Biale Napa Valley Zin Old Crane Ranch (15.4%) '96: Med.dark color; deep pungent licorice dusty/old vines pencilly/vanilla/oak smokey nose; soft rich lush blackberry/boysenberry dusty/old vines chocolaty pungent/pencilly/oak finish w/ some tannins; the biggest & richest of the Biales; a lovely big rich blackberry/lush Zin.
  11. Rosenblum Cellars Sonoma Valley Zin Samsel Vineyard/Maggie's Reserve (14.9%) '96: Med. dark color; intense lush blackberry/boysenberry dusty/old vines classic Samsel chocolaty/licorice nose; soft ripe blackberry/boysenberry rich dusty/old vines pungent complex some oaked flavor; very long ripe blackberry/boysenberry chocolaty dusty/old vines some toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; a bit  lighter than previous Samsels but a classic Maggie's Reserve.
  12. Joseph Swan Russian River Valley Zin Frati Ranch (14.1%) '96: Very dark color;  rather pungent/burnt rubber/reduced very dusty/old vines intense blackberry/ boysenberry some pencilly/toasty/oak nose; tart rich intense boysenberry/ blackberry dusty/old vine toasty oak/pungent flavor; long boysenberry/black- berry dusty/old vines toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; a classic old vine Frati but a bit lighter than previous ones. Terrific Zin.
 
  And the usual pomposities from the bloody pulpit: 
  1. The Biales in the '96 vintage are a very successful set of Zins. The '95's were much lighter/more delicate/elegant style of Zin that many were very disenchanted with (I wasn't). These are much bigger & richer Zins but still have that elegant/racy/stylish character to them; very well-made Zins.
  2. So the "alleged" lightness of the '96 vintage: doesn't show in the Biales; some in the Swan and the Samsel, but not striking; IMHO.
TomHill (back to the Raisin' Rhones Trip Report) 

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