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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 31, 2000:

New Rhones

Tasted recently some More New Rhones:
 
  1. Alban Vineyards Edna Valley Roussanne Alban Estate (14.4%) '98: Med.dark gold color; some toasty/oak bit earthy some honeysuckle/floral bit almond/hazelnut nose; rich bit tart very glycerined hazelnutty/honeysuckle floral lovely mouthfilling flavor; very long very glycerined honey- suckle/hazelnuts floral finish; needs several yrs; a bit like a SQN w/o all the toasty/oak.
  2. Eberle Paso Robles Grenache Lauridson Vineyard (14.7%) '97: Med.light red color; attractive/ pleasant strawberry/Grenache bit simple nose; soft spicy/Grenache/strawberry light floral/ earthy simple/clean flavor; med. strawberry/Grenache slight bitter finish w/ little tannins; a pleasant little summertime quaffer.
  3. Ridge Calif Lytton Estate Grenache (18% Zin, 2% PS) Dry Creek Valley (14.6%) '97: Med.dark color; rather buttery/oaked Ridge/perfume some strawberry/Grenache/cinammon/cloves nose; soft fairly rich/lush some buttery/oaked light strawberry/Grenache slight spicy/cloves flavor; med. soft buttery/Am.oaked light strawberry/Grenache finish w/ little tannins; a very nice Ridge red but short on Grenache character.
  4. Ridge Calif Lytton Estate Grenache (20% Zin, 5% PS) Dry Creek Valley (14.3%) '98: Med.dark color; bright/forward spicy very strawberry/Grenache lighht smokey/toasty nose; soft bit bitter spicy/strawberry/Grenache little oak flavor; med. strawberry/Grenache light oaked finish w/ no tannins; a pleasant/lightweight red w/ good Grenache character but little grip or structure.
  5. Ridge Calif Mataro Pagani Vineyard (77% Mataro/Mourvedre, 23% Zin) SonomaVlly (14.5%) '97: Dark color; deep earthy/plummy/Mourvedre/black cherry bit licorice/pungent nose; soft fairly rich plummy/licorice/earthy/Mourvedre bit dusty/earthy some pungent/oaked flavor; long soft/plummy/ black cherry/licorice/Mourvedre finish w/ light tannins; very nice forward Mourvedre but not much funky/Pagani character.
  6. Dry Creek Vineyard Dry Creek Valley Petite Sirah (14.8%) '82: Very dark color; strong very spicy/oaked peppery/licorice some fragrant/fruit some complex nose; soft/smooth rather spicy/oaked some licorice/peppery bit berry/fruit flavor; med.long some licorice/pungent rather spicy/oaked/ buttery bit complex finish w/ light tannins; very smooth/polished fully mature PS w/ some fruit & lots of Am.oak.
  7. Dry Creek Vineyard Dry Creek Valley Petite Sirah (13.7%) '83: Dark color; rather earthy/dusty some black cherry some toasty/oak quite peppery/spicy nose; soft some tannic dusty/earthy black cherry some toasty/oak low fruit flavor; med.long tannic slight black cherry/licorice little fruit light toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; nice/interesting but a bit low on fruit; drink up.
  8. Dry Creek Vineyards Dry Creek Valley Petite Sirah (13.4%) '84: Very dark color; rather classic/PS/ pungent/licorice/earthy low fruit bit bretty some toasty/oaked; rather hard/tannic some licorice/pungent/clunky/earthy low-fruit bit bretty flavor; med.short tannic licorice/ pungent finish w/ some tannins; drying out a bit & low on fruit.
  9. Grant Burge Barossa Vines Shiraz (13.5%) '98: Med.dark color; dusty/earthy some blackberry/ licorice/smokey quite gamey nose; tart/lush blackberry/gamey/spicy/Syrah some Am.oaked/ charred flavor; med.long gamey/licorice/blackberry/Syrah some oaked finish w/ light tannins; a very nice mainstream Aussie Shiraz; good value. $14.00
  10. Geyser Peak Sonoma Cnty Shiraz Reserve (13.2%) '96: Very dark color; very strong vanilla/Am. oaked rather blueberry/Syrah loads of oak nose; tart minty/spicy very vanilla/oaked ripe blackberry/blueberry flavor; med.long tart ripe/blueberry/Syrah very Am.oaked finish w/ light tannins; not the depth or intensity of an Aussie Shiraz, more like a SilverOak Syrah.
  11. Michel-Schlumberger Costal Calif Syrah Benchland Wine (13%) '96: Very dark color; rather earthy/plummy bit blackberry light smokey/oaked slight herbal nose; very soft/plummy/Syrah slight herbal/dill some smokey/oak flavor; med.short plummy/Syrah some herbal bit oaked finish w/ light tannins; tastes like SanBernarbe/Monterey Syrah.
