Help Me Understand a Wine Critic: Tom Hill

[Dav3_Dyr0ff]

Who here tried the Turley “Smoot-Hawley” vineyard white zin before Tom posted a TN on it? No one, that’s who.

Sorry, Dave… Smoot-Hawley was a tariff act that caused a lot of damage to the US economy.
It was the Turley Hoot-Smalley White Zin that you were thinking about. It was a legend in its time.

I almost typed Hoot-Smalley but my inner historian made me revert to the other. Good to know.

I had forgotten the 4 vines @ 18.7% ABV. I think that is key to its longevity both as a wine and as a legend.

[TomHill]

That Google turned up:

@Tom

Turley Napa Valley White Zinfandel Hoot–Smalley Vnyd (17.8%) ’97: Pale salmon color; fragrant/ perfumed/aromatic/dusty old vines/complex/bergamots/RioGrande tadpoles/toasted Serbian oak/raspberry/cranberry/simple nose; dry (3.7% r.s.) fragrant/floral/bergamots/smokey/ toasty/oaked/complex/raspberry/dusty young vines flavor; very long/perfumed/complex/ charred oak/short finish w/ lush/sexy tanins; clearly needs some 17 yrs of age to reach the apogee characteristic of mature/well-aged WhiteZin. Good QPR at $73.19 …

Different TN… different btl probably. This is the TN Stevenson saw.
Tom

[Mariano_Chiaramonte]

For some time I misinterpreted the short/boring as a wine descriptor. What an unlucky guy, I thought, every wine he tastes is short and boring…

[Jim_Cowan]

Tom who?

[J_Rock]

I’m always waiting for that unicorn long/exciting note!

[Otto_Forsberg]

You’ll notice that the original TN had a real paucity of /////'s. Now they have many more ////'s to improve their readability.

A laughter spurted out of my face

[Mark_Mason]

I always read Tom’s tasting notes.

[Anton_D]

Somewhere buried deep in this forum I once expressed an odd desire to tour wine regions with Tom while driving a Ford Squire wagon. I still hold onto that dream.

In my mind it would be more like this :

images.jpeg-4.jpg

[Neal.Mollen]

I always read Tom’s tasting notes.

Me too. And I really have little interest in the wines themselves. Weird.

[Jason_T]

I always read Tom’s tasting notes.

Me too. And I really have little interest in the wines themselves. Weird.

Hah. Same.

[Chris_Seiber]

I always read Tom’s tasting notes.

I want to read them and to learn from them, and Tom seems like a great guy and a good source of information about wines that would be of interest to me, but being honest, I can’t usually fight my way through the writing style. I wish I had some kind of TomHill Google Translate or something.

That may reflect more on me than on Tom, and if so, I accept that.

[Bob_Hughes]

I have Tom on ignore - I’ve found that makes his notes even shorter and much less boring.

[Tom_DeBiase]

I refer to Tom as “The Legend”. Seriously, one of the nicest most informed wine geek you will ever meet.

I’m lucky to call him a friend.

Tom

[JMReuter]

I always read Tom’s tasting notes.

I want to read them and to learn from them, and Tom seems like a great guy and a good source of information about wines that would be of interest to me, but being honest, I can’t usually fight my way through the writing style. I wish I had some kind of TomHill Google Translate or something.

That may reflect more on me than on Tom, and if so, I accept that.

While I still find his tasting notes hard to process, I really appreciate the BloodyPulpit that appears along with each note. Very educational.

[Dan_Sch]

I always read Tom’s tasting notes.

Me too. And I really have little interest in the wines themselves. Weird.

I always worry that I’ve ventured into the obscure when I see a note from Tom on a wine I’ve bought/tasted Always appreciate the notes and pretty happy when I do know what the hell you’re actually talking about Tom!

[Anton_D]

Tom has been around so long that if he notes “dust” in a tasting note, it’s his own palate.

(I love Tom, just in case it needs to be said.)

[David_Bu3ker]

Tom has been around so long that if he notes “dust” in a tasting note, it’s his own palate.

(I love Tom, just in case it needs to be said.)

Hardly. It’s the bones of his long-perished enemies.

[Merrill_Lindquist]

I have Tom on ignore - I’ve found that makes his notes even shorter and much less boring.

That is the funniest thing I have heard all day.

[Sean_Devaney]

Tom has been around so long that if he notes “dust” in a tasting note, it’s his own palate.

(I love Tom, just in case it needs to be said.)

Hardly. It’s the bones of his long-perished enemies that died at the point of his epee.

FIFY

[Fred_Bower]

There once was Tom Hill the Alamos’t
Whose notes on Berserkers were followed-most
He tasted some wine
Some he thought was divine
The rest was destined for pulpit-toast