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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 January 10, 1997: 

New California Reds

Tasted a few new Calif Reds this week: 
 
 
  1. Kent Rasmussen Carneros Pinot Noir '93: Bright black cherry Pinot light smokey/earthy slicht minty nose; tarter leaner more bright cherry Pinot  fruit light smokey oaked flavor; long bright minty/smokey ripe cherry finish w/ light tannins; very nicely done fragrant cherry Pinot; more Oregon than Charneros in character.
  2. Kent Rasumssen Carneros Pinot Noir '94: Deeper black cherry fragrant smokey oaked toasty nose; soft rich lush spicy black cherry more smokey/toasty oaked flavor; long deep black cherry smokey/toasty finish w/ light tannins; bit more of the Carneros earthiness; very well-made wine.
  3. Ernest & Julio Gallo Sonoma Dry CreekValley Zinfandel (Chiotti Vnyd; 14.4% alc) '95:  Rich Zinberry/raspberry bit earthy/funky slight horsecollar/bretty fairly complex nose; tart bit horsecollar/bretty spicy/minty/earthy blackberry flavor; long blackberry/appley bit earthy/dusty slight earthy/bretty finish w/ light tannins; much better than the Frei Vnyd Zins; interesting wine at a fair price. 
  4. Hanna Winery Alexander Valley Zinfandel Pourroy Vineyard (13.5%) '95: Big ripe lush black- berry spicy boysenberry bit oaked nose; soft fat very lush ripe blackberry/ boysenberry very buttery/oaked flavor; long very lush blackberry/buttery  oaked finish w/ light tannins; a very lush buttery Zin; delicious now but not the structure to age long.
  5. Edmeades Mendocino Zinfandel Zeni Vineyard (14.1%) '94: Attractive spicy raspberry/ blackberry bit Mendocino earthy/dusty oaked nose; tart bit dusty/spicy black- berry fruity some minty oaked flavor; long dusty/old vines bit earthy deeper blackberry finish w/ light tannins; nicely made Zin but overpriced. 
  6. Edmeades Mendocino Zin Ciapusci Vineyard (14.4%) '94: Brighter more raspberry fruity bit dusty/oaked nose; tart spicy bit dusty brighter raspberry light oaked flavor; tart bright raspberry/appley light dusty/earthy finish w/ light tannins; bit simpler & more bright Zinberry fruit than Zeni. Again overpriced at $20.
  7. Sobon Estate Shenandoah Valley Zinfandel Rocky Top (13.8%) '94: Deep dusty old vines some blackberry/ briary rather Am. oaked nose; rich dusty old vines briary blackberry very Am.oaked bit tight flavor; very long Am.oaked very peppery spicy dusty/old vines blackberry finish w/ some tannins; needs a yr or two; very spicy/peppery w/ lots of Am.oak; more like Lubenko than Cougar Hill. A steal at $11.60
  8. Greenwood Ridge Sonoma County Scherrer Vineyard Zinfandel (14.5%) '95: Rich very lush blackberry some dusty/old vines very fragrant/aromatic nose; soft lush ripe blackberry/Zinberry buttery/oaked spicy flavor; long very lush blackberry/ Zinberry very buttery oaked finish w/ light tannins; rather Nalle-like in style; much like the Hanna but more rich & interesting.
  9. Ramsay Napa Valley Zinfandel (Kent's cannonical 13%!!) '94: Strong oaked very spicy blackberry fragrant bit dusty/licorice nose; tart hard rich raspberry/black- berry very spicy rather taosty/oaked flavor; very long raspberry/blackberry very spicy dusty extracted some toasty/pencilly oaked finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; a big ripe ageable oaked Napa very spicy Zin. Fairly priced at $15.
  10. Coturri Sonoma Valley Zinfandel Chauvet Vineyard (14.5%) '95: Very ripe/plummy some late harvest/chocolaty smokey/charred Milk of Magnesia bit unclean nose; soft very ripe off-dry Milk of Magnesia smokey/charred oak intense blackberry/ boysenberry bit fecal/unclean flavor; very long overripe very smokey/charred almost Cote-Rotie intense blackberry finish w/ some tannins; pretty wierd stuff but I liked it a lot; rather off-scale. A steal @ $12.60
  11. Kent Rasmussen Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon '93: Very dark color; intense  pungent licorice chocolaty very ripe some oaked/blackcurranty nose; intense chocolaty/licorice oaked some very ripe/blackcurranty flavor; long intense licorice/chocolaty oaked blackcurranty extracted tannic finish; needs 5-15 yrs; a pretty big ripe extracted Cab; worth every bit of $22.50.
  12. Rosenblum Cellars Holbrook Mitchell Trio RTW (58% CS; RTW) '94: Very dark  color; lush fragrant classic Rosenblum blackcurranty pencilly Fr.oaked some minty/menthol Napa Cab nose; rich ripe lush blackcurranty Cab minty/menthol spicy oaked/perfumed talc milky oaked flavor; very long tannic ripe black- curranty minty/menthol oaked finish w/ fair tannins; needs 4-10 yrs; very well-made Napa Cab very much in the Rosenblum style.
  13. Coturri Albarello Sonoma Valley RW (mixed old vines red; 14.5%) '95: Black color; very overripe  late harvesty dusty old vines earthy/plummy very funky rather Languedoc-like nose; off-dry very overripe late harvesty pungent very smokey/charred oaked smokey hot dog Rhone-like flavor; very long very  overripe pungent/smokey charred dusty old vines finish w/ some tannins; needs 3-6 yrs; more wierd bizarre stuff but very very interesting. A steal @ $11.60
  14. Ramsay North Coast Alicante Bouschet '94: Black color; bit closed rather licorice/earthy/dusty pungent some oaked nose; hard tannic bit blackberry licorice pungent bitey tannic flavor; very long tannic blackberry toasty pungent smokey spicy finish w/ fair tannins; needs some age; pretty  interesting rather heavy-weigt wine w/ lots of fruit for Alicante; far  better than the Ridge & Topolous Alicantes.
 
