We tried the other week (7/21/10) Some New Wines:
1. Tercero TheOutlier GWT LosAlamos/SBC (12.5%) 2009: Pale yellow near colorless; rather spicy/lychee/
nutmeg/cinnammon quite perfumed/aromatic nose; slightly off-dry bit tart/tangy strong spicy/lychee/GWT/
nutmeg quite perfumed flavor; long spicy/lychee/GWT/perfumed tangy off-dry finish; loads of fragrant
GWT character but maybe a bit off-dry on the palate. $20
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2. Tercero GrenacheBlanc Camp4Vnyd/SYV (13.5%; www.TerceroWines.com) 2009: Very pale near colorless; slight
pungent/reduced that clears to very floral/aromatic/honeysuckle/perfumed/GB nose; tart dry quite floral/
honeysuckle/perfumed/GB some tangy/grapefruity flavor; med.long tart/tangy very floral/honeysuckle/GB
slight earthy finish; a lovely/bright/zippy very perfumed rendition of GrenacheBlanc. $20.00
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3. Steele Viognier LakeCnty (13.5%) 2007: Light yellow/gold color; lovely floral/pear/peach/Viog
rather pencilly/oak slight minerally/valve oil spicy lovely nose; soft/fat off-dry light peachy/
canned fruit cocktail/Viog some pencilly/oak flavor; med.long off-dry canned fruit cocktail/peachy/
Viog light oak/pencilly finish; a lovely Viog nose put too soft/porky and too sweet on the palate.
$16.00
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4. Failla Viognier AlbanVnyd/EdnaVlly (14.2%; 45 cs) 2008: Light gold color; some spicy/pear/Viog slight
metallic/minerally some floral/carnations bit herbal/marigold very unusual nose; soft ripe/pear/fruit
cocktail/peachy/Viog light earthy/mineral floral/perfumed flavor; tart ripe/pear/Viog slight minerally/
chalky/earthy some complex finish; rather restrained/tight and unusual Viog but will probably age well
into something special. $44.00
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5. Dom.GeorgesVernay Viognier VdP des CollinesRhodaniennes LaPied de Samson (MeBalP; 12.8%)
2007: Med.gold color; lovely Viog/Condrieu/pear/peach minerally slight herbal complex nose; soft/lush
lovely Viog/peach/pear some minerally/Condrieu-like spicy/floral flavor; med.long slightly bitter bright/
pear/Viog light minerally/Condrieu-like/spicy soft finish; a very attractive Condriieu-like Viog w/ nice
minerality at a good price. $25.00
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6. JCCllrs FrancoisVillard Viognier Vin de Pays Des Collines Rhodaniennes Boules/Petanque (14.0%)
Imported by MinerFamilyWines/Oakville 2007: Med.gold color; low-key pear/Viog/spicy slight minerally/
Condrieu-like some smokey/oak slight aged/old nose; soft/fat some peach/Viog/ripe light minerally
light toasty/oak bit aged flavor; med.short light oak/smokey ripe/peach/Viog finish; lack the minerality
of a Condrieu and rather soft/fat on the palate; very pricey at $40.00
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7. Tercero Rose 60% Grenache/40% Mourvedre/SBC (13.5%) 2009: Bright electric/pink color; very attractive
cranberry/watermelon spicy/floral/cinammon spicy/zippy nose; tart racy/spicy/cranberry/watermelon bright/
strawberry flavor; med.long tart bright/cranberry/watermelon/strawberry/spicy finish; everything you want
in a rose; pretty/bright/zippy/vibrant at a good price. $15.00
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8. Tercero CuveeChristie SBC (64% Syrah/18% Grenache/18% Mourvedre; 14.8%) 2007: Med.dark color; strong
blackberry/Syrah/strawberry/Grenache slight earthy/CdR light pungent/smokey/oak nose; tart bit hard/tannic
somewhat earthy/CdR mostly strawberry/Grenache light smokey/oak flavor; med.long some hard/tannic earthy/
CdR/strawberry/Grenache light smokey/oak finish; an interesting CdR-like blend; needs a few yrs of age.
$28.00
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9. MendocinoFarms Grenache DarkHorseRanch/MendoCnty (Demeter-certified BioDynamic;
www.MendocinoFarms.com; 14.5%) 2007: Med.light color; rather smokey/toasty/oak slight strawberry/Grenache
bit earthy/tomatoey/MendoRed somewhat rustic/earthy/slight Rhonish nose; soft light floral/strawberries/
Grenache bit tannic/bitter/phenolic slight candied/Nehi strawberry soda pop slight tomatoey/earthy flavor;
med.short somewhat tannic/bitter bit earthy/tomatoey slight strawberry/floral/Grenache bit toasty/oak
somewhat candied/Nehi strawberry soda pop finish; not a lot of bright fruit, some earthy MendoRed
character and a bit dull/plodding take on Grenache. $25.00
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10. Syriah Syrah MendoRidge (14.5%) 2006: Med.dark color; strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/ripe/licorice
light pungent/charred/burnt/oak slight roasted/peppery/bit Rhonish slight reduced/pungent nose; soft
somewhat hard/tannic blackberry/blueberry/Syrah/ripe toasted/charred/oak flavor; med.long rather tannic/
hard some pungent/blueberry/Syrah rather charred/oak finish; a rather interesting Syrah but pretty hard/
tannic on the palate; needs some age but may never soften. $26.00
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11. Mariah Syrah MendoRidge (14.5%; www.MariahVineyard.com; Dan/Vickie) V&B by MakaiWnry/PtArena 2006:
Very dark color; rather reduced/pungent some cold climate/green olive/cracked pepper strong blackberry/
Syrah some toasty/charred/oak interesting nose; soft rather hard/tannic pungent/reduced/green olive slight
blackberry/Syrah/green olive/peppery flavor; long tart rather pungent/reduced some blackberry/Syrah/green
olive some cold-climate bit hard/tannic finish; interesting Syrah w/ some cold-climate character. $30.00
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12. Talmage Syrah MariahVnyd/MendoRidge (www.TalmageCollection.com) 14.5%) 2006: Dark color; rather musty/
corked some green olive/blackberry/Syrah nose; soft/fat rather musty/TCA/corked slight green olive/
blackberry/Syrah flavor; short musty/TCA soft/fat/porky some tannic finish; some good things therein but
too much TCA to tell much. $32.00
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13. Tercero Syrah ThompsonVnyd/SBC (14.3%) 2007: Dark color; very strong blackberry/blueberry/Syrah some
licorice/chocolaty/peppery rather spicy light toasty/oak vary attractive/perfumed nose; tart bit tannic/
hard strong blackberry/blueberry/Syrah bit peppery/spicy/licorice light toasty/oak flavor; long tart
blueberry/blackberry/Syrah peppery some tannic/hard light toasty/oak some pungent/smokey finish; needs some
4-8 yrs yet; seems a bit tight & closed but maybe the best Tercero I've yet had. $28.00
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14. Tercero PetiteSirah Rodney'sVnyd/SYV (14.3%) 2007: Very dark color; strong blackberry/boysenberry/PS
bit peppery/earthy licorice/chocolaty slight pungent/smokey nose; soft some tannic/rough blackberry/PS/
peppery bit pungent/licorice/peppery somewhat clunky/rough/rustic flavor; med.long somewhat hard/tannic/
structured strong blackberry/PS/peppery/earthy some pungent/smokey/pungent finish; more rough/rustic
than the Syrah, but plenty of fruit & the structure to age. $28.00
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And the usual crap from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Mendocino Syrah: These were three MendoRidge Syrah from producers that were relatively unknown. The
MendoRidge is a pretty special growing area and I had high expectations for them. I guess they didn't
quite deliver to my expectations. Not bad...but I was expecting more. The Drew and Donkey&Goat Syrahs from
MendoRidge are far better Syrahs than these.
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2. Tercero: This is, of course, LarrySchaefer's label for the wines he makes. Of the two whites, I much
preferred the GrenacheBlanc. This variety tends to make quite soft/fat wines but Larry's version had
a nice brisk acidity to it. The GWT seemed to have a bit of r.s. on the palate, but the wonderful aromatics
that you get from GWT.
Of the reds, the Thompson Syrah was the clear standout. Not quite the richness & lushness of the
Jaffurs/Thompson; it had that classic Thompson pepper/spice and clearly the structure to go out in yrs.
The PS was also well liked, but didn't have the bright fruit of the Syrah. It showed some of the coarse/
clunky character that you find in NorthCoast PS's, but much more fruit than they typically have.
I've been pretty impressed w/ the PetiteSirahs that come out of the SantaBarbara area. More acidity
and much more spicy fruit than you find in the NorthCoast versions, but the same ability to age.
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3. Failla: I'm mightly impressed by the Viogniers that EhrenJordan makes. They are not your typical Dolly
Parton rendition of Viog in Calif. In fact, I like what Ehren does w/ Alban Viognier better than what
John himself does. Ehren's is a sleek/svelte rendition of Viognier, yet packed w/ aromatics and flavors.
And they seem to age better than most Calif Viogniers.
Tom