ALL we sell, with tasting notes for mostSearch our web site by keyword. Includes the Usenet Wine FAQALL we sell, with tasting notes for mostSome of our favorite linksHow to get here from there. Highway condition links.An archive of the Santa Barbara Independent's own GRAPEVINE local wine columnWining, dining, touring, weather and more. The Definitive Guide to Tasting Wine in Santa Barbara County. Complete list of wineriesOur own great Emporium events as well as links to local area wine eventsOur line-up of spirits, definition of word related to spirits, information on producers and more Wines, wine tastings, history, neat info on wineries and winemakers and more The Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium. Experts in County of Santa Barbara Wine and Central Coast Wine
 
Clickable Image  

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 2, 2001:

New Austrailian and French Rhones

Tasted last week some New Oz and French Rhones:
  1. Jerome Castillon et Fils Ch. L'Ermitage Costieres de Nimes (60% Roussanne,40% GrenacheBlanc; 12.5%); 1999: Med.gold color; light fragrant/floral slight earthy rather simple nose; very acid/metallic thin light floral/grapefruity flavor; short toxic/acid/steely/grapefruity/floral finish; too acidified and too little flavor.
  2. Gerard Bru Ch. Puech-Haut Coteaux du Languedoc Blanc (50% Viognier, 25% Marsanne, 25% Roussanne;Yield: 1.4 tons/acre; 300 cs for USofA; 13.5%); 1998: Med.dark gold color; loads of toasty oak/toasted coconut slight floral nose; soft lush very strong toasty/oak/toasted coconut light tropical fruit flavor; long very toasty/oak/toasted coconut finish; all the toasty oak pretty much obliterates any fruit in this wine.
  3. Haan Barossa Valley Viognier (13%); 2000: Light gold color; light pear rather earthy simple nose; rather thin/lean light pear/floral/Viognier rather acidic slight earthy flavor; med. short thin/tart light floral/pear/Viognier finish. Rather simple clean crisp little Viognier.
  4. Grande River Vnyds Grand Valley Colorado Syrah (13%); 1997: Med.light color; rather toasty/earthy low fruit somewhat herbal nose; tart quite earthy/dusty some toasty/oak/buttery little fruit somewhat herbal near vegetal flavor; med.short herbal/earthy some oaked bit bitter little fruit finish w/ some tannins; strange red w/ little/no Syrah character and lots of herbal/ earthy character.
  5. Eric Texier Brezeme Cotes du Rhone (12.5%; 100% Syrah); 1999: Med.dark color; lovely smokey/ pungent/green olive/meaty/gamey/roasted complex nose; tart green olive/pungent/smokey/toasty/ roasted gamey flavor; tart/acid long somewhat roasted/pungent/gamey quite green olive finish w/ some tannins; much like the Graillot Crozes; pretty acid but a very tasty CdR.
  6. J.L.Chave Select MonCoeur Cotes du Rhone (13.5%); 1999: Very dark color; rather reduced/H2S some strawberry/blackberry/Syrah bit roasted nose; tart strawberry/Grenache light roasted bit blackberry/Syrah flavor; med.long light roasted strawberry/Grenache finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; I've had this wine twice before and was really struck by its Syrah character; this time it seems more Grenachy.
  7. ADW Alliance South Eastern Australian Shiraz (14.0%); 1999: Med.dark color; very strong Am.oaked/ vanilla some blackberry/Syrah/black cherry bit simple nose; tart/ripe black cherry/blackberry spicy vanilla/Am.oaked flavor; ripe/juicy/tart med.long black cherry/blackberry finish w/ modest tannins; nice wine for the price but not the richness & lushness of the '98.
  8. ADW Barossa Valley Alliance Shiraz (14.5%); 1998: Dark color; deep chocolaty/meaty classic blackberry/Syrah juicy lots of fruit strong vanilla/Am.oaked nose; soft/fat/tich/lush very juicy/chocolaty/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah lots of Am.oak/vanilla flavor; very long/lush chocolaty/blackberry/licorice/Syrah quite vanilla/Am.oaked finish w/ light tannins; a terrific value.
  9. Kalwin Brown Barossa Shiraz (14.4%); 1998: Very dark color; intense blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah strong minty/menthol/chocolaty/licorice perfumed nose; tart rich intense blackberry/ boysenberry/chocolaty rather minty/menthol/vanilla/oaked soft flavor; very long big/ripe/ juice boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah fairly minty/menthol finish w/ light tannins; another great value in Shiraz; the bottle was closed by Stu Yaniger's NeoCork, first time I've seen it in an Aussie wine; the bottom was stained red, never seen that either.
