WTN: Tercero Zoom Tasting (Clairette Blanche, Rose, Carignan, etc.)

Larry Schaffer did another Tercero tasting on Zoom last night. This time he offered sample bottles (I took the 4 oz. version) of five wines, all different from the prior Zoom six weeks ago.

We had a little extra fun this time, as my first shipment of sample bottles froze en route, destroying them when the plastic sample caps cracked to pieces. But Larry, the consummate customer professional he is, sent new samples that arrived in time! Bravo Larry!

Please note that I took a small taste (about 1 oz.) of each of these prior to the Zoom. That was both to check them (the sample bottles keep the wines impeccably fresh BTW), and just to get a first pass impression. My notes below are from running through the wines in a more structured way during the Zoom.

We started with the 2020 Tercero Clairette Blanche, which was in fact the first varietal Clairette Blanche I had ever tasted. With grapes sourced from the Santa Ynez Vineyard in Happy Canyon, Larry did a whole cluster pressing, with fermentation and (very brief) aging in older (6-15 years) French oak barrels. Aromatics were mostly lemon zest and petrichor, which had me preparing for an extreme level of austerity on the palate, but it had more depth than I expected. That being said it had brisk acidity (7 grams per Larry) that would satisfy many a dry Riesling drinker. Very clean and refreshing.

Next up was Larryā€™s iconic (yes, I meant to use that word) Rose, sourced from the Camp 4 Vineyard. The 2020 Tercero Mourvedre Rose smelled for all the world like freshly picked strawberries. The fruit got a little darker on the palate, adding some cherry tones, and then in the mid-palate there was this earthy depth, as Mourvedre decided to act like Mourvedre. Early to judge, but I think that middle depth bodes very well for this edition of a consistently delicious wine.

On to the reds, starting with the 2017 Tercero Carignane. I poured some, took a big whiff, and instantly thought ā€œpipe tobacco.ā€ It was so intense, and so obvious to me. I happen to enjoy the scent of unlit pipe tobacco, so it was also a good thing! After a while I started picking up more of the al denteā€¦errā€¦crunchy red fruit, and also some herbal and floral nuances. I really didnā€™t need to sip it, as I was just happy smelling it. New perfume coming, ā€œEau de Carignanā€ by Chanel. Taste was more the red fruit and herbs, which was also quite nice, but damn I love the aroma of this wine. Have to get some just to be able to smell it again.

Next up was the 2013 Tercero Grenache Watch Hill Vineyard. Larry called me out on the Zoom as a Grenache skeptic (heā€™s right), but this wine convinced me. I loved the dark cherry and spice aromatics (FYI ā€“ 100% whole cluster, foot stomped, 34 months in old French oak), and the palate had more of that mid-palate depth that I found so deliciously interesting in the Mourevedre Rose. This was mouthfilling but not heavy, and I was totally immersed in the texture. I had to pipe up on the Zoom to let Larry know that this Grenache convinced me.

Finally, we moved on to the 2013 Tercero Petite Sirah ā€“ La Presa. For the time being this was the last Petite that Larry has made, but it goes out on a high note. Grippy but not stern, I found this to be a more winey Petite, as opposed to the feral, sharp-clawed beast that so much Petite Sirah can be. Throw a piece of meat on the grill, and this could hit the spot.

Overall, it was another excellent Zoom. It made me order more wine, which is that last thing in the world that I need to do!

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Thanks for your impressions, D@vid!!! [cheers.gif]


The Tercero Clairette Blanche sounds absolutely ideal. Your note resonates with my preferences in a white wine (a function of Louisiana summers) - in a word, itā€™s ā€œcleanā€. I prefer purity of fruit, finely delineated by acidity, with as few fingerprints from the winemaking process as possible.

Terceroā€™s RosĆ© of MourvĆØdre has been a board favorite for several years. It appears that Larryā€™s got a winning recipe!


Finally, I feel like you identified one of Carignanā€™s strongest traits. The intoxicating nose of a well-crafted Carignan oftentimes is hard to surpass. The interplay of herb, fruit, and earth may vary by site and producer, but the best expressions of this grape always seem to tickle the olfactories in a special way.

Great notes D@vid
I was on the tasting as well and your notes summed it up. The Carignane nose was incredible - never had a wine smell anywhere near that smell. It is funny you got pipe tobacco - I got something similar, a good ā€œclean smokeā€ outdoor campfire with almost a toasted marshmellow/smores smell to it.

From an overall enjoyment standpoint, the Petite Sirah and Clairette were my two favorites and my wife and two friends (they signed up too) all thought the Grenache was the best of the bunch. My other thought, Iā€™ve never really liked any Rose - I would not say I am now a convert but I can say I enjoyed my first Rose thanks to Larry.

These varieties were all new to me and my wife and we really enjoyed it. I believe Larry said he may do these every 6-8 weeks and I think weā€™ll easily join again.

My wife and I also did the 4oz bottles. Popped and poured. Hard to top Davidā€™s notes, and I donā€™t disagree with them. Just a few casual observations:

2020 Clairette Blanche - For me too, this was the first time I have ever had the varietal on its own, and Larry did a good job of discussing it. Very floral on the nose. Bright acidity, earthy, and a little tart. Should be a great Summer white and picnic wine.

2020 Mourvedre Rose - As mentioned above, Larry nails rose year-in year-out. This one is terrific! My favorite wine of the night (no shocker). Smelled like candy and perfume. Flavors of peach, watermelon, and strawberry. Very smooth and soft. Canā€™t wait for Summer. Canā€™t wait to try the Cinsault version in the next Zoom.

