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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 February 17, 1999:

French and California Rhones

We tasted last night some French & Calif Rhones:
  1. Newton Napa Valley Viognier (A Private Bttlg; 14.3%) '96: Med.gold color; rather strong toasty/smokey/oaked very light pear/Viognier nose; soft fat very strong toasty/ charred/Fr.oaked/smokey weak pear/Viognier flavor; med.long very toasty/smokey/ buttery/charred/Fr.oak somewhat bitter finish; any Viognier character is pretty well obliterated by the oak in this wine; decent price for a Newton Chard, stupid price for a Calif Viognier.
  2. Bettinelli Napa Valley Viognier (14.0%) '97: Med.gold color; med. some cinammon/apple/ green apple/spicy weak pear/Viognier nose; soft/fat/flat textured light pear/ apple/green apple some bitter/earthy flavor; med.long green apple/appley/pear light spicy light earthy slight bitter finish; a pleasant simple low-key Viognier much like the R.H.Phillips.
  3. Jean Michel Gerin Condrieu Coteau de la Loye (13%) '97: Med.dark gold color; lovely fragrant pear/Viognier/light peachy slight buttery/minerally bit toasty/oak/ volatile/perfumed nose; soft slight toasty/pencilly fairly lush pear/peach/Viognier slight minerally flavor; very long lingering pear/peach/Viognier light toasty/ pencilly some minerally/earthy finish; very attractive fragrant Condrieu w/ very light touch of oak.
  4. Alain Paret & Gerard Depardieu Lys de Volan Condrieu (13.5%) '97: Med.dark gold color; very unusual floral/fragrant/perfumy/cheap perfume/toilette water light pear/ Viognier nose; soft rather bitter very perfumed/aromatic/cheap perfume/floral some earthy light pear/Viognier flavor; med. somewhat bitter/earthy weak Viognier/pear rather perfumy/cheap perfume finish; a rather unusual/exotic Condrieu that tastes much like a Preston Viognier; more like a Muscat than a Viognier; not worth $43.00
  5. Joseph Swan Cotes du Rosa Russian River Valley RTW Frati Ranch Old Vines (14.5%) '97: Very dark color; slight volatile very dusty/old vines very intense grapey/very ripe blackberry/jammy complex nose; slight spritz off-dry very rich/lush/grapey intense jammy/blackberry dusty/old vines slightly hot flavor; very long dusty/old vines very intense grapey/blackberry/jammy/boysenberry off-dry finish w/ light tannins; obviously a stuck fermentation wine; lots of late-harvesty blackberry/black cherry cola character.
  6. Fife L'Attitude Mendocino RTW (13.3%) '96: Med.dark color; lots of pencilly/Fr.oak some dusty/smokey some black fruit/cherry nose; tart some earthy/dusty lean lots of pencilly/Fr.oak bit washed out/light black fruit flavor; med.short dusty/earthy low fruit some pencilly/oaked finish w/ light tannins; a bit simple & washed out/ dilute but a pleasant quaff.
  7. Cuvee Lestat Santa Barbara County Syrah (13.5%) '96: from Brian Babcock: Dark color; strong dusty gamey/Syrah some blackberry rather toasted/oaked deep/brooding nose; tart hard tannic dusty/earthy some toasty/oaked bit herbal some gamey/Syrah flavor; med.long hard/dusty/earthy some gamey/Syrah bit herbal finish w/ ample tannins; not the usual lushness of SB Syrah, seems like very cool-climate Syrah; a big and brooding wine that needs age of 3-7 yrs.
  8. Fess Parker Santa Barbara Cnty Syrah American Tradition Reserve (13.5%) '95: Med.dark color; intense herbal/chocolaty/exotic some dusty/dill slight volatile borderline MontereyCnty veggy rather weird nose; tart very herbal/chocolaty bit dill pickle/ MontereyCnty veggy some blackberry toasty Fr.oaked flavor; very long intense herbal/ vegetal/bit pickle juice rather toasty/oaked finish w/ some tannins; very widely disliked because of the intense herbal/vegetal character.
  9. Swanson Napa Valley Syrah (14.3%) '96: Very dark color; very intense blackberry/Syrah/ gamey/licorice complex some vanilla/oaked bit eucalyptus/menthol nose; tart rich dusty/licorice intense blackberry/blueberry/gamey/Syrah slight menthol/vanilla/oaked fairly tannic flavor; very long intense blackberry/gamey/Syrah slight eucalyptus/ menthol some vanilla/oaked finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-8 yrs; a big rich lush ripe Syrah w/ somewhat less oak than previous ones and more balanced.
