NOSE: grippingly complex nