ALL we sell, with tasting notes for mostSearch our web site by keyword. Includes the Usenet Wine FAQALL we sell, with tasting notes for mostSome of our favorite linksHow to get here from there. Highway condition links.An archive of the Santa Barbara Independent's own GRAPEVINE local wine columnWining, dining, touring, weather and more. The Definitive Guide to Tasting Wine in Santa Barbara County. Complete list of wineriesOur own great Emporium events as well as links to local area wine eventsOur line-up of spirits, definition of word related to spirits, information on producers and more Wines, wine tastings, history, neat info on wineries and winemakers and more The Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium. Experts in County of Santa Barbara Wine and Central Coast Wine
 
Clickable Image  

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 July 16, 2003:

White Rhone Varietals

Tried Some White Rhone Varietals last week:
  1. The Ojai Vineyard Ojai White Calif TW (14%) NV: Pale yellow color; attractive fragrant/appley/ floral/waxy light toasty/oak perfumed nose; soft/lush bit toasty/pencilly apley/floral flavor; long appley/floral light toasty/oak finish; very nice drinking white and a steal at $14.00.
  2. Ramsay Calif Marsanne (13%) 1993: Med.gold color; rather hazelnutty/toasted nuts slight oxidized nose; tart appley bit metallic rather rich/textured nutty/hazelnutty slight toasty/ oak flavor; med.long tart/earthy/metallic toasted hazelnutty waxy/appley finish; slight oxidation but very interesting old Marsanne.
  3. Qupe Viognier Santa Barbara County Ibarra-Young Vineyard (12.5%) 1995: Med.gold color; rather oxidized slight petrol some spicy/old Chardonnay/boutbon barrell complex nose; tart fairly lush light toasty oak some spicy/nutmeg bit oxidized/earthy flavor; med.long slight oxidized/toasty finish; little Viognier character; bit oxidized nose but interesting flavor. $18.50/500 ml
  4. Terre Rouge Shenandoah Valley Calif Viognier (14.5%; 600 btls) 1994: Med.gold color; some fragrant/pear/Viognier light toasty/oak some complex clean nose; soft very lush some floral/ Viognier/pear/peach pie/honeyed/ripe light toasty oak finish; long light pear/Viognier/ floral rich/textured finish; not as intense as it once was but still has a nice elegant Viognier character and holding well.
  5. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Viognier (13.9%) 1997: Med.gold color; bit reduced/pungent light toasty/smokey/oak light floral/Viognier/pear some complex nose; soft/rich very lush some toasty/oak very pinappply/mango light pear/peach/Viognier/tropical fruit ripe complex flavor; very long/lush tropical fruit/mango/peach/Viognier some toasty/smokey oak finish; really lovely/lush/ripe Viognier; doing beautifully.
  6. Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Viognier (13.9%) 1998: Med.gold color; very attractive fragrant/ pear/peach/Viognier light pencilly/oak nose; tart/lean rather minerally pear/Viognier/ elegant/spicy light pencilly flavor; long minerally/lean elegant/pear/Viognier finish; rather Condrieu-like; lovely Viognier.
  7. Joseph Phelps Vin du Mistral Napa Valley Viognier (13.0%) 1992: Med.gold color; attractive/ fragrant pineapply/tropical fruit/spicy/nutmeg slight pungent/skunky some complex nose; tart spicy/nutmeg earthy/minerally some tropical fruit flavor; very long lean/tart spicy/ nutmeg light pineapply finish; not a lot of Viognier intensity but holding very well. $18.79
  8. Francois Villard Les Terrasses du Palat Condrieu (13.5%; MeBalP) 1994: Dark gold color; rather badly corked/musty very slight pear/Condrieu/Viognier nose; somewhat musty/corked attractive spicy/minerally/pear/peachy/Viognier flavor; very long/lingering some corky/ musty lovely pear/minerally/Viognier/Condrieu finish; dreadfully corked nose but the flavor is still there; lovely Condrieu if you ignore the corkiness; so sad.
  9. Garretson Viognier Fralich Vineyard Paso Robles "The Spunog Cnoc" (13.6%) 2001: Med.gold color; strong lush pear/peach/mango/Viognier/tropical fruit slight pencilly/oak bit fresh mown hay nose; soft/fat quite sweet (3%?) pineapply/peach/pear/Viognier light oak flavor; long intense/lush pear/Viognier/tropical fruit sweet soft finish; loads of tropical fruit/ Viognier character but a bit too sweet & cloying to my taste; classic DollyParton Viognier.
