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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 26, 1998:

California Zinfandels

Tasted last night some New (Mostly) Zins:
 
  1. King Estate Oregon Zinfandel (14.5%) '94: Med.color; rather musty/corked light berry/ dusty nose; tart light berry/dusty almost Pinot-like slight musty flavor; med. tart light berry/dusty/earthy slight musty/corked finish w/ light tannins; bit too corked to tell much.
  2. Ravenswood Sonoma County Zinfandel (14.5%) '96: Med.light color; pleasant fragrant/berry raspberry spicy light oak nose; tart spicy light raspberry/Zinberry light oak flavor; med.long spicy/berry finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant simple nicely- done DryCreek-style Zin.
  3. Makor Paso Robles West Side Zinfandel (15.5%) '96: Med.dark color; lush ripe jammy/ blackberry some dusty/old vines nose; soft rich blackberry/jammy/licorice bit dusty slight off-dry(?) very ripe flavor; long soft lush blackberry/jammy/ licorice some dusty/old vine finish w/ light tannins; very ripe blackberry/ jammy Zin but not overripe or raisened; best Makor Zin yet.
  4. Dark Star Cellars Paso Robles Zinfandel (14.5%) '96: Med.dark color; deep toasty/Fr.oak spicy blackberry/PR Zin bit herbal/lean nose; rich very spicy/blackberry rather toasty/Fr.oaked polished flavor; med.long very spicy/blackberry/licorice some Fr.oaked/toasty/pungent finish w/ light tannins; a very polished well-made ripe PR Zin w/ lots of Fr.oak.
  5. Rosenblum Cellars Napa Valley Ballentine Vineyard Zinfandel (14.8%) '96: Med.dark color;  attractive berry/blackberry light spicy nose; soft light bright berry/Zinberry bit sour some oaked flavor; med. attractive bright berry/Zinberry bit funky/ sour finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant bright simple lush Zin w/ a bit of funkiness in the background.
  6. JC Cellars Redwood Valley Rhodes Vineyard (15.3%) Zinfandel '96: Dark color; deep toasty/smokey Fr.oaked ripe lush blackberry/Zin rather dusty/old vine nose; tart strong  vanilla/toasty/Fr.oaked very spicy/blackberry/boysenberry rather dusty/old vine flavor; very long ripe blackberry/boysenberry toasty/Fr.oak very spicy/ripe rather dusty/old vine finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; lots of toasty Fr.oak but good structure & balance to carry it; great debut wine some like the early Ravenswoods rather than Rosenblums.
  7. Ravenswood Dickerson Vineyard Napa Valley (14.5%) Zinfandel '96: Med.color; bright spicy very minty/menthol/eucalyptus spicy/raspberry bit oak nose; tart very spicy/ raspberry/minty/menthol oaked flavor; med.long spicy/raspberry rather minty/ menthol finish w/ light tannins; need a yr or two; a bright very spicy Zin w/ that classic minty/menthol Dickerson character.
  8. Ravenswood Monte Rosso Vineyard (15.0%) Sonoma Valley Zinfandel '96: Med.color; attractive raspberry/spicy some dusty/old vine bit stemmy oaked nose; tart fairly rich  very spicy/raspberry/dusty/old vine light oaked flavor; med.long bright spicy/ raspberry some dusty/old vine/oaked light earthy finish w/ light tannins; needs yr or two; a bright spicy polished Zin.
  9. Ravenswood Kunde Vineyard Sonoma Valley Zinfandel (15.1%) '96: Med.color; strong blackberry/ dusty/old vine/boysenberry some oaked nose; soft buttery ripe blackberry/ raspberry vanilla/oak clean bit simple flavor; med.long simple bright blackberry raspberry spicy light oak finish w/ light tannins; a nicely done but bit simple Zin.
  10. Ravenswood Wood Road/Belloni Russian River Valley Zinfandel (14.9%) '96: Med.dark color; deep rich blackberry/boysenberry toasted/pungent/oaked complex rather dusty/ old vine nose; soft rich lush ripe blackberry/boysenberry very dusty/old vine some toasty/pungent oaked flavor; very long soft rich blackberry/boysenberry dusty/old vine some toasty/pungent/complex finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; best of these Ravenswoods.
  11. Ridge Calif Alicante Bouschet Pagani (75% Alicante, 25% Zin; 13.7%) '96: Black color; very strong gamey/dusty/old vine funky/earthy licorice/pungent complex nose; tart dusty/earthy/licorice pungent/smokey some blackberry complex flavor; long licorice/dusty/old vine pungent/rustic/ earthy/bit funky low fruit finish w/ some tannins; not as big & extracted & coarse as previous ones; a really delicious interesting wine; more like a Ridge red than Alicante/coarse. 
  12. Ridge Calif Alicante Pagani Vineyard (77% Alicante, 23% Zin; 13.5%) '94: Black color; bit stinky/H2S/reduced nose clears to oaked very pungent/licorice/smokey bit brett complex nose; hard tannic rustic pungent dusty/old vine/licorice smokey lean & hard flavor; very long hard/tannic pungent/smokey/licorice/dusty old vine finish w/ ample tannins; a rather clunky/rustic very interesting red that's not developing very much.
  13. Mayacamas Late Harvest Zin (17.5%; Baldinelli Vineyard, Shenandoah Valley) '72: Med.dark color w/ little browning; intense jammy/blackberry/plummy very ripe complex some pungent/pencilly bit overripe nose; soft off-dry very plummy/blackberry/ briary/jammy licorice complex pencilly flavor; bit hot/alcoholic long complex jammy/blackberry/briary very ripe bit dried out/tannic/hot finish; lots of very ripe Amador Zin character & drying out a bit but still doing fine.
  14. Sea Ridge Winery Private Selection Zinfandel (Occidental/Morelli Vineyard; 13.5%) '91: Badly ullaged onto the shoulder; black color; very intense blackberry/boysen- berry dusty/old vine/complex pungent/smokey bit stemmy nose; very acid/tart very intense blackberry/boysenberry bit bretty/funky very dusty/old vine hard/ tannic/complex/pungent stemmy flavor; very long hard/tannic very acid intense boysenberry/blackberry/licorice very dusty/old vine finish; loads of acid & needs lots of age but very intense Zin.
  15. Rafanelli Dry Creek Valley Sonoma County (13.8%) Zinfandel '91: Dark color; very strong blackberry/pungent very dusty/old vine licorice/pungent/black cherry some complex nose; tart bit lean/hot/drying out dusty/old vine bit bretty light black cherry/blackberry flavor; long some bretty bit dried out rather dusty/ old vine light black cherry fruit finish w/ some tannins; great complex nose but drying out a bit on the palate.
  16. Greenwood Ridge Vineyards Anderson Valley White Riesling Late Harvest (SaH: 33oBrix; RS: 12.1%; Alc: 10.5%; TA: 1.02) '95: Bright golden color; beautiful intense botrytis/peachy/aromatic bit volatile/EA nose; very sweet tart rich intense peachy/botrytis bright zippy Riesling floral flavor; very long lingering sweet JR/flowery/bright some peachy/botrytis finish; a beautiful bright zippy  botrytis Riesling w/ loads of fruit; very well made; Howard's wine.
And the usual tripe from the bloody pulpit:
 
