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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 May 14, 1996:

Dessert Wines

Had the opportunity to taste some interesting dessert wines last night: 
 
 
  1. Kerpen Wehlener Sonnonuhr Riesling Auslese 2* '90: Lovely aromatic floral R light Mosel valve oil/slatey/steely nose; tart off-dry crisp clean floral R steely Mosel valve oil flavor; very long tart crisp lean slatey/steely light valve oil finish; a very young wine that should last another 10-20 yrs; much less rich and opulent than expected for an Auslese
  2. Anslemi Recioto di Soave '88: Deep grapey butterscotchy bit oxidized/ honeyed/nutty nose; rich very grapey lush butterscotchy passito slight  oxidized flavor; very long lush lingering grapey slight nutty finish; a terrific passito-style wine.
  3. Phillipe Foreau Vouvray Goutte d'Or '90: Intense botrytis/peachy/very grapey nose; tart very rich intense botrytis apricotty grapey flavor; very long hard tart very grapey/botrytis peachy finish; much bigger & richer & more intense than most sweet Vouvrays; incredible stuff.
  4. Maculan Acininobili '90: Wow!! Deep intense peachy botrytis apricotty ambrosial some earthy nose; huge very sweet butterscotchy oaked intense botrytis peachy grapey bit earthy flavor; very long lingering oaked butter- scotchy apricotty botrytis finish; very much an Italian Sauternes; unusual to see botrytis in Italian dessert wines; even better than the outstanding Maculan Torcolato.
  5. Ch. Les Hebras Monbazillac '90: Very strong butterscotchy/caramel/slight earthy very fragrant slight volatile nose; soft intense butterscotchy earthy slight piney dusty ripe botrytis/peachy flavor; very long butterscotchy earthy caramel oaked finish; big & very ripe w/ lots of botrytis & a bit on the heavy-handed side but best Monbazillac I've ever had.
  6. Ch. Raymond-Lafon Sauternes '90: Lovely fragrant aromatic oaked earthy some buttery/caramel rather closed nose; tart lean somewhat sweet buttery/ caramel/butterscotchy bit earthy/chalky rather hard austere flavor; very long lingering hard lean buttery/caramel tart earthy finish; a very lean hard austere tight closed Sauternes that will live forever; not nearly as rich & opulent as most; much like the old Caillous but much cleaner. Incredible.
  7. Meulenhof Erdener Busslay Mosel Riesling Eiswein '91: Strong grapey flowery R lush nose; sweet steely acidic spicy lush grapey rather sweet/sour flavor; very long tart/acid very grapey very clean spicy finish; a bit strong on the sweet/sour character but will age for a very long time.
  8. Sichel Kircheimer Schwarzener Trockenbeerenauslese '89: Very intense  peachy/botrytis dusty grapey nose; soft intense very grapey/peachy/botrytis lush bit earthy flavor; very long very peachy/botrytis intense grapey finish; loaded w/ botrytis; some like the Santino TBAs.
  9. Navarro Cluster Select Late Harvest Anderson Valley Riesling '86: Intense apricotty/peachy/botrytis fragrant some earthy complex near volatile nose; very sweet rich intense peachy/botrytis grapey complex flavor; very long lingering intense botrytis/peach complex finish; still good acidity but a lovely maturing Calif TBA.
  10. Navarro Cluster Select Late Harvest Anderson Valley Riesling '90: Very intense peachy/botrytis apricotty lush slight earthy nose; big ripe peachy/botrytis apricotty slight sweet/sour grapefruity flavor; very long lush grapey/ peachy botrytis finish; very much like the '86 but not as complex & mature.
  11. Navarro Cluster Select Late Harvest Anderson Valley Riesling '93: Intense flowery  aromatic slight volatile light peachy botrytis nose; very sweet sugary lush flowery R clean spicy light botrytis flavor; very long lingering clean very spicy flowery R light botrytis finish; not as much botrytis than the previous ones but clean & crisp & will probably age longer.
  12. Tokaji Wine Trust Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos '81: Very grapey earthy dusty  somewhat oxidized nose; soft grapey earthy some oxidized/wet dog fur flavor; long grapey botrytis apricotty some oxidized finish; pretty good Tokaji; this was made under the Socialist regime... why is it so good??
  13. Royal Tokaji Wine Company Tokaji Aszu 5 Putt '91: Big ripe grapey botrytis peachy earthy slight oxidized nose; strong sweet/sour very grapey earthy slight oxidized flavor; long grapey botrytis peachy some oxidized earthy finish; a bit cleaner & less oxidized than the '81.
  14. Golya Tokaji Aszu Essencia '88: Very strong botrytis peachy grapey slight earthy ozidized sherry-like nose; very sweet slight oxidized earthy botrytis peachy flavor; very long very sweet slight oxidized very peachy/botrytis finish; not very much bigger & richer than the 5 Putt ones.
  15. Klein Costantia South Africa Dessert Wine NV: Very fragrant perfumey aromatic light Muscatty almost GWT-like nose; very sweet very fragrant  perfumy aromatic flavor; very sweet very long lingering very spicy aromatic finish; very unusual wine much like a Z-H SdGN GWT than Muscat.
TomHill  (heretic fighting off terminal tooth decay)

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