TN: Tercero 2016 Aberration Cab Franc

Rich K0rz€nk0 recommended this and was kind enough to send me a bottle.

This is really freaky – in a good way. Foot-pressed, aged in concrete and steel – no wood – it defines inky. It’s so dark that it appears to have stained the clear bottle. Larry says it’s his first non-Rhone grape.

Though it’s four years old, this tastes like a tank sample. The nose reminded me of some Italian wine I had a hard time putting my finger on. Maybe a ruchet/ruché or a teroldego or a serious Lambrusco. There are some black cherries and an earthy note, and my wife picked up honeysuckle. Based on the nose, you’re almost expecting something sweet (e.g., ruchet).

In the mouth, it’s grippy. It feels at first like sort of gritty tannins, but I suspect it’s modest tannin accentuated by a lot of acid.

Nothing like a cab franc, but really interesting and different. I’m saving the back half of the bottle for tomorrow. I think this might be really good with salame (as Lambrusco is). Stay tuned!

I’d forgotten that Rich posted notes on the 2018 a few months ago:
https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3125075#p3125075

You’d like the Cinsault too and I know you’d like the rosés. Next time I see you we’re having one. Or two.

I forgot to post a picture of the bottle. The wine is so inky that it seems to have stained the clear glass!

Interesting the 2018 was so strikingly inky, but Rich noted the 2016 was very light colored:

“Its light such that you can see your hand through Ruby.”

I’ve had it a few times. It is easily my favorite red that Larry has ever made. Super fun, complex, and unique (a very overused descriptor, but not in this case). In subsequent years, the Aberration was made using Rhone varietals, and while deliciously light and quaffable in their own right, they’re no match for the cab franc version.

Love the stained bottle every time. It’s one of the funnest wines out there for sure. Looking forward to the roses as always and especially what sounds like could be a very interesting pinot.

He’s doing a March 10 Zoom tasting, and the Mouvedre Rose is one of the wines.

It was my 16 that was dark, and Rich’s 18 that was lighter.

Ah, I fumbled that.

No worries, but we’ll hold it against you.

Thanks for the notes on this wine - probably my most ‘polarizing’ wine I’ve created to date. My ‘intent’ was to make a wine that mimicked an ‘early release Chinon’ which I did not accomplish

I decided to make this wine after harvest had started and therefore needed to find a source for Cab Franc grapes. I decided to use the Brick Barn Vineyard on the western edge of Buellton - they have a small block of Cab Franc up in the hills above the winery and these were very young vines. The grapes came in a bit riper than I had intended them to be and therefore this wine is definitely more fruit forward on the nose than I intended - but oh well. And then aging the wine in stainless steel instead of oak definitely pumps up the ‘fruitiness’ as well. But then the flavor of the wine definitely shows more of the ‘cab franc’ essence that I was after. Note that these grapes were foot stomped and fermented 100% whole cluster, adding on a touch of herbaceousness and some additional ‘grip’. As others have pointed out, the nose does not match the palate - but that really should be expected with a stainless aged red IMHO, especially one that is bottled after only about 4 months.

The other aberrations I have made have been quite different than this 2016 - and none of them have stained the bottle as this one did (and yep, that’s exactly what happened). My 2018 aberration is 40% Grenache, 40% Cinsault and 20% Carignane and my 2019 aberration is 60% Cinsault and 40% Grenache - both of these are much lighter in color and more fruit-forward on the nose. I compare them to ‘session beers’ - light, bright and crushable with a touch of bitterness from the stems.

I decided not to do an aberration in 2020 - I planned to do so and actually brought in Cab Franc from a different source and picked much earlier - but then I decided to do my first Carbonic wine which I call my Nouveau Cinsault . The cab franc therefore ended up going into older oak barrels and will eventually be my first varietally labeled Cab Franc which I am quite excited about.

And yep, I am doing my next Live Zoom on March 10th - and I’ve posted about this in the offline section of this site. Reach out if you have any further questions.

Cheers!

So the 2016 was somewhat of an . . . aberration?

It definitely live d up to its name . . .

Cheers!

Two other points about this 2016 - it is aging at a glacial rate and it really does not change much after opening for a number of days if you leave the wine in the fridge - seriously. And I prefer to serve the wine chilled.

Cheers

Yup, as Larry noted, 2 different bottles. I have a handful listing around, plus my note was on the “other” Aberration. Here’s the side by side…

Larry gave this too me at Industrial Eats one night when we met for dinner. It’s a very well made and unique wine by intention. Chilled it’s so entertaining. Funny, when you pour the wine the first reaction is “Damn, that’s a clear glass bottle.” LOL

• 2016 Tercero Cabernet Franc aberration - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (2/13/2018)
  Aberration is a perfect name for this wine. Cabernet Franc in a clear bottle. Larry is not afraid. This is a bottle stainer, crazy dark red. Has a red grape and beet juice thing going on. Very unique.

Posted from CellarTracker

I remember that, my friend. The wine has changed some from when you first tried it - not the aromatics as much as the flavor and texture. It seems to have picked up some additional grippiness and more herbaceousness/smokiness as it’s aged. You should try it again . . .

Cheers!

I thought it hung together better tonight after being in the fridge overnight. The fruit came to the fore and the grippiness wasn’t so dominant.

And I was right that it went well with salami, and with a vegetable stew with a tomato and Aleppo pepper-inflected broth.

We had this at the tasting room awhile back. Certainly a fascinating wine.