  1. The '96 Ravenswoods seem to show more the alleged "lightness" of the '96 vintage than, say, the Ridges or the Rosenblums have. Only the WoodRd/Belloni showed the richness & depth of the previous few vintages. They are hardly "light" wines, but more towards the complex/elegant part of the Zin spectrum (which is NOT a polite euphanism for "light"); well-made Zin more for the short term. It's nice to see the Dickerson back; this is the finest one such after two relative weaker efforts, for whatever reason I don't know.
  2. The JC Cellars Zin is the debut wine of Jeff Cohn, the winemaker at Rosenblum Cellars, and a great debut it is. It doesn't have that effusive lush fruitiness of the Rosenblums, lots more oak, but more structure & tannins than the Rosenblums tend to have. He has a Syrah in the works ('97) that one should keep your eye out for
  3. Really liked  the Ridge Alicantes a lot. It is cleary the primary component that give both the Geyserville and the Pagani that certain funkiness that I very much like in those wines. This is definitely a varietal that calls in all of Paul Draper's tannin management skills & he does it very well.... best Alicante made in the world!!
  4. The Mayacamas '72 Late Harvest: Last time I had this about 5-6 yrs ago, I thought it was drying out badly & showing very hot & alcohoic. This bottle, though definitely a very ripe Amador Zin, was hanging in there quite well. Only two bottles left now.
  5. The Sea Ridge '91: This is a wine that my group has used repeatedly to heap scorn, ridicule, and abuse upon me (they LOVE doing that!). I was blown away by the wine when I first had it; huge intense extracted Zin that I recommended my people buy up. We got some 4-5 cases worth. The wine has been very variable. Some have done an ML in the bottle and been rather fizzy. Some have been quite funky & unclean. This bottle was one of the better ones. The very high acid (characteristic of Morelli Vineyard/Occidental) probably will give this Zin a very long life.... or, at least, an excuse for them to abuse me far into the future. This is the same vnyd that Eric-Ross now makes their Occidental Zin from & they do a terrific job with it. Ridge made some absolutely stunning Zins from this vnyd back in the early '70's; the Ridge Occidental '70 one of the greatest Zins ever made.
TomHill

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