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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 June 30, 1998: 

Central Coast Pinots

Tasted the other week (6/30/98) some Central Coast Pinots:
 
 
  1. Hartley-Ostini Hitching Post Central Coast Pinot Noir (13.2%) '96: Med.light color; fragrant perfumey bright cherry/Pinot Noir nose; tart light cherry light pencilly/oaked bit  metallic very bright/zippy/cherry/Pinot Noir flavor; long light buttery/pencilly/oak bright cherry/Pinot Noir finish w/ little tannins; a bright cherry/Pinot Noir delicate & elegant and ready to drink.
  2. Gainey Santa Maria Valley Limited Selection Pinot Noir (13.5%) '96: Med.light color; deep bit herbal/dusty/toasty/smokey/coffee grounds nose; soft fairly rich bit brett/horse- collar deep black cherry flavor; long deep black cherry some smokey/pungent/oaked slight brett finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a fairly big rather Burgundian-style Pinot Noir.
  3. Steele Santa Barbara County Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot Noir '96: Med.light color; strong pencilly/toasty/low key light black cherry nose; buttery/pencilly/oaked/light toasty rather bright black cherry flavor; med.light black cherry rather pencilly/oak finish w/ light  tannins; not the usual overwhelming Jed Steele toasty oak; very nicely done Pinot Noir w/ the Bien Nacido black cherry coming thru.
  4. Cold Heaven Santa Barbara County Bien Nacido Vineyard (13.2%) Pinot Noir '96: Med.light color; deeper/darker/ black cherry dusty bit walnutty nose; med. tart deeper/more black cherry some pungent/toasty/oak slight sour/walnutty flavor; med.long richer black cherry/ black cherry cola some toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; needs yr or two; a bigger/deeper BN Pinot Noir but not as big a rich as the ABC ones.
  5. Whitcraft Santa Maria Valley Bien Nacido Vineyard Block N U&U Pinot Noir '96: Dark color; strong dusty/walnutty/earthy bit brett low fruit/bing cherry complex/interesting nose; bit sour strong dusty/walnutty/earthy pungent/toasty/oak slight funky flavor; long tart pungent/dusty/walnutty smokey/pungent/complex fairly extracted finish w/ fair tannins; needs 3-5 yrs; a very unusual/extracted Pinot w/ not a lot of fruit; most disliked this wine but I thought it very interesting & tasty; an unusual rendering of Pinot.
  6. Stephen Ross Santa Maria Valley Bien Nacido Vineyard (13.7%) Pinot Noir '96: Med.dark color; lush beautiful black cherry/dusty fragrant nose; tart ripe spicy very lush/black cherry light pencilly/oak flavor; long lush black cherry spicy slight dusty some pencilly oaked finish w/ light tannins; a bright spicy classic BN Pinot Noir; very polished very well-made Pinot.
  7. Stephen Ross Arroyo Grande Valley La Colline (13.5%) Pinot Noir '96: Med.light color; rather strong/pungent/toasty light Pinot/cherry/fruit nose; tart lean spicy/toasty  slight bitter/hard bright cherry/delicate flavor; med.long lean/spicy/tart rather spicy/bright cherry finish w/ light tannins; a bit less cherry/Pinot Noir fruit & a bit harder & leaner.
  8. Stephen Ross Edna Valley Edna Ranch (13.8%) Pinot Noir '96: Med.dark color; deep pungent black cherry strong Pinot Noir/licorice bit Kansas feed store ripe toasty/oak nose; tart black cherry cola/pungent dusty/toasty/oak flavor; rather tannic/hard strong pungent/toasty/black cherry cola finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; a bigger richer more clunky/pungent Pinot.
  9. WindWard Vineyard Paso Robles Pinot Noir Monopole (12.6%) '95: Light color; light fragrant light cherry/Pinot Noir pencilly bit licorice nose; light delicate bright black cherry cola flavor; med.long bright cherry cola/soda pop finish w/ little tannins; a bright cherry/soda poppy Pinot w/ lots of whole berry fermentation character; bit like Saintsbury Garnet in style.
  10. Ojai Santa Barbara County Bien Nacido Vineyard (13%) Pinot Noir '96: Very dark color; slightly reduced/ stinky intense black cherry cola/black cherry cough syrup some toasty/pungent/ pencilly/oak nose; big rich pungent/charred oak intense black cherry cola smokey/ dusty flavor; very long black cherry cola/cough syrup pungent/toasty/smokey/oak dusty finish w/ ample tannins; a big rich extracted black cherry cola Pinot; will be a killer wine w/ 3-7 yrs of age.
  11. Nichols Santa Barbara County CottonWood Cnyn Vineyard (13.5%) Pinot Noir '96: Light color; very strong toasty/smokey/pungent/charred oak slight walnutty rather Burgundian nose; tart bright cherry/Pinot Noir bit walnutty strong charred/smokey/pungent/pencilly very oaked flavor; very long spicy bright cherry/Pinot Noir lots of Burgundian/pencilly/toasty/oak finish finish w/ some tannins; lots of Burgundian character & lots of cherry fruit; great SB Pinot Noir.
  12. Nichols Edna Valley Paragon Vineyard (13.5%) Pinot Noir '96: Med.color; deeper black cherry cola dusty more Calif-style some pencilly/toasty/oak nose; softer riper black cherry cola/licorice some pungent/toasty/oak flavor; med.long black cherry cola/licorice some menthol/toasty/pungent/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-4 yrs; a bigger riper more Calif-style Pinot.
  13. Nichols Monterey County Pisoni Vineyard (13.5%) Pinot Noir '96: Very dark color; very intense perfumed very spicy bit herbal/chocolaty exotic aromatic some toasty/oak nose; big rich extracted bit herbal pencilly/oak very smokey/charred/coffee exotic flavor; very long tannic extracted exotic bit herbal smokey/charred/pungent finish w/ ample tannins; needs 4-10 yrs; will be a killer wine; very perfumed exotic spicy wine yet obviously Pinot; best Monterey Pinot I've ever had ('till #14). 
  14. Ojai Santa Lucia Highlands Pisoni Vineyard (13%) Pinot Noir '96: Black color; very intense chocolaty bit stemmy intense blackberry/Syrah-like licorice Kansas feed store/ dusty very perfumed/exotic nose; hard very intense blackberry/Syrah-like chocolaty licorice extracted bit stemmy huge exotic/spicy flavor; very long very extracted intense blackberry/black cherry cough syrup licorice pungent/smokey/dusty finish w/ ample tannins, needs 5-15 yrs; a huge extracted wine w/ lots of Syrah  character but still distinctly Pinot; a very exotic wine.
  15. Villa Mt.Eden Santa Maria Valley Grand Reserve Bien Nacido Vineyard (14.2%) Pinot Noir '96: Light color; rather tobaccoy/smokey/oaked/coffee light cherry nose; tart light bright cherry some spicy/tobaccoy bit dusty/buttery flavor; long buttery/tobaccoy/oak light cherry finish w/ light tannins; nice Pinot but just that.
  16. Fellbacher Lammler Spatburgunder Auslese Trocken (13.0%) '97: Med.dark color; very strong dusty very walnutty some perfumed/spicy nose; tart lean low fruit some walnutty hard astringent flavor; med.long hard/lean/tannic walnutty little fruit finish; strong dusty/earthy/walnutty character w/ precious little fruit.
  17. Hubert de Montille Pommard Les Grands Epenots Premier Cru '90: Med.dark color; rather earthy/dusty pungent/bit licorice slight black cherry/Pinot Noir nose; bit dried out dusty/earthy low fruit slightly tired some tannic flavor; med. dusty/earthy low fruit some tannic dried out finish; on the down side.
 
