by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

 
1. Stony Hill Napa Valley Chard (13%) 1998: Med.gold color; lovely minerally clean/melony/ Chard some spicy/nutmeg nose; tart very spicy/minerally ripe/melony/Chard bracing/ zippy/bright flavor; very long minerally/melony/appley/Chard very spicy/nutmeg finish; crisp/bright yet very rich Chard; beautifil wine, should age well. $36.00
2. Sine Qua Non Albino WhiteWine (46% Chard, 40% Roussanne, 14% Viognier; Alban Vineyard & Stolpman Vineyard; 15.5%) 2001: Med.dark color; intense toasty/smokey/pungent/Fr.oak slight reduced/funky/pungent quite fragrant/Viognier/floral/perfumed/pear very aromatic nose; huge/rich smokey/toasty/pungent/charred/Fr.oak/caramel very intense floral/honeysuckle/pear/Viognier flavor; very long/lingering rich/intense floral/ perfumed/pear/Viognier/gardenia strong charred/toasty/pungent/oak finish; a pretty strong hit of oak but an incredible intensity of fruit underneath; very tart & rich and should age very well; reminds me a bit of Cuilleron Viognier w/o that minerality. $68.50
3. Joseph Swan Vineyards Northern Sonoma Pinot Noir (EB; TW) 1984: Med.light color; attractive fragrant/pencilly/Burgundian bit earthy slight cherry/Pinot/spicy complex nose; tart bit astringent/bitter somewhat dried out light Burgundian/pencilly/oak slight dried cherries complex flavor; long rather pencilly/Burgundian/oak rather dried-out/tannic/ astringent finish; a lovely complex/Burgundian nose but a bit too dried-out on the palate. $14.00
4. Kent Rasmussen Wnry Carneros Pinot Noir (12.5%) 1990: Med.color; lovely black cherry/cherry very fragrant some minty/menthol fairly complex nose; tart spicy black cherry/Pinot slight bitter slight minty/menthol/peppermint/licorice candied complex flavor; med.long rather black cherry/cherry slight earthy/minty/menthol dried cherries finish w/ light tannins; starting to dry out a bit but has come together quite nicely; lovely/mature Calif Pinot. $18.00
5. Meitz Cellars Sonoma County Pinot Noir (14.1%; VineHill/WhiteDove vnyds in Sebastapol & Leveroni Vineyard in Sonoma) 2002: Light color; fragrant cherry/Pinot elegant bit buttery/ diacetyl/oak light/low-key nose; soft rather buttery/oaked light cherry/candied/Pinot/ fruity light/delicate flavor; med.short buttery/oak light cherry/earthy/Pinot finish w/ light tannins; tastes like a whole-berry maceration Pinot; pleasant light Pinot. $16.00
6. Nalle Hopkins Ranch Russian River Valley Pinot Noir (13.5%; www.NalleWinery.com) 2001: Light color; very spicy/cranberry/black cherry slight earthy/RRV?Pinot bit pencilly/Fr.oak fragrant nose; tart very bright/zippy cherry/cranberry very spicy light pencilly/oak flavor; long very balanced/elegant very spicy/cranberry/cherry slight earthy finish w/ light tannins; very perfumed/fragrant very spicy Pinot, almost Zinberry-like; ready to drink. $27.00
7. Copain Pinot Noir Hacienda Secoya Anderson Vlly (14.2%) 2002: Med.color; lovely/complex pencilly/toasty strong black cherry/PN rather Burgundian nose; tart very rich/spicy strong black cherry/PN bit earthy/dusty some Burgundian/pencilly flavor; tart bright black cherry/PN Burgundian/toasty/Fr.oak/pencilly finish w/ some tannins; more like RRV Pinot than AndersonVlly; a lovely rich/Burgundian Pinot. $40.00
8. Pipers Brook Vineyard Ninth Island Tasmania Pinot Noir (13.7%; www.NinthIsland.com.Au) 2003: Med. dark color; some Am.oak/vanilla rather jammy/cherry/black cherry/Nehi soda pop bit simple/fruity nose; tart very Am.oaked/vanilla jammy/cherry/cranberry/Pinot flavor; med. vanilla/Am.oak jammy/cherry/cherry jelly finish wl little tannins; a Pinot very much in an Oz style; don't see much value in aging this. $18.00
9. Dehlinger Pinot Noir Goldridge Vineyard Russian River Valley (EB; 14.3%) 2001: Med.light color; fragrant/ attractive pencilly/Fr.oak light toasty/smokey bright cherry nose; tart bright cherry/PN light earthy/RRV some pencilly/Fr.oak bit simple flavor; med.long spicy/cherry/PN some pencilly/Fr.oak balanced finish w/ light tannins; lovely balanced/fragrant classic Dehlinger Pinot. $31.50
10. Dehlinger Pinot Noir Old Vine Reserve Russian River Valley (EB; 14.6%) 2000: Med.color; much deeper fruit black cherry/cherry/PN some toasty/smokey/Fr.oak/pungent some earthy/RRV more complex nose; bigger/richer/deeper more black cherry/spicy classic RRV/earthy some toasty/Fr.oak flavor; very long rich strong/black cherry/PN/cherry bit earthy some toasty/pungent/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a beautiful/classic rich Dehlinger PN. $45.00