  10. Garretson Viognier Vogelzang Vineyard Santa Ynez Valley "Table 62" (14.7%) 2001: Light gold color; very strong toasted coconut/pungent very ripe/Viognier/bannana cream pie some minerally/ Condrieu/pear complex nose; soft/rich ripe/lush toasted coconut/Zagnut very ripe tart rather minerally/pear/peach/Viognier some Condrieu-like flavor; very long/lingering ripe/ lush/pear/peach/Viognier some minerally/Condrieu some toasted coconut finish; a terrific/ interesting rather Condrieu-like Viognier. Killer wine at a great price. $23.00
  11. Hug Cellars Central Coast Roussanne (15%) P&B by PerroDocs Cllrs, ArroyoGrande 1996: Med.gold color; some reduced/pungent/smokey nose clears to buttery/butterscotchy very floral/honey- suckle toasty/oak complex nose; tart very toasty/butterscotchy/caramel/oak rather lush/ floral/honeysuckle slight nutty/oxidized flavor; very long toasty/caramel/butterscotchy some floral/honeysuckle finish; slight oxidation/nutty & lots of toasty oak but very interesting/complex wine. $20.00
  12. Alban Vineyards Roussanne Edna Valley Alban Estate Vineyard (14.5%) 2000: Med.gold color; very strong toasty/charred/pungent/butterscotchy/coconutty rather floral/honeysuckle nose; huge/lush rich/extracted toasty/pungent/charred/Fr.oak very tart intense floral/honeysuckle flavor; very long charred/toasty/pungent/Fr.oak very tart floral/honeysuckle finish; very tart/hard w/ lots of charred oak but an underlying intensity of fruit; will be a great one I think.
  13. Edmunds St. John Los Robles Viejos Rozet Vineyard Paso Robles White Wine (Roussanne/Viognier/ Marsanne; 13.7%) 2001: Light gold color; slight stoney/minerally some floral/spicy light pungent/toasty oak interesting nose; tart very rich/lush appley/earthy/minerally flavor with long minerally/stoney finish; lots of richness but an underlying acid structure; needs several yrs of age. Good value at $20.00.
  14. Garretson Roussanne Santa Barbara County "The Limoid Cior" (14.3%; 56% WesterelyVineyard, 44% StolpmanVineyard) 2001: Med.dark gold color; very strong tangerine/citric/lime slight volatile very aromatic/perfumed/fragrant very exotic atypical Roussanne nose; tart very citric/tangerine/lime floral very lush/spicy flavor w/ very long/lingering finish; one of the weirdest whites I've had from Calif and very exotic; killer stuff at a great price. $21.00
And the usual profundities from the Bloody Pulpit:
  1. Jaffurs Viogniers: I've followed Craig Jaffurs Viogniers from the very start; when we (Craig, Larry Archibald, myself) sat outside on Bob Senn's porch on a chill winter morning and he poured us a barrel sample of his first Viognier (rather yeasty/hard/lean). I've always liked his Viogniers for their different style from most other Calif Viogniers: a bit more Condrieu-like in that they're less DollyParton-like, leaner/tarter more acid and structure in character. I think they age a bit better than most as well. The '97 and '98 were two totally different Viogniers in style. The '97 seemed more over-the-top than I recall it, whilst the '98 was more like the Jaffurs style I know. Both wines are doing mighty fine and are absolutely delicious Viogniers.
  2. Garretson Wines: I've followed MatGarretson's wines from the very start. This threesome was mightly impressive. The Frahlich was a bit too sweet and cloying (some have been fermenting in the btl) and too tiresome on the palate; but the other two were dynamite wines. The Roussanne, weird as it may be, was maybe the best Roussanne I've yet had from Calif. Almost a Viognier style rendition of that grape.
  3. Do Viogniers Age??: Sorta depends upon what you want. If it's Viognier and you insist that it MUST have that heady perfume of young Viognier; then the answer is, of course, no. But if you're a bit more open-minded and allow as much that Viognier can develop some interesting things with age, then the answer is yes.... sometimes. The aging curve for Viognier seems rather erratic to me; I find as many misses as hits. I was expecting the Phelps, a lean/ tight almost eviscerated wine in it youth to be totally gone. This one was in fine shape. I expected the TerreRouge, a fat/porky/DollyParton Viognier in its youth to be totally gone. It was holding on just fine. I thought the Qupe, a fairly tight/tart wine in its youth to be fine. It seemed on its last legs. Go figure.
TomHill
 

Return to the Tom Hill Archive Index