TN: 2013 Tercero Mourvèdre Larner Vineyard

WINE TALK
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  • 2013 Tercero Mourvèdre Larner Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Ballard Canyon (1/13/2021)
    Can you really say “popped and poured” when the wine is under screw cap? Well anyway, I opened the bottle, and started in. I was immediately struck by a lighter, more delineated expression than I had experienced in past Tercero Mourvedre. Red fruit, dry earth and a little bit of dusty herbs came out on the nose. The palate was even more expressive, coming across as layers of flavor, each new layer building on the last. Not a ton of structure, so it was quite easy to drink. I could see consuming my other bottles over the next 2-3 years in order to capture the expressive fruit, as it makes a complete package with the earthy and herbal elements. (91 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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Thanks for the note, my friend - and for noting the ‘change’ in style/perception. I’ve been working with 100% varietal mourvedre since 2006 and started working with one source. It provided interesting brambly fruit and just a touch of the earth/funk that I enjoy in the variety. Over time, I’ve been able to expand the vineyard sources for this variety, and Larner is an awesome sight for it indeed. This vineyard is certainly better known for the syrahs that come out of it’s sandy soils - folks like Jaffurs, Samsara, Paul Lato, Crawford Family, Sine Qua Non and others have sourced from this fantastic Ballard Canyon vineyard. I have been lucky to get Syrah from the vineyard since 2007, Grenache since 2008 and Mourvedre since 2020. I share a very small block of Mourvedre with Michael Larner, the owner of the vineyard and winemaker for his eponymous brand, and this block is one of his most challenging to grow in. Many of the vines struggle to produce any fruit in a given vintage, and the ones that due require quite a bit of patience to allow them to ripen enough to make interesting wines.

This 2013 IS my current release of this special bottling - I only bottled 2 barrels for this bottling and the rest went into my sold-out 2013 SBC blend. The grapes were destemmed - the last vintage that I did destem them (from 2014 on, ALL of my red wines are 100% whole cluster) - fermented for about 14 days, then pressed and put into 4+ year old French oak barrels for 34 months, unracked until just before bottling. That extra time in barrel to me really helps bring those aromatics into play even more, and helps create a more ‘elegant’ take on the variety.

I also have my 2013 Thompson Vineyard Mourvedre available as a single vineyard release of only 2 barrels, and that one was 100% whole cluster and aged for 34 months. And my current SBC blend is my 2014, which is rocking right now.

Thanks again and looking forward to ‘seeing’ you on my zoom tasting in a few weeks!

Cheers.

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2013 Thompson will come up soon.

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Great tasting note, thanks for sharing

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Nice note David. I picked up a couple of cases several Berserker Day’s ago. I don’t think I’ve had the Mourvèdre yet but loved the Cinsault and all the whites I’ve had.

Not easy for me to get to my locker so I keep a stash of them at my family’s house so I can hit ‘em when I’m back in the States. They’re perfect for that since they are under screw cap. My family loves them too!

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Try cracked and consumed.