TNs: a couple lightweight 2016 Tercero wines (Carignane & Cinsault)

2016 Tercero Carignane - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (11/2/2019)
Cracked and poured. A small group made this disappear fairly quickly over homemade pizzas. Very approachable. Fruity. Love the 12.1% alc… This was exactly what we wanted in the moment — essentially, a fine wine that could be treated like a jug wine one might receive at an Italian pizzeria. The Tercero Cinsault that we opened concurrently was even better!


2016 Tercero Cinsault - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (11/2/2019)
Cracked and poured. Drank fabulously well with homemade pizza. Red-fruited with a spiciness that reminded me of some whole cluster fermentation (not sure if any WC was used here). The relatively low alc. (11.5%) was very nice, and I enjoyed how this drank nicely with the slightest chill on it. Would happily buy again. Love it!


These really were absolutely perfect for the moment. Thank you, Larry!

We really liked the carignane both out in Los Olivia and then again a few months later at home. Good stuff!

Brian,

Thanks for sharing your notes on these two wines. I have really enjoyed working with both of these ‘lesser’ rhone varieties, and to me, they are just as expressive as any of the other ones that I’ve worked with for quite some time.

Both of these definitely fall ‘under the radar’ for most people and remain typical ‘blending’ varieties and therefore rarely get to stand on their own two feet. Many winemakers choose to do so because they may not appear, on the surface, to provide enough ‘there’ to satisfy their needs.

I call this Cinsaut my ‘MTV Unplugged’ wine - instead of a fully amped band, this is my 20 year in a small club playing their ukulele unamped and her singing without amplification quietly but confidently. And the carignane reminds me and many others of a rustic northern Italian wine in the best of ways.

These two wines will definitely be gracing our family’s Thanksgiving table.

Cheers!

Nice – these two just arrived via FedEx.

Cracked the 2016 Cinsault tonight (Berserker day purchase).

Lovely aromatics of tart red berries, ripe strawberry, carried through on the palate. Nice brambly element, I believe from the whole cluster and stems. Medium high acidity runs through this. Such an easy drinker, in a good way. Bravo!

These are two varieties that truly get very little love around here. Yep, Drew does have the Carignane thread going, but very few tasting notes are out there on this variety - and even fewer on Cinsault.

Someone noted that the 16 Cinsault was the happy stepchild of Pinot and Chianti - thought that was interesting. I find it a nice blend of a whole cluster pinot and a slightly underripe Grenache.

And I’ve had more than one person tell me that the 16 Carignane reminded them of a northern Italian wine more than anything else.

Eager to share these with more folks . . .

Cheers!