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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 8, 2002:

Some New Rhones

We tasted last month some new Rhones:                         
 
  1. Domaine La Remejeanne Les Genevrires Cotes du Rhone-Villages Ouhai et Remy Klein (14%) 2000: Med.color; fragrant some CM/BeaujolaisNoveau some strawberry/Grenache simple nose; tart spicy/ strawberry/Grenache pleasant flavor; med.short strawberry/Grenache CM/Beaujolais/whole-berry finish w/ little tannins; simple uninspiring Beaujolais quaffer.
  2. La Cabotte Cotes du Rhone-Villages M.P.Plumet (13%) 2000: Light color; slight dishwater/earthy/ rustic little fruit nose; soft/fat/flat rather earthy/rustic little fruit dull flavor; short weak strawberry somewhat earthy flat finish; dull but at least not unpleasant.
  3. Ch. La Canorgue Cotes du Luberon (12.5%) EARL J.P. et M.Margen; 1999: Med.color; earthy/dusty bit smokey/Rhonish slight roasted nose; tart bit metallic/thin some Grenache/strawberry rather earthy/rustic flavor; med. earthy/rustic slight smokey finish w/ little tannins; rather dull & ordinary.
  4. Ch. La Canorgue Cotes du Luberon (13%; Syrah/Grenache) Vendanges de Nathalie 2000: Med.dark color; deeper more roasted/pungent/toasty/oak Rhonish some blackberry/Syrah nose; rather pungent/toasty/newFr.oak light blackberry/Syrah some Rhonish flavor; med.long pungent/smokey/ toasty/oak some blackberry/Syrah finish w/ light tannins; the oak sure perks this wine up but still pretty underwhelming.
  5. Andrew Murray Vineyards Santa Ynez Valley Grenache (EG; 13.9%) 2000: Med.color; strong Grenache/strawberry quite volatile/acetic/hot/fumey grapey nose; hot/fumey/volatile strong Grenache/strawberry flavor; med.long hot/fumey strong strawberry/Grenache finish w/ some tannins; good Grenache fruit but badly marred by a raging volatility.
  6. The Fifteen Grenache Vin de Pays de Pyrennes Orientales (15%) 1999: Med.dark color; pungent bit smokey some dusty Grenache/strawberry bit perfumed talc interesting nose; soft/fat some pungent/smokey rather big/strawberry/Grenache lots of fruit flavor; med.long big/pungent/ smokey strong Grenache/strawberry finish w/ some tannins; lots of Grenache character but rather overpriced at $32.00.
  7. Robyn & Ross Trimboli hazyblur South Australia Baroota Shiraz (15%) 2000: Very dark color; intense vanilla/Am.oaked intense blackberry/Syrah/licorice/peppery classiv intense Oz/Shiraz nose;  soft big/rich/pungent very licorice/blackberry/Syrah intense vanilla/oak some peppery flavor; very long bit hot/fumey intense licorice/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah loads of Am.oak finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; loads of fruit & Am.oak; classic Oz Shiraz; good value at $28.35 
  8. Tyrell's Wines Rufus Stone McLaren Vale SA Shiraz (13.5%) 1997: Dark color; very strong blackberry/ boysenberry/Syrah some vanilla/oak nose; tart ripe/lush loads of boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah some vanilla/bourbon flavor; med.long ripe loads of boysenberry/Syrah/fruit some vanilla/oak finish w/ some tannins; not as interesting as #7 but a classic Oz fruit bomb w/ good structure.
  9. Henry's Drive Padthaway Shiraz Longbottom Family Vineyard (14.5%) 2000: Very dark color; light minty/ menthol/eucalyptus some licorice/boysenberry/Syrah slight pungent nose; rich blackberry/licorice/ Syrah/boysenberry/jammy light vanilla/menthol/oak flavor; long intense boysenberry/blackberry/ Syrah some menthol/eucalyptus finish w/ some tannins; classic/terrific Oz Shiraz at a very good price. $25.00
  10. Henry's Drive Padthaway Shiraz Longbottom Family Vineyard (14.5%) 1999: Near black color; more complex/pungent intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice some toasty/smokey/oak nose; rich menthol/toasty/oak Dr.Pepper/black cherry/blackberry/cherry cola/boysenberry/Syrah complex fairly tannic flavor; very long tannic black cherry cola/blackberry/Syrah some toasty/oak finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; bigger more interesting but bit pricey at $41.50.
