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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 19, 2003:

Mostly Rhone Wines

Last Monday Larry Archibald did the tasting for our SantaFe Wine Group, mostly Rhone wines:
 
  1. Seven Peaks Central Coast Chard 2001: Med.gold color; some fragrant/appley bit spicy/perfumed/ aromatic/perfumed talc nose; tart spicy bit austere/stoney/appley fragrant flavor; med.short perfumed/appley bit stoney finish; I thought this might be a Pay d'Oc Viognier; pretty decent Chard for a good price.
  2. Sea Ridge Calif Cabernet Sauvignon (12.5%) 2001: Med.light color; rather buttery/Am.oaked slight fruity/Grenache-like/strawberry slight earthy/smokey nose; soft light/mild fruity/strawberry/ grapey no Cabernet light toast/oak flavor; very mild rather bland red; I thought it some sort of Calif Rhone blend.
  3. Qupe Lazy Acres Cuvee Syrah (50% AlisosCanyon/50% BienNacido) 2001: Dark color; rather earthy/dusty some blackberry/Syrah/cracked black pepper light toasty/oak nose; tart rather cracked black pepper/blackberry/Syrah slight roasted/pungent/toasty fairly tannic flavor; not that Qupe in style; I thought it a cold-climate Syrah; very good value at $22.00, only at Lazy Acres.
  4. Edmunds St.John Calif Syrah 2000: Very dark color; very strong plummy/blackberry/Syrah some pungent/toasty/roasted bit black pepper slight bretty/Rhonish nose; tart/acid some green olive rather blackberry/Syrah/peppery some roasted/pungent/minerally flavor; very long pungent/roasted acid blackberry/peppery finish w/ fair tannins; needs several yrs yet; I thought this was an Eric Texier Syrah.
  5. Bogle Phantom (OldVine 40% Zin/50% PetiteSirah/10%Mourvedre) 2000: Med.dark color; very strong plummy/blackberry/black cherry some pungent/toasty/toasted coconut bit roasted nose; soft/ lush very plummy some strawberry/blackberry rather toasty/pungent/smokey blueberry some hard/tannic flavor; needs 2-4 yrs of age; I thought it a big Calif Grenache or The Gourt; surprisingly big & tannic for Bogle; very good value at $15.00
  6. Ojai Vnyd Santa Barbara Syrah 2000: Very dark color; bit reduced/wet army blanket rather toasty/smokey/pungent pungent/black pepper/boysenberry big nose; rich dusty/tannic strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/peppery toasty/pungent/smokey/roasted some Rhonish/coffee/mocha flavor; bit musty/funky nose but terrific on the palate; I thought is was an Alban Grenache; great value at $22.00
  7. Chateau Paul Mas Coteaux du Languedoc (Mostly Syrah plus Grenache) 2001: Very dark color; rather roasted/pungent/toasty strong blackberry/Syrah some gamey/smokey/NorthernRhone nose; big/hard/tannic bit metallic intense blackberry/Syrah some dusty/earthy flavor; has that classic Languedoc hard/earthy edge; loads of blackberry/Syrah; needs 2-6 yrs of age; an absolute steal at $13.00
  8. Chateau Valcomb LeSeirine Cotes du Ventoux 1999: Very dark color; rather earthy/gamey somewhat funky/wet army blanket strange lilacs/floral nose; tart/lean bit funky/wet army blanket/ musty (not corked)/rustic quite earthy some walnutty slight blackberry flavor w/ some tannins; lacking in fruit; the LaSeirine implies it's a Syrah. Bit overpriced at $19 but it may evolve into something interesting.
  9. Clape Cornas 2000: Very dark color; rather earthy/dusty bit funky/green beans/walnutty some tarry/roasted/pungent some blackberry/Syrah nose; strong dusty/earthy roasted/tarry/ pungent/smokey light gamey/blackberry flavor w/ ample tannins; bit lacking in fruit but a very big wine that may become something great; needs much age; a gamble at $64.00
  10. Clape Renaissance Cornas 2000: Dark color; rather dusty/earthy licorice/pungent/tarry somewhat gamey/minerally light blackberry/Syrah nose; tart bit metallic licorice/pungent/ tarry/earthy slight blackberry flavor w/ some tannins; needs a few yrs; better gamble at $35.00.
  11. Clusel-Roch Cote-Rotie 2000: Dark color; very strong toasty/pungent/charred/Fr.oak/roasted very fragrant/menthol/green olive blackberry/Syrah fairly complex/gamey nose; tart rather menthol/toasty/charred/roasted/espresso blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah complex flavor; needs a few yrs; good C-R/Northern Rhone character.
  12. Levet Cote-Rotie 1999: Very dark color; strange stinky/funky/earthy/green olive/walnutty bit roasted/pingent low fruit some complex nose; tart/lean/hard funky/tarry/green olive slight blackberry/gamey flavor w/ fair tannins; rather peculiar C-R; a big gamble at $50.00
And the usual bloody pulpit:
  1. The Sea Ridge Cabernet was a personal tribute by Larry to me, because of the infamous Sea Ridge Occidental Zin I love so much. The old Sea Ridge Winery folded and has now become Eric-Ross, also a producer of some pretty terrific Zins. When they folded, the name was apparently sold. The Cellared&Bttld address suggest that it's probably a Fred Franzia wine now. The label design is different, the wine pretty boring. The lovely Laura Chancellor spotted a $hitload of it stacked at Von's in SantaBarbara and, of course, the SeaRidge name brought my name to her mind. When Larry returned that evening to buy a bottle to use to needle me a bit, the stack was entirely gone and he had to root around (Kansas pig term) on the shelves to find a remaining bottle.
  2. Qupe LazyAcres Cuvee: This is a blend Bob Wesley put together from Bob's single-vnyd wines for the Lazy Acres store in SantaBarbara. I was mightly impressed w/ the wine, especially for its price tag. A real steal.
  3. Value Syrahs: For upper-teens/low $20's; the Ojai SantaBarbara and Calif Syrahs, and the EdmundsStJohn Calif Syrahs are no-brainers. Absolutely the best Syrahs around for the $$'s. Easily the equivalent of many $30-$40, even $60 Syrahs. And they seem to age for a few yrs amazingly well.
TomHill
 

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