2017 Carignane - After another good discussion on the varietal, then we tasted. My immediate reaction is that this is a steak wine. Just me, maybe, but a lot of times when I taste a wine, I jump to, ā€œwhat will it pair with?ā€ On the nose, was a bit funky, but in a good way. Flavors of soy, meat, olives, smoke and Worchester. But two profiles that really popped were pepper and tobacco. I knew I was tasting and smelling something that I couldnā€™t quite put my finger on, but then someone said tobacco (David?), and that nailed it.

2013 Grenache - Watch Hill - This was my wifeā€™s favorite wine. A bit of petrol on the nose. Flavors of kirsch liqueur, candy & syrup, all in good ways. Delicious wine.

2013 Petite Sirah - La Presa - Dark and brooding. Inky. Teeth staining. Just what you might expect from a PS, but with some perfume on the nose. A little tart. Another good heavy food wine.

Canā€™t wait for the next Zoom. I highly recommend getting the 4oz samples.

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Cool that we were all on. Interesting to be able to compare notes.

Very Jealous. I love being in Utah for the winter season but not being able to ship wine here is a big bummer. I Have missed so many of these great zooms. Thanks for the notes David and Paul.

Sean

Thanks for the info on the Clairette Blanc. My order from the Spring release of Jolie Laide includes a bottle of Clairette Blanc. A one off for them. Larry, will this be an annual make for you?

Tom

Thanks for all of the kind words, David, Paul and Eric. It really was a fun tasting and it was a blast - and humbling - to share many of my new wines with you. Iā€™m ecstatic that the wines showed well - you never know . . .

Tom, I will definitely doing more Clairettes - and youā€™ll find that it is being made into very different styles of wines based on site and winemaker intent. I know Ryan Peace at Pais Sur Terre makes a beautiful one thatā€™s about 14.5% and is rich like a Roussanne - mine is the antithesis of this.

And just a plug - due to shipping snafus, I am recreating this tasting again this coming Tuesday, March 16. If you are on the West Coast and would like to take part, reach out to me as I can probably get the wines to you in time for the tasting . . .

Cheers

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Now Iā€™m really looking forward to one my groupā€™s tasting with Larry next week!

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Which wines did you pick?

Definitely enjoyed the tasting. We only popped the Clairette Blance the and the Carignan as we had tasted all of the others during the tasting I won on Berserkerday. We loved the wines. The Clairette was a nice surprise!

Larry was driving during our last conversation with a lousy connection, so Iā€™m still missing a few details, but weā€™re doing eight:

2020 Clairette Blanche
2015 Roussanne

2020? Mourvedre Rose

2020 Cinsault Nouveau
20?? Carignane
2014 Verbiage Rouge (grenache/syrah/mourvedre blend)
2014 Mourvedre ā€“ Santa Barbara County
2013? Syrah ā€“ single vineyard whose name I missed ā€“ Larner, I think

Yeah, should be 2020 MourvĆØdre RosĆ©, 2017 Carignan (same one I noted above - very curious what you think of it), and yes, should be Larner for the Syrah.

David,

Thanks again for the detailed notes and for the participation. It really was a fun zoom and it was a blast sharing these wines, including many of my new ones. I was thrilled to see the reactions to all of the wines - you never know a) how the wines are going to show after being put in smaller bottles and traveling across the country and b) how wines are going to show shortly after bottling them, which was the case with the first two wines.

Iā€™m excited to do another one of these in late March featuring more of my new wines as well as some of my ā€˜olderā€™ ones as well. Iā€™ll send off the announcement shortly . . .

Cheers!

Anyone else joining the Zoom tasting tomorrow (April 27) night? My bottles are out for delivery today. Now I just need to find the Zoom link.

Sounds like fun! Yā€™all have a good time!

Well . . . I still need to CREATE the zoom link to send to you [wow.gif] Thatā€™ll happen later today.

This zoom should be fun - Iā€™m calling it my ā€˜odditiesā€™ zoom and it will feature wines I either do not make often or only made one time. The list includes the following:

2020 Cinsault Rose
This is only my 2nd take on this variety for rose, and itā€™s been fun watching peopleā€™s faces as they see the color and wonder if itā€™s really a rose or not.

2020 The Outlier
This is my first dry Gewurztraminer since the 2014 vintage and a different site for me - the Carrari Vineyard in Los Alamos planted in 1974. This is the driest Gewurz I have done to date - .1% RS - but comes across appear ā€˜sweeterā€™ because of the aromatics.

2020 Nouveau Cinsault
My first ever carbonic wine, and the grapes come from a block at the Zaca Mesa Vineyard that was originally planted as own-rooted cabernet in the mid-70s and then grafted over to Cinsault in the mid-90s. An interesting wine indeed . . .

2016 aberration
This 100% cab franc was the second release of my 100% stainless aged reds and this one is probably my most ā€˜polarizingā€™ wines Iā€™ve ever done.

2013 Mourvedre - Thompson Vineyard
This is the only vineyard designate Mourvedre Iā€™ve ever done from this well known Los Alamos area vineyard and itā€™s a pretty interesting wine indeed. This was my last pick in 2013 - on Halloween Day and 2 weeks later than any of my other picks - and it was foot stomped and fermented 100% whole cluster. This wine is still very much alive and itā€™ll be great sharing it.

Cheers

Manā€¦ I should have paid more attention. Missed this one. Great fun tastings!

Check your PMā€™s - Iā€™m redoing the same tasting next week as well because of some shipping snafuā€™s - and therefore itā€™s not too late to join :slight_smile:

Cheers!

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Saw this in my inbox and passing it along. WineHouse LA is doing a Tercero Zoom tasting 5/13 with 2 pricing options: