Eighteen Orange County wine lovers convened at The Winery Restaurant in Newport Beach last Saturday to do a library tasting of Tercero wines with Larry Schaffer himself.
After gathering at the upstairs bar overlooking the harbor, we moved into our own room, where we tried 15 Tercero wines alongside a multi-course dinner. Equally importantly, Larry spoke to us about each flight of wines, including the interesting decisions and techniques that went into making them. It was equal parts hedonism, education and camaraderie.
I am not good at the interspersing of photos into the post the way that the pros like Brig Campbell do it, but I’ll loop back and post photos in a reply below. The wines are listed in the order we tasted them, all but the first and last wine in vertical pairs.
2017 Aberration. The 2017 version of this wine is a blend of Cinsault, Grenache and Carignane, in all stainless steel, designed to be a served young and chilled. The wine is grapey, with leaf, pit and skin flavors. It is in the general style of Beaujolais Nouveau and Dolcetto, but a bit smoother and less raw tasting. It’s a nice afternoon or picnic wine in an old fashioned way, probably much better with foods than alone.
2010 Grenache Blanc Camp 4 Vineyard. A perfect light color which was seemingly unchanged since bottling and sealing under a screw cap. Although the cap had perfectly resisted any oxidation, the wine had clearly aged and developed in a desirable way, with a pleasing petrol and truffle character to the nose. Tart pineapple, melon, peach, white flowers, and a beautiful light white spice on the long, lemony finish. One of my favorites out of a great lineup, both delicious and contemplative.
2014 Grenache Blanc Camp 4 Vineyard. Similar in most ways to the excellent 2010, just at an earlier state of maturation. Just the lightest notion of petrol to the nose, more volume to the tropical fruit, yet remaining light on its feet and dry. Again, the lovely layer of white pepper on the long finish.
2013 Verbiage Blanc. Verbiage Blanc is a Rhone blend of Roussane, Grenache Blanc and Viognier. This has nice richness and weight, some waxiness and almond skin, and ripe tropical and citrus fruit. This strikes a nice balance as a weightier white wine yet with sufficient cut to keep it in balance. This is probably a white to serve at cellar temperature. It probably has many good years ahead.
2014 Verbiage Blanc. Larry said the 2014 blends the same three varieties, but in 2014 it was about 2/3rds Roussanne. Accordingly, this has more weight to it than the 2013, but it avoids any heat or fuminess. Sean Kennedy noted a nice mint dimension lurking behind the peach and banana fruits. Again, a wine to serve around cellar temperature, and this probably will improve in the next several years.
2015 Mourvedre Rose Camp 4 Vineyard. Very pale, with light and slightly bitter fruit, hints of some watermelon and underripe strawberry, and a light spice on the finish. This was a little more stern and savory than I probably prefer, but we all have our individual sweet spots along the rose ripeness spectrum.
2017 Mourvedre Rose Camp 4 Vineyard. This was quite fun, with a bit more fruit, watermelon, peach and juicy citrus. More of a fruit driven experience today, and possibly becoming a more complete wine in the next summer or two. Larry said he harvests the Mourvedre for his roses just a little above or below 20 Brix.
2015 Cinsault. Larry explained that Cinsault berries are extremely large for vinifera grapes, and they accordingly produce wines with lighter color and less concentration, yet he had tasted very old Cinsault wines from South Africa which had aged quite well. The 2015 was 12% alcohol. It had tart red cherry, tart strawberry, cherry pit, some olive and leafiness. A pleasing spice emerges on the finish. Quite an interesting and cerebral wine that would do best at the dinner table.
2016 Cinsault. Like all of Larry’s reds in the last several vintages, this is 100% whole cluster and foot stomped. This checks in at a stunning 10.8% alcohol, and yet it doesn’t lack for ripeness or pleasure. This has a brighter, sunnier cherry fruit as compared to the 2015, with juicy citrus fruit and acids towards the finish. It’s so interesting to taste these two side by side, the 2015 a little brooding and serious, the 2016 playful and extroverted.
2010 Verbiage Rouge. Verbiage Rouge is Larry’s take on a Chateauneuf du Pape blend, and it’s a bright, red fruited, minerally, spicy take on it. This seems to be fresh light on its feet at age eight, and it avoids the roasted flavors, oak and heaviness that too often are characteristic of CdP in recent years. This was one of my favorites of the night, and another testament to how Larry’s wines, owing in some part to the screw caps, retain a beautiful freshness even as they age in desirable ways.
2014 Verbiage Rouge. This was similar in character to the excellent 2010, with a little more intensity and volume, though still completely avoiding any heaviness.
2007 Grenache Watch Hill Vineyard. This was one of Larry’s first reds when he was getting started, and it’s now at a lovely, older stage of its development. Pleasantly herbal, with pretty and smooth dark fruits that have receded towards the background, giving the spotlight to the mineral and leathery dimensions. Very nice, but probably time to drink up.
2013 Grenache Watch Hill Vineyard. As you might suspect, my note taking was suffering a bit by this stage. I noted that this wine had a great intensity of dark fruit, leaf and spice, and was one of my favorites of the evening.
2006 Grenache Blanc Camp 4 Vineyard. This was from Larry’s inaugural Tercero vintage. I’ve had a few bottles of this maybe 2-3 years ago, and they were interesting in an aged, quite petrolly style. I think on Saturday, these retained some interest and character, but I think they’ve passed the drinking window for my tastes.
It was quite an excellent tasting, showcasing the variety, balance and age worthiness of Larry’s portfolio. I strongly encourage my fellow Berserkers to seek out Larry and his wines on your journey ahead.