  And the usual pomposities from the bloody pulpit: 
  1. Without a doubt, Santa Barbara County makes, perhaps, the best Pinots in Calif; though Russian River is close behind. The Edna Valley ones seem to be a bit harder, more clunky, more Calif in style. The Santa Barbara ones often have this lovely very perfumed cherry character to them. And then some times they display a sort of walnutty character (like the husks of walnuts out in the snow that become slimey and leave a black stain that lasts forever; my Kansas background here) that some people don't much care for. I've always like Steve Dooley's (Stephen Ross) wines from when I first had them; very well-made, polished, interesting; less Burgundian than some. His Pinots seem very Gary Farrell in style but from Central Coast fruit. The Nichols wines have always struck me as not particularly big & rich, but quite Burgundian in character. The Chris Whitcraft wines I have also liked (though too expensive) for their strange/exotic/unusual character. They're big wines pushed to the limit (sometimes a bit beyond) but always interesting and intriguing to taste, if for no other reason then to see what he's done this time. They're not everyone's cup of tea & it's little wonder that the WS folks are totally clueless in understanding his wines.  The quality of the Bien Nacido Vineyard is well-known; one of Calif's Grand Cru vineyards. These are the first Pisoni Vineyards that I've had & I was very impressed. Keep your eye on this vineyard. 
  2. "When you've tasted one Pinot Noir.... you've tasted one." : Larry Auer. Says it all... the diversity of Pinot in Calif is one of the reasons I like this wine so much. Sure makes Cabernet look borrrrring.
TomHill (unabashedly a Central Coast fan) 

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