11. The Ojai Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir Pisoni Vineyard (13%) 1996: Med.color; strong black cherry/PN slight herbal/earthy/leathery/barnyardy some complex/earthy nose; tart/ spritzig schreechy/acid/sour some barnyardy/leathery/funky bit black cherry/herbal flavor; med.long rather funky/leathery some black cherry schreechy/acid spritzig finish; not done good things in the btl. $nc
12. The Ojai Vineyard Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Vineyard (14%) 2000: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/black cherry/cola slight reduced/pungent quite spicy rather pungent/toasty/ Fr.oak/smokey complex nose; very tart/acid hard/tannic very rich boysenberry/black- berry/black cherry cola some toasty/Fr.oak/cinammon/cloves flavor; very long very tart/ acid very strong blackberry/black cherry/cola perfumed toasty/pungent/Fr.oak/cloves finish w/ fair tannins; lots of acidity but also lots of ripe character; this Pinot is going to be a killer w/ age but a bit hurtey to drink now. $30.50
13. The Ojai Vineyard Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Vineyard (14.5%) 2001: Dark color; strong black cherry/black cherry cola/fragrant some toasty/pungent/Fr.oak/pencilly ripe/lush loads of Pinot fruit nose; rich/ripe tart very black cherry/cola/Dr.Pepper/spicy somewhat hard/ tannic rather toasty/pungent/Fr.oak fragrant/perfumed flavor; very long black cherry/ cola/Pinot very spicy some toasty/pungent/Fr.oak finishj w/ fair tannins; a classic Bien Nacido w/ lots of black cherry cola; needs 2-5 yrs of age; terrific big/ripe Pinot. $38.50
14. Sine Qua Non No.6 Oregon Pinot Noir (Block 28 of Shea Vineyard/YamhillCnty; 14.3%) 2001: Med. dark color; strong pungent/smokey/Fr.oak complex walnutty/black cherry/spicy almost Syrah/blackberry very fragrant nose; tart very rich very spicy/cherry/black cherry/cola somewhat pencilly/toasty/Fr.oak/smokey complex flavor; very long/lingering very spicy/ cherry/black cherry/cola ripe/round/lush rather toasty/pungent/pencilly/Fr.oak finish w/ fair tannins; needs some age; dynamite Oregon Pinot. $68.50
15. Robert Mondavi Wnry Napa Valley Pinot Noir (Unfltrd; 13%) 1990: Med.color; rather earthy/mushroomy slight musty (not corked)/skunky slight herbal/pickle juice bit pungent/pencilly/Fr.oak rather interesting/strange nose; tart/lean bit dried-out/astringent rather pencilly/ toasty/Fr.oak rather earthy/mushroomy/funky flavor; med. mushroomy/earthy some toasty/ pencilly/oaked finish w/ light tannins; almost more of a Rhonish character than Pinot; interesting but strange. Sonny's mystery.
16. Robert Groffier Chambolle-Musigny 1erCru "LesHauts-Doix" 1996: Med.color; rather stewed tomatoes/earthy/mushroomy slight pencilly/Burgundian/oaked slight floral/violets nose; tart/very screechy/searing/acid rather earthy/mushroomy slight violets/floral/ lilacs/Pinot some pencilly/oak slight cherry/Pinot flavor; searingly acid/lean rather earthy/mushroomy/funky slight floral/violets/Pinot/cherry some pencilly/oak finish w/ light tannins; maybe will age into something interesting but the acidity is hurtey. Larry's mystery wine.
17. Rene LeClerc Gevrey-Chambertin 1erCru "CombAuxMoines" (13.5%) 1996: Med.dark color; slight mousey/funky bit smokey/charred/oak slight dusty/walnutty some violets/floral/ black cherry/Pinot rather interesting nose; tart pungent/toasty/burnt/charred some walnutty/dusty rather spicy/cloves some floral/violets bit hard/lean flavor; med.long hard/tannic dusty/walnutty rather toasty/charred/oak slight floral/violets/lilacs finish w/ some tannins; bit on the hard/tannic/lean side but some interesting things therein. Howard's mystery wine.

1. The white-on-white label is virtually unreadable; you have to hold it up to the light at just the right angle. Guess what.....you immerse the label in water and the lettering becomes much darker and easy-to-read. It couldn't be just an accident.
2. I've followed Kent Rasmussen's wines from the very start, though I haven't been keeping up with them very well the last few yrs. Always one of my favorite Pinot & Chard producers. He doesn't get the recognition Kent really deserves.
3. SQN #6: I've found previous versions of Manfred's Oregon Pinots to be rather on the hard/tannic side. I thought this probably is his best Oregon Pinot he's yet made; much more balanced & lush and less austere. A stunning Pinot.
4. Ojai Pinots: Adam gets a lot of good press, and rightfully so, for his Syrahs. I think sometimes his Chards and Pinots (certainly his SauvignonBlancs) or overlooked as being some of the best made in Calif. These two versions are certainly stellar. The ClosPepe, though having a lot of ripe Pinot character, will, I suspect, because of its acidity, age into the better of the two. It's going to be a fun journey w/ this wine.

TomHill