New Tercero Wines Feb, 2017
1. Tercero Marsanne Camp4Vnyd/SantaYnezVlly (14.3%; 4 brls; 15 mo. in older Fr.oak; First Marsanne Vintage;
www.TerceroWines.com) LarrySchaffer/SantaYnez 2014: Med.dark gold color; strong Marsanne/appley/pear/bit spicy/
cinammon somewhat chalky/perfumed talc/earthy somewhat tight/closed nose; lightly tart appley/pear/Marsanne
slight spicy/apple pie/apple crisp some stony/earthy/chalky bit hard/lean/tight flavor; very long apple/pear/Marsanne
some stony/earthy/chalky lightly spicy apple pie finish; a rather tight/lean/hard classic young Marsanne that should
really benefit from age; should go out 10 yrs at least; much like the early Qupe Marsannes before he started
blending in Roussanne, though a bit richer/lusher. $24.00
_______________
2. Tercero Roussanne ZacaMesaVnyd/SantaYnezVlly (14.5%; 4 brls; 15 mo. in older Fr.oak; 3'rd vintage) 2014: Med.light
gold color; very strong honeysuckle/honeyed/floral/Rouss slight figgy/mango lovely perfumed nose; fairly tart very
strong Rouss/floral/honeysuckle bit figgy fairly ripe/lush slight tangy/metallic flavor; very long strong floral/
Rouss/honeysuckle/figgy/mango lightly tart/tangy balanced very attractive finish; a lovely varietally-correct
Rouss. $24.00
_______________
3. Tercero VerbiageBlanc SantaBarbaraCnty (64% Rouss/24% Viog/12% GrenacheBlanc; WhiteHawk/Camp4/ZacaMesa vnyds; 13.8%)
2014: Med.light gold color; very perfumed Rouss/honeysuckle/floral some Viog/peach/pear quite lovely aromatic nose;
lightly tart/tangy fairly rich/lush strong honeysuckle/Rouss/honeyed bit floral/peach/Viog very slight earthy ripe
balanced flavor; very long lightly tart balanced rather Rouss/honeysuckle/floral light peach/Viog rich/lush finish;
speaks mostly of Rouss and quietly of Viog; a really lovely very perfumed white Rhone blend. $24.00
_______________
4. Tercero GrenacheBlanc Camp4Vnyd/ElCaminoReal/SantaYnezVlly (14.2%; 8 brls; 15 mo. in older oak) 2014: Med.gold color;
very fragrant floral/peach blossom/honeysuckle/GB high-toned/bright almost Viog-like slight waxy/figgy lovely perfumed
nose; lightly tart very strong floral/peach blossom/GB/honeysuckle bright/lively/vibrant slight ripe fig/apple flavor;
very long strong floral/GB/peach blossom/slight figgy lightly tart finish; a lovely bright/nimble/vibrant expression of
GB w/o the ponderous character it sometimes shows. $24.00
_______________
5. Tercero Syrah LarnerVnyd/BallardCnyn (14.4%) SantaMaria 2011: Dark color; strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/ripe
slight alcoholic bit spicy/licorice/pungent light toasty/oak attractive nose; lightly tart some rough/tannic strong
blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah light toasty/oak slight peppery/pungent flavor w/ light rough tannins; very long strong
blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/ripe bit toasty/oak finish w/ modest hard/rough tannins; will probably benefit from
2-6 yrs of age; a solid rendition of SBC Syrah at a good price. $32.00
_______________
6. Tercero Cinsault Camp4Vnyd/LosOlivosDist/SBC (12.2%; 3 brls; 10 mo. in older Fr.oak; 1'st vintage) 2015: Med.light
color; rather plummy/blueberry/mushroomy/bit strawberry some earthy/loamy bit rustic interesting nose; lightly tart
strong plummy/blueberry/mushroomy bit coarse/rustic somewhat earthy/loamy light-bodied flavor w/ light rough tannins
fairly long bit tart/tangy rather rough/rustic strong blueberry/plummy/mushroomy fairly earthy/loamy finish w/ light
bit rough tannins; typical Cinsault w/ not much in the way of high-toned fruit and lots of earthy/loamy/mushroomy
character; reminds some of Jura Trousseau/Calif Trousseau but bigger/bit Val d'Aosta Schiava/light ElDorado Mourv;
light bodied and speaks of an old-World mountain red; quite an interesting red and out of the mainstream for Calif.
$32.00
________________________________________
A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. The prices reflect special discounted WineClub prices. This is, of course, the wnry of LarrySchaffer. Followed him
from the very start, I did. When I was out there in SantaBarbara in early Feb and tasted w/ Larry, I ordered
a 6-pak to taste w/ my group. These are those wines.
_______________
2. I was pretty impressed by these whites. Though fairly rich/lush, they all had a good acidity and were strongly
aromatic and balanced. Terrific drinking whites, The Syrah was probably the least interesting of these wines.
It's a very good/solid SBC Syrah. On more recent vintages, Larry has been using some whole-cluster ferments that
makes for much more interesting wines.
Tom