  10. David Bruce Central Coast Petite Sirah (13%) '97: Black color; deep earthy/dusty some herbal/PasoRobles low fruit bit licorice nose; very soft/fat lush dusty/earthy herbal/licorice some toasty/oaked flavor; med.long bit herbal/dusty/earthy/licorice some toasty/oaked finish w/ light tannins; a rather clunky PS but pretty tasty/ ready-to-drink wine.
  11. Jean-Michel Gerin Cote-Rotie Champin le Seigneur '96: Very dark color; very strong roasted/toasty/smokey/charred/pungent some blackberry/Syrah bit bretty/barnyardy slight oaked complex nose; tart rich dusty/earthy/espresso/roasted/smokey/pungent some bretty/barnyardy/unclean flavor; long some bretty/barnyardy/funky strong smokey/dusty/roasted/charred/espresso light blackberry/Syrah finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-6 yrs; an elegant/racy/stylish C-R w/ good roasted character & some funkiness.
  12. Michel Ogier Cote-Rotie '95: Very dark color; beautiful classic C-R/espresso/ roasted/dusty/smokey/pungent meaty/gamey/Syrah complex C-R nose; tart dusty/smokey/ roasted/pungent/espresso/tarry spicy classic C-R flavor; very long roasted/espresso/ smokey/pungent/charred dusty/earthy light blackberry/gamey/Syrah balanced finish w/ fair tannins; not a huge blockbuster wine but extremely well-made w/ lots of classic C-R character; terrific stuff.
  13. Gallet Cote-Rotie '95: Med.dark color; very intense classic C-r/espresso/pungent/ roasted/bacon fat/smokey some gamey/Syrah nose; soft rich intense roasted/dusty/ espresso/bacon fat/pungent/complex rather hard/tannic flavor; very long soft roasted/pungent/bacon fat/espresso finish w/ some tannins; beautiful complex C-R that needs 2-6 yrs.
  14. Cuilleron Cote-Rotie Coteau de Bassenon '94: Dark color; strong blackberry/Syrah/ gamey slight dusty/roasted/complex some toasty/new Fr.oak nose; tart lean hard intense dusty/smokey rather blackberry/Syrah/gamey slight bretty rather perfumed/ floral complex flavor; med.long tart hard lean some gamey/blackberry/Syrah some toasty/Fr.oaked finish; needs 2-6 yrs; lots of pure Syrah fruit and less classic C-R character; rather hard & lean on the palate.
  15. Gentaz-Dervieux Cote Brune Cote-Rotie Cuvee Reservee '87: Med.color w/ slight bricking; some fragrant/dusty/earthy/Rhone complex elegant slight smokey/charred roasted nose; lean elegant bit dried-out spicy/smokey/dusty/charred/roasted/complex flavor; med.long complex slight smokey/pungent/dusty/roasted finish w/ light tannins; still good classic C-R character; drying out a bit on the palate but a fully mature C-R in great shape for a poor yr.  Howard&Rhoda's mystery wine.
And the same old pontifications from the bloody pulpit:
  1. The Swan Cotes du Rosa: This is Rod's red wine from a bunch of unidentified mixed red varieties on the Angelo Frati Ranch behind the wnry. It's always been a favorite of mine for an interesting inexpensive red wine. This one is no exception but; however; will not appeal to everyone. Clearly from very overripe grapes and a stuck fermentation, it is, nonetheless, very exotic stuff and must be tasted w/ an open mind. Clearly, a Rhone-style red it is not. Not yet released at the wnry, only to the futures buyers. Rod Bergland recommends a few months of age afore trying it, but I couldn't resist.
  2. Fess Parker Wnry: This is one wnry that has always perplexed me. Prime vnyd site; some terrific wines made from these grapes by other winemakers. Their early Syrahs tended to be very overdone on the toasty/French oak. Same for their Pinots and Chards. Actually, the White Riesling is a pretty nice wine. I hadn't noticed when I bought this that it was the '95 vintage. The '96 vintage that they poured at Raisin'Rhones last summer was much better, one that I liked quite a bit in fact. Another under-achiever of a winery that has a lot of potential, once they figure it out.
TomHill

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