 
    Musings. 
     
  1. So... a bunch of Kent Rasmussen (Ramsay is his label for wines from purchased grapes ) wines. I have followed his wines from the very start & have always liked them a lot. His pride & joys are his Pinots & Chards. The Pinots have always been one of my favorites; more fragrant cherry fruit & less of the Carneros earthiness than many. The earlier ones seemed much more extracted and tannic; they seem to have become more balanced & Oregon in style. The early Pinots & Chards usually had the famed "Rasmussen stench"... but that stink used to drop out w/ age. The later ones like that stech... I miss it!! His other wines, made in small lots & at iregular intervals have always been very interesting. Some killer Zins & Petite Sirahs over the yrs. Not  reviewed here are his really delicious Napa Vlly Sauvignon Blanc '95 ($14) and an absoluty lovely lush Late Hrvst Sauvignon Blanc '94 ($14/hlf), both very good values. And Kent himself...... Well, he wears these bib overalls, short, bushy beard... looks like a leprecaun. You can just picture him sitting under this little toadstool puffing away on this pipe w/ some of that "funny" tobacco in it!! And he now has a "real" winery over on the Silverado Trail that you can actually visit.
  2. The Gallo Zin was unbeliveably unclean & bretty..... for a Gallo wine. The first Gallo I've had that didn't taste to manufactured or like Kendall- Jackson. But a very interesting Zin w/ some real flavor interest.
  3. The two Edmeades Zins seem much improved over earlier versions. They even had some sediment in them, rare for a K-J wine!! Still not as rich & intense & extracted as when Jed Steele made some great Zins at Edmeades in the late '70's, but a step in the right direction. These (Zeni & Ciapusci) and DuPratt are GREAT vnyds; too bad they aren't making more dramatic wines such as they are capable of.
  4. The Sobon Estate Rocky Top is another terrific Zin. Less blatant Amador in character than many; it continues Lee's trend for making some really superb Zins that he's been doing for the last 4-5 yrs. And reasonably priced.
TomHill (heretic drooling at the thought of ZAP in a few weeks!!) 

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