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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 October 31, 1996:

New Zinfandels

Tasted a few (mostly) new Zins last night: 
 
 
  1. California Shenandoah Vineyards Special Reserve Zinfandel '79: From mostly Eschen grapes w/  some Frank DalPorto grapes. 15% alc. Strong alcoholic charred oak/brandy some licorice-old Zin-pungent nose; tannic dusty rough bit hot/alcoholic brandy-like bit raisened flavor; long tannic alcoholic dusty bit old Zin licorice pungent charred oak finish. Tastes like brandy and old Ruby Porto. Interesting but seems to be breaking apart. Not much fruit & pretty tannic.
  2. Ch. Montelena Napa Valley Zinfandel John Rolleri Reserve (14.0% alc) Zinfandel '84: Strange rather herbal dusty licorice pungent little fruit nose; tart low fruit lean austere dusty tannic bit herbal-sour flavor; long hard austere tannic dusty finish; little fruit & hard & austere. What a disappointment this wine was.
  3. Black Sheep Sierra Foothills Amador County (13.5%) Zinfandel '84: Pleasant raspberry fruity simple light oaked nose; light simple fruity sour/tart light raspberry flavor; short sour light raspberry fruity finish w/ little tannins. After excellent '92 & '93 versions, this is a great disappointment; very light & washed out. Avoid.
  4. Young's Vineyard Shenandoah Valley (13.6%) Zinfandel '94: Woof! Unpleasant stinky sewer gas/burnt rubber/H2S overripe raisened nose; sour tannic light minty oaked little fruit flavor; med.long sour tannic overripe stinky finish. Some interesting things in there but inept winemaking is too much. 
  5. Blockheadia Ringnosii Napa Valley (14.2%) Zinfandel '94: Very dark color; intense dusty old vines blackberry/black cherry ripe complex nose; soft rich dusty old vines mouthfilling ripe blackberry/black cherry light oaked deep complex flavor; very long intense dusty deep ripe black cherry complex finish w/ some tannins; needs 2-5 yrs. Great old vines Zin much like Ravenswood Old Hill. Killer stuff. Michael Ouellette's best Blockhead yet, by far.
  6. Zebra Napa Valley (14.4%) Zinfandel '95: Harrison Vnyd's first Zin. Light licorice bright raspberry spicy light oaked nose; tart clean vibrant raspberry bright light oaked flavor; med.long spicy buttery oaked light raspberry finish w/ light tannins; a very nice spicy bright Zin in the style of Dry Creek Vnyds. Nicely done for current drinking.
  7. Marietta Sonoma County (13.5%) Zinfandel '94: Atractive raspberry/blackberry/spicy rather Am.oaked nose; rich blackberry/raspberry/oaked spicy bit dusty flavor; med.long spicy raspberry/blackberry/oaked finish; another very nice bit simple Marietta Zin.
  8. Wild Hog Porter-Bass Vineyard (13.5%) Russian River Valley Zinfandel '94: Rather toasty/oaked/ pungent/smokey bit stinky/burnt rubber nose; rather tart sour earthy pungent smokey earthy slight blackberry/menthol oaked flavor; long quite sour pungent bit earthy blackberry finish w/ fair tannins; rather strange stuff w/ some interesting things therin but bit too stinky.
  9. Rosenblum Cellars Napa Valley (13.5%) Zinfandel '93: Attractive blackberry spicy oaked nose; soft light spicy raspberry bright light oaked flavor; med.long spicy raspberry light oaked finish w/ light tannins; ready to drink pleasant Zin. Good price @ $9.00 at winery closeout.
  10. Rosenblum Napa Valley (13.2%) Zinfandel '94: Bigger richer more spicy raspberry oaked nose; soft spicy raspberry oaked bit simple flavor; med.long spicy raspberry finish w/ light tannins; bit more intense than '93 but pretty ready to drink.
  11. Rosenblum Napa Valley (14.1%) Hendry Vineyard Reserve Zinfandel '94: Deep dusty menthol oaked spicy blackberry nose; rich tannic lush blackberry menthol oaked very spicy some dusty flavor; long spicy blackberry dusty menthol oaked finish w/ fair tannins, needs several yrs; a classic Rosenblum style lush Zin; over- priced at $24.00
  12. Terraces Napa Valley (13.5%) Zinfandel '94: Fragrant spicy raspberry slight charred/ toasty oaked smokey nose; rich dusty light blackberry Howell Mtn/earthy slight charred/toasty oaked flavor; long dusty light blackberry toasty oaked finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a lighter & less charred/toasty  oaked style than previous Terraces; classic Howell Mtn hard dusty character. $22.00
  13. Ridge California Bartolozzi Vineyard (13.4%) Zinfandel '94: An ATP wine. Attractive ripe raspberry fragrant light Am.oaked nose; soft very spicy raspberry light oaked flavor; long very spicy raspberry oaked finish w/ light tannins; nicely done wine a bit bigger & richer than the Ridge LyttonSprgs '94; fairly priced at $15.80
  14. Storrs Ben Lommand Moutain Beauregard Ranch (14.2%) Zinfandel '94: Interesting dusty old vines very spicy classic SantaCruzMtn earthy Zin nose; bit rough rather dusty old vines very spicy raspberry light oaked flavor; long dusty SCM  earthy very spicy raspberry finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs;  lighter than previous vintages; typical SCM earthy Zin.
  15. Marietta Alexander Valley RTW Angeli Cuvee (14.5%; Zin, Petite Sirah,  Carignan) '93: Very ripe deep complex dusty old vines earthy some fruity/ blackberry nose; soft rich dusty old vines complex bit Geyserville/funky  some tannic/oaked flavor; very long ripe complex earthy dusty complex light oaked finish w/ some tannins; not much Zin character but very interesting complex wine; best Marietta wine yet.
  16. J. Fritz Dry Creek Valley Roger's Reserve (15.2%) Zinfandel '94: Intense very ripe blackberry plummy/jammy nose; very ripe some hot/alcoholic plummy/jammy blackberry/raspberry black cherry-soda pop flavor; long ripe plummy black cherry bit alcoholic finish w/ light tannins; not that intense or extracted; not worth $20.00.
 
  Musings

Was expecting much more from these wines. The Blockheadia Ringnosii '94 is killer Zin, about as good as it gets, w/ lots of complex dusty old vines character. Made by Michael Ooellette, the wine manager at Mustard's Grill in the Napa Vlly. His best ever, by far. Tiny amounts. Available at All-Seasons in Calistoga; Wine Cask in Santa Barbara; Wine Seller & Brasserrie in San Diego; and Prima in Walnut Creek.      

Killer Syrahs next week.

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