  10. Elderton Barossa Shiraz (14.5%); 1998: Black color; very intense blackberry/boysenberry/ Syrah very ripe/licorice bit pungent vanilla/oaked nose; rich/intense/mouthfilling licorice/ blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah rather vanilla/pencilly/oak flavor; very long very ripe/blackberry/ boysenberry/licorice lush finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a classiz Oz ripe/oaked Shiraz but good structure; great value at $22.85
  11. Scarpantona School Block McLaren Vale RTW (55% Shiraz, 40% Cabernet, 5% Merlot; 14%); 1999: Med. dark color; mostly blackberry/Syrah some smokey/toasty/pungent/Fr(?)oak somewhat spicy slight bretty/herbal nose; bit bretty/earthy strong blackberry/Syrah some blackcurranty/Cab some tannic fairly structured flavor; med.long soft some bretty strong blackberry/black curranty/Cab spicy some toasty/vanilla/oak finish w/ light tannins; very nicely done Shiraz/Cab blend at a good price.
  12. Swanson Alexis Napa Valley Estate RW (CS/Syrah; 14.1%); EBby SwansonVnyds, Oakville, 1998: Very dark color; strong pencilly/oaked/spicy/vanilla some meaty/gamey blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry nose; soft lush blackberry/boysenberry/licorice rather pencilly/toasty/Fr.oak some tannic flavor; long ripe blackberry/Syrah some pencilly/toasty/Fr.oak spicy finish w/ some tannins; needs 3-6 yrs; not as pencilly/oaked as previous ones and a bit lacking the tannins/structure of earlier versions; one of the best Syrah/Cab blends done in Calif. $35.00
  13. Cuilleron-Gaillard-Villard Cote-Rotie LesEssartailles (13%); 1998: Very dark color; beautiful/ intense green olive/roasted/espresso/smokey/pungent charred/toasty complex nose; hard/tannic some roasted/green olive/pungent/espresso some toasty/charred/oak flavor; med.long some roasted/espresso/green olive toasty/oak finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; a terrific/ classic C-R nose but a bit hard/lean in the mouth and a bit lacking on the mid-palate. $41.50
  14. Maurice Boiron Bosquet des Papes Cuvee Chantemerle CdP VieillesVignes (13.3%) '98: Med.light color; rather dusty/earthy black cherry some toasty/oaked complex nose; soft cherry/black cherry bit toasty/oaked earthy/dusty light CdP flavor; med. light cherry/black cherry dusty some charred/toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; tastes like a Syrah made by a Pinot producer; a pleasant CdP but way overpriced at $44.95  Larry's mystery wine
  15. Arnaud Daumen Domaine de la Vieille Julienne (13%) CdP '78: Med.dark bit browning; some musty/wet dog fur bit oxidized rather aged/complex nose; soft earthy/dusty bit musty/bretty earthy/dusty slight fecal complex aged CdP flavor; med.long complex/aged CdP dusty/earthy rather bretty/musty finish w/ little tannins; an old/traditional/aged CdP that's hanging in there still; still an interesting wine. Howard & Rhoda's mystery wine.
  16. Callaway Temecula Calif Sweet Nancy LateHrvst CheninBlanc (SaH: 36.9%; RS: 17.15%; Alc: 12.5%) NV: Dark gold bit browning color; loads of botrytis/peachy/apricotty slight oxidized fairly complex nose; tart loads of botrytis/peachy/apricotty some toasty/oak/tobaccoy slight oxidized/sherry very sweet flavor; very long apricotty/peachy/very botrytis slight oxidized finish; loads of intense botrytis; seems a bit oxidized like it came from a solera process; bit like a Tokaji; bit pricey at $27.00/hlf
And only a tiny bloody pulpit this time:
  1. Brezeme CdR: This is one terrific Rhone wine from North Berkeley WineCellars; made of entirely Syrah; and it tastes like it. Lots of sediment so obviously unfiltered or unfined. I left a partially consumed bottle out on the counter (with a cork in it) for nearly two weeks. When I tried a glass, I noted a white floculant material floating on the surface of the glass. When smelled the wine, got a distinct VA/Ea some pickle juice character. It was obviously turning to vinegar. So the wine is biologically active and may not age as well as I'd expected it might.
TomHill

Return to the Tom Hill Archive Index