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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 August 25, 2004:

New Wines

We tried this week some new wines:
  1. Gessami Gramonae White Penedes Wine (60%  muscat d'Alexandre, 40% SauvignonBlanc; 11.5%) 2003: Light gold color; very light muscatty rather herbal/SB some earthy rather interesting nose; soft/fat off-dry slight metallic bit pineapply/floral very light muscatty flavor; med.short soft/fat light muscatty/herbal/SB light earthy finish; was expecting a much stronger muscat character; pleasant/simple/unremarkable. $15.00
  2. Palacio de Menade Cuevas de Castille White Rueda Wine Cuvee R.S. Richard Sanz (12.5%) 2002: Light gold color; rather herbal/cat pee quite earthy slight fragrant/fruity nose; slightly sweet fat/soft/flat rather herbal/SB/cat pee simple flavor; short soft/fat SB/cat pee finish;.speaks mostly of SB; quite dull wine. $10.50
  3. Andrew Murray Vineyards Santa Ynez Valley Viognier (EG; 500 cs; 14%) 2003: Light yellow color; very attractive pear/Viognier fruity/forward pleasant Viognier nose; soft/fat low-key/pear/ Viognier simple/fruity flavor; med.short soft/fat/underacid light pear/Viognier finish; pleasant Viognier but a bit on the dull/uninteresting side. $18.75
  4. Martinelli Russian River Valley GWT (15.5%; www.MartinelliWinery.com) 2001: Light gold color; quite fumey/hot/alcoholic slight GWT/hair-oil slight smokey/oak nose; very soft/fat off- dry rather hot/humey/alcoholic/burney flavor; med.long hot/fumey/alcoholic/burning finish; waaay over the top and much too alcoholic/fumey. Most unattractive. $20.00
  5. Mustiguillo Mestizaje Young Vineyard Vino de la Tierra el Terrerazo (CS/Bobal/Gamacha/ Syrah/Tempranillo/Garnacha/Merlot; 13.5%) 2002: Very dark color; strong plummy/grapey/earthy bit coarse/rustic some oaked nose; tart plummy/earthy/grapey rather buttery/oaked bit tannic flavor; med.short rather bitter/tannic earthy/plummy/grapey finish; OK wine but unthrilling & overpriced. $16.00
  6. Castano Monastrell Red Yecla Wine (14.5%) 2002: Dark color; strong plummy/mushroomy/grapey slight sandlewood/cedary/oak nose; rather plummy/earthy/grapey bit oaked somewhat bitter flavor; med/ grapey/plummy finish w/ some tannins; decent wine for the price if a bit coarse and rustic. $11.00
  7. Kaituna Valley Marlborough Pinot Noir The Awatere Vineyard (13.5%; Kaituna.Valley@Xtra.co.nz) NewZealand 2002: Med.color; beautiful floral/violets/spicy/cherry blossom slight Burgundian/ smokey very perfumed nose; very tart very spicy/floral/violets/lilacs bright/cherry/blossoms light toasty/smokey flavor; very long tart very floral/lilacs/violets finish w/ light tannins; an incredibly perfumey/floral Pinot. Dotty's wine, about $30.00
  8. DomaineSerene Willamette Valley Pinot Noir Evenstad Reserve (13.5%) 2000: Med.light color; rather earthy/low fruit strong toasty/charred/oaked/Burgundian nose; tart rather walnutty/earthy light cherry/black cherry/Pinot/stewed fruit some toasty/charred/Fr.oak flavor; bit tannic/hard slight walnutty/cherry rather toasty/charred/oak finish; pretty slammed by the oak & not much fruit showing; some just thought this was very closed right now. Overpriced for what it is now, may improve?? $50.00
  9. Scott Harvey Syrah Amador County Mountain Selection (14.5%; 71% York Vineyard/Fiddletown, 24.5% DunniganHills, 4.5% Lani's Vineyard/Shenandoah Valley) 2002: Med.dark color; strong earthy/plummy some blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry bit Amador/briary/spicy slight oak nose; tart rather grapey/ plummy some boysenberry/Syrah slight Amador/briary flavor; med.long plummy/blackberry/Syrah bit soupy finish w/ light tannins; not a lot of Amador character; rather nice/drinkable Syrah.
  10. Andrew Murray Vineyards Santa Ynez Valley Syrah (EG; 14.5%; 400 cs) 2002: Dark color; some boysenberry/ blackberry/Syrah slight volatile/EA bit grapey/alcoholic/earthy nose; tart rather hot/fumey/ alcoholic overripe/pruney/boysenberry/Syrah bit earthy/mushroomy flavor; med. plummy/overripe/ boysenberry/Syrah finish w/ little tannins; speaks more of a soupy Lodi Syrah than SNCnty Syrah; bit disappointing. $18.75