  11. Longoria Santa Barbara County Syrah Reserve (TW) 1999: Med.dark color; rather toasty/pungent/ RedBurg/oak some blackberry/Syrah some complex nose; very tart/lean toasty/pencilly/Fr.oak  light blackberry/Syrah bit herbal flavor; med. toasty/pencilly/oak RedBurg light blackberry/ finish w/ light tannins; interesting nose; tastes like a Syrah made by a Pinot producer.
  12. Serenindad Shenandoah Valley of Calif Syrah (14.1%) 1999: Very dark near black color; very intense minty/menthol intense taosty/charred/Fr.oak strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/Dr.Pepper/cola exotic/complex flavor; soft/huge/rich very intense minty/menthol very intense toasty/charred/ burnt/Fr.oak coffee/blackberry/boysenberry exotic/bizarre flavor; very long tannic intense charred/Fr.oak/burnt/toasty mocha/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah finish w/ ample tannins; certainly a wine w/ intensity of everything; very unusual almost bizarre Syrah that I found lots of things to like about; interesting to see how it ages.
  13. Sierra Vista 25th Anniversary El Dorado Syrah (EB; 13.5%) 1999: Dark color; very strong blackberry/ Syrah/boysenberry some Fr.oaked slight ElDorado/earthy nose; very tart/lean/hard rather blackberry/ Syrah bit toasty/Fr.oak flavor; med.long hard/tart/acid blueberry/Syrah finish; very attractive but pretty hard & lean on the palate; needs age.
  14. Sierra Vista Syrah El Dorado 5*Reserve (EB; 13.0%) 1997: Very dark/black color; beautiful coffee/ espresso/pungent slight funky/bretty/Rhonish strong blackberry/boysenberry bit earthy nose; big/rich earthy blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry rather toasty/espresso/coffee/roasted very Fr.oak/ toasty slight bretty/funky flavor; very long toasty/Fr.oak/pungent rather espresso/coffee/ roasted strong blackberry/Syrah/blueberry some Rhonish finish w/ fair tannins; needs 3-6 yrs of age; John's best Syrah yet but a bit on the pricey side. $60.00
  15. Niero-Pinchon Condrieu Coteaux Cheri 1994: Med.gold color; fragrant/floral/aromatic slight perfumed/butterscotchy/nutty light oak complex nose; soft/round/lush spicy very Roussanne-like  floral/perfumed slight nutty flavor; very long/lingering floral/perfumed/hibiscus slight nutty/ oxidized some peachy/Viognier finish; a lovely fully-mature complex Condrieu. Howard&Rhoda's mystery wine.
  16. Ch. Cabrieres Chateauneuf du Pape Tete de Cru Prestige 1988: Med.color; older/complex CdP tobaccoy/earthy slight funky/dishwater nose; soft bit dried out/tannic roasted/cigar box/ robaccoy earthy some complex flavor; some interesting things therein but a bit tired & dried out. Howard&Rhoda's mystery wine.
And some dessert wines for a BD Celebration:
  1. Stony Hill Napa Valley Semillon de Soleil (13%) 1997: Dark gold color; very intense grapey/Semillon/ figgy raisened complex nose; intense pineapply/grapey/figgy butterscotchy/toasty/toasted coconutty caramel complex nose; quite sweet caramel/butterscotchy/toasty intense grapey/ raisened/figgy some complex flavor; very long quite sweet raisened/figgy/grapey toasty/caramel finish; lovely complex passito wine.Bit pricey at $30.00/hlf.
  2. Bodegas Toro Albala Pedro Ximenez GranReserva (17%) 1972: Black color; very intense/complex raisened/pruney/creasote beautiful/intense nose; very sweet fat/soft intense grapey/raisened flavor; very long very intense raisened/toffee/grapey/creasote finish that goes on forever. A steal at $17.30/hlf.
And the usual baloney from the bloody pulpit:
  1. Serinidad: Keep your eyes on these folks. I was pretty impressed with this Syrah and their two Cabs. Probably the most exciting new winery started in Amador in a fair number of yrs.


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