  12. Ojai Vineyard Calif Syrah (14.0%) '98: Very dark color; very strong dusty/blackberry/Syrah very peppery/spicy beautiful nose; soft/lush spicy/peppery rich blackberry/boysenberry dusty some toasty/oaked flavor; long rather peppery/spicy blackberry/Syrah/gamey/dusty light toasty/oak finish w/ some tannins; a beautiful big lush Ojai Syrah; great value. $20.00
  13. Ojai Vineyard Santa Barbara Cnty Syrah Bien Nacido Vineyard (14.0%) '98: Black color; strong toasty/Fr.oak very plummy/black cherry/blackberry/Syrah very spicy slight dusty/gamey nose; big/rich/ extracted intense/blackberry/black cherry/licorice/gamey loads of BN black cherry fruit some toasty/oak flavor; very long intense black cherry/blackberry/Syrah/licorice bit pungent/dusty light oaked/toasty finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-6 yrs; loads of black cherry character; another killer BN Syrah.
  14. Ojai Vineyard Calif Syrah Roll Ranch Vineyard (14.5%) '98: Black color; intense pungent/dusty licorice/ blackberry/Syrah/black cherry cola some roasted/smokey/pungent complex nose; tart very spicy leaner blackberry/black cherry cola/licorice peppery/spicy bit dusty/gamey some roasted/pungent flavor; very long peppery/spicy black cherry cola/blackberry/licorice/Syrah some pungent/ toasty/oak finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-8 yrs; a bit leaner & less extracted than previous yrs RollRanchs; killer Syrah.
  15. Joseph Sabon Clos du Mont Olivet (13%) Chateauneuf du Pape '98: Med.color; rather roasted/ coffee earthy/dusty slight Mourvedre/plummy fairly fragrant nose; soft rich/plummy some strawberry/Grenache bit coffee/roasted/dusty flavor; med.long soft plummy/strawberry/Grenache light roasted/smokey/coffee finish w/ light tannins; pleasant/drinkable CdP. Howard's mystery.
  16. J.Reynaud Pignan Reserve (14%) Chateauneuf du Pape '86: Med.color; rather earthy/oaked/ smokey/pungent/aged bit bretty/horsecollar nose; tart bit lean some roasted/earthy/CdP bit toasty/oak/pungent bit tired flavor; med.long some bretty/horsecollar bit dried out/tannic rather dusty/light roasted/CdP finish w/ some tannins; getting a bit tired & on the downside of its life. Larry's mystery.
  17. le Clos du Caillou Les Roches Rondes ReserveCuvee Syrah ViellesVignes (13.5%) Cotes du Rhone '98: Med.dark color; rather bretty/horsecollar some earthy/dusty bit fruity/Syrah/gamey slight roasted/complex nose; tart some Syrah/blackberry/gamey some bretty/horsecollar light roasted/pungent bit tannic flavor; med.long dusty/earthy light blackberry/gamey some bretty/ horsecollar finish w/ light tannins; lots of flavor & character for a CdR but not a lot of Syrah character; more like a minor CdP; good for the price.
And a wee dram o' the old bloody pulpit:
  1. Dry Creek Vineyard PetiteSirahs: Have have tasted almost all the DCV PSs over the yrs and they have always been one of my favorite DCV wines. PS is not one of my favorite grapes/wines, but the DCV ones always seem to have more fruit than most and less of that clunky/goofy/ clumsy character that typifies most Calif PS. Sort of like making a foil fencer out of a sabre guy; generally a wasted effort but occasionally it can be done!!
  2. Ojai Spring Release: Ho-hum.... another killer batch of Syrahs from Helen & Adam Tolmach... just another day at the ranch!! All 3 of these Syrahs are big/extracted yet balanced Syrahs. These '98 strike me as a bit less structured & tannic than the '95-'96-'97 ones were on release, but that's hard to say at disparate points in time. The '98 Calif Syrah at $20 (Wine Club).... well... it's just dishonest to buy a wine that good at that price. I've always preferred the RollRanch to the BienNacido. Which I did with these '98's, but the difference was much closer this time. The BN is always loaded w/ this lush plummy/ black cherry fruit whilst the RR has more of a spicy/peppery/dusty/complex character; more of a SouthernRhone character creeping in, perhaps. Dynamite Syrahs from one of the best.
  3. Alban Roussanne: Another terrific effort from John Alban with his '98 Estate. Lots of richness & flavor but that underlying lean/acidic hardness that makes his whites so alive and vibrant to drink. Should age very well.
TomHill

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