  11. Domaine "LaGarrigue" Cuvee Romaine Cotes du Rhone (14%) AlbertBernard et Fils 2002: Dark color; fragrant strawberry/Grenache lots of earthy/spicy classic CdR nose; tart bit thin/lean quite earthy/spicy/strawberry perfumed flavor; med. earthy/spicy somewhat strawberry/perfumed/Grenache rather hard/lean finish w/ light tannins; fairly classic CdR but a bit on pricey side. $15.00
  12. Ridge Calif Geyserville (14.6%; 84% Zin, 12% Carignane, 4% Petite Sirah; Drk: 10/03-10/13-?) 2002: Med.dark color; strong raspberry/blackberry quite fragrant some buttery/butterd popcorn/ milky/oak bit simple nose; tart/rich rather blackberry/Zin/very raspberry lush/fruit some milky/ buttery/oak flavor; long strong blackberry/raspberry/Zin very balanced some buttery/oak/smokey finish w/ light tannins; lovely four-square raspberry Zin w/o the usual Geyserville funk; needs more time yet to show much; more like LyttonSprings in style. $30.00
  13. Ridge Calif Zin Late Picked York Creek (15.8%; SaH: 26.7%; RS: 0.23%; Drk: 2/04-2/09) 2002: Med.dark color; very strong raspberry/Zin overripe rather perfumed/framboise nose; soft very ripe/raspberry/framboise overripe bit alcoholic/hot flavor; long very ripe/overripe/ raspberry/framboise finish w/ light tannins; lots of very ripe/raspberry character.  $28.00
  14. Ridge Calif Zin Late Picked Pagani Ranch (15.8%; 89% Zin, 7% AlicanteBouschet, 4% Petite Sirah; SaH: 27.4%; RS: 0.2%; Drk: 12/08-12/10) 2002: Very dark color; very intense blackberry/boysen- berry/Zin/chocolaty/jammy very spicy some earthy/peppery some complex nose; soft very ripe intense boysenberry/blackberry peppery/jammy very spicy slight earthy light pungent/oak flavor; very long intense/ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Zin very spicy/peppery slight funky/complex finish w/ fair tannins; big/powerful/very ripe Zin; terrific stuff. $30.00
  15. Ridge Calif Lytton Springs (75% Zin, 20% Petite Sirah, 5% Carignane; 14.4%) 2002: Med.dark color; loads of ripe/raspberry/Zin/blackberry some Ridge/Draper/perfume bit milky/Am.oak/perfumed talc some spicy nose; rich very lush bright raspberry/Zin/blackberry/spicy slight bretty/funky/pungent some milky/Am.oak/pungent flavor; long intense spicy/raspberry/Zin light milky/oak finish w/ some tannins; great balance and loads of raspberry fruit; seems to have become more intense fruit since its release last Spring; lovely/drinkable Zin. $30.00
  16. Tinto Pesquera Ribera del Duero 2001: Med.dark color; rather earthy/dusty/old vines quite spicy/peppery bit rustic/Languedoc some black cherry nose; tart bit hard/tannic very spicy/ peppery/black cherry some oaked/vanilla pretty big flavor; long peppery/black cherry very tart rather tannic/hard finish; needs more age. Howard's mystery; very good for around $20.00
  17. Concannon Petite Sirah Select Vineyards Central Coast 2002: Black color; very strong blackberry/ peppery slight earthy/dusty somewhat milky/Am.oaked bit rustic nose; rather hard/tannic clunky/chocolaty/peppery/blackberry/spicy some milky/oak flavor; med.long peppery/blackberry some Am.oaked rather tannic finish; needs 2-6 yrs; Sonny's mystery. Killer Petite Sirah for $10.00
And more blatherings from the BloodyPulpit:
  1. Andrew Murray Wines: Just can't figure out what's going on w/ Andrew. Many of his recent wines have been on the volatile/EA side, to outrageously volatile. And then ever so often he'll slam one out of the park. These two wines from Andrew were rather disappointing. Not because of being volatile (they weren't); they were just unusually boring wines; simple/ pleasant, but just that. I was expecting more.
  2. Ridge '02 Fall Release: By and large, the Ridge '02 seem probably the best tableau since their '99's. That being said, this Gysrvlle'02 is pretty underwhelming right now; lots of simple raspberry/Zin fruit with impeccable balance. THAT being said, you have to go w/ Draper's prediction of it having a long lifetime ahead of it. The LS and the Gsrvls often seem on the simple side upon release, but have a way of putting on weight and intensity over the first yr after release. I think this '02 Geyserville will do just that. The Pagani LP'02 is a stunning wine, more like the Ridges of old if any are. Hard to believe Draper's reccomendation that the Gysrvlle'02 will outlive that wine. You have to give Ridge credit here...they haven't raised their prices in ?? yrs. Don't know of any other wnry who can claim that.
TomHill

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