Was making a fast trip up to the SYV last week and tried:
1.Tercero TheClimb SBC (67% Syrah/33% PetiteSirah; 14.6%) 2010: Very dark color; somewhat fragrant Syrah/blackberry/ripe bit peppery/earthy big nose; soft rather rich/structured blackberry/Syrah slight earthy/dusty/peppery PS slight toasty/oak flavor w/ some big/soft/round tannins; very long blackberry/Syrah finish; speaks mostly of Syrah but the PS gives it a big mouthfilling structure and should age well.
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2. Tercero LesDeuxComtes (14.5%; 50% HumboltCnty/SBC; 72% Syrah/25% Grenache/3% Viognier; Camp4/Kimberly's/Thompson vnyds) 2009: Fairly dark color; strong earthy/dusty some blackberry/Syrah slight strawberry quite fragrant nose; soft strong earthy/dusty rather Syrah/blackberry/boysenberry light toasty/oak bit peppery/pungent big/structured flavor w/ some hard tannins; very long dusty/earthy/peppery strong boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah finish w/ some big/hard tannins; will go out another 10 yrs; the HumboltCnty Syrah gives this an interesting character that suggests a bit of a Rhonish character underneath the up-front SBC Syrah fruit; best Tercero red I've yet had.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Was visiting friends last week in SantaBarbara and decided on a fast trip up to the SantaYnezVlly to swing thru a few tasting rooms. Of course, a stop at Tercero was called for. Larry was not there and the tasting room was crowded w/ hot chicks and cool dudes...probably also equally disappointed that Larry wasn't there. But JimMann was able to squeeze me in and taste me on a few new things.
The Roussanne '12, a recent release, was a pretty classic Roussanne, loaded w/ honeysuckle fruit, fairly structured, and a strong first effort for this variety. But these two were the ones that most impressed me. The LesDeux is sold out and TheClimb is not yet released. Not sure on the prices. But they struck me as the two best reds of Larry's I've yet tried.
The LesDeuxComtes is a cooperative wine made by Larry and JohnCabot from up in HumboltCnty.
Tom