3 From Tercero

WINE TALK
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  • 2007 Tercero Syrah Larner Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley (12/30/2009)
    The most serious of the three Terceros I tried, but interestingly, the most approachable or at least the one that showed the least improvement on day 2. This is a big wine, but not a fruit bomb as much as a wine with everything turned up; the fruit, the savageness, the pepper and the intensity. It is much thicker (viscous) than the other two wines. Blind, I might have though Sonoma syrah as it didn’t have the over the top fruit I associate more with central Coast Syrahs. This was pretty much the same on Day 2 (and then it was gone), so perhaps there is more development that I could not glimpse. No worries though, as this drinks well enough now to really enjoy. (91 pts.)

  • 2007 Tercero The Climb - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (12/30/2009)
    A 50/50 blend of Syrah and Petite Sirah, I was quite curious to try this. To be honest, I did not like it at all on opening. I re-screwed the cap and left it on the counter. Day 2 was a completely different story. It went from being monolithic, brutish and awkward to really interesting, complex and approachable. How does Larry get people to cellar these? On day 2, it had wonderful fruit, but in a satiny blanket that was cozy and warm. From a wine, that made me wince, to one that I wanted to refill my glass as soon as it was empty. Certainly worth laying a couple down. (91 pts.)

  • 2007 Tercero Grenache Watch Hill Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (12/30/2009)
    I liked this wine. It took about a day to really open up on the counter (screw cap put back on). It is less opulent than most recent CdP or southern Cal Grenaches I have had, but that is not bad. It is correct with a nice cocoa covered raspberry quality to that whispers Grenache. I think what I liked best was how, with air, it develops a complexity that worked well with food and alone. I would buy more. (89 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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Nice notes, Loren. Thanks for diving in to these for us. [basic-smile.gif]

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At $28, I will be re-oredering.

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Loren,

Thanks for posting the notes - and I’m glad that you enjoyed these wines as they are my ‘newbies’, part of the 8 2007 wines I bottled in mid-August.

Interesting notes on the Larner Syrah - this to me is an atypical Santa Barbara County syrah in that it is low pH, high acid, and equally about ‘non fruit’ descriptors as it is as about fruit ones. I really really like this vineyard and purchased more fruit - including Grenache - from here in both 08 and 09! To me it’s a wine that will continue to evolve for a long time as well . . .

The Climb is a blend that stems from my liking of Relentless from Shafer . . . which is about 80% syrah and 20% ps. I really like how the two varieties work together, so I decided to see how they work together equally - and really dug the results! It is a somewhat ‘massive’ wine that continues to evolve in the bottle - and will be quite fun to track for awhile!!!

The Watch Hill Grenache is really a favorite of mine, as it was the first vineyard I worked with that gave me the opportunity to go 100% grenache and not blend in any other varieties. It’s a cooler climate vineyard in Los Alamos near the Thompson Vyd, and as such, produces grapes that have higher acids and deeper colors compared to many other grenaches that I’ve seen and/or worked with. As you point out, it is NOT a typical central coast Grenache - to me it has more structure and is more ‘interesting’ . . . I also did 25% stem inclusion with this wine - something I started in 06 and continued in 08 as well. This harvest, I got a little more fruit from here and ended up splitting it into two lots - 1 I did 100% whole cluster; the other 100% whole berry. Both were foot stomped and fermented separately, and pressed off and barreled down separately. It will be fun to track these over the next 18 months . . . and then decide what I want to do with the two lots!!!

I hope that you continue to enjoy the wines and try some of my whites and my rose when the weather warms up!!!

Cheers!

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I just had the 2007 Larner on Tuesday and Loren’s notes really get it right for me. The overwhelming characteristic of this wine for me was its viscous nature. Not that the wine wasn’t good in terms of nose, fruit, structure, etc., which it was. But the unique thing here was the thickness of the mouthfeel. A very solid wine, and something a little different (which is also nice).

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Loren - Thanks for the notes. I had the Larner a week or so back, and really enjoyed it. Our notes are similar. Strong wine for $28ish as well (with shipping and wine club discount too!). I thought the wine was big as well but the sum of its parts in check and not over the top. IMO: I didn’t get the viscousness that has been mentioned though. Compared to the other two wines side by side, it may be more apparent.

Well made Larry.

I haven’t tried the Climb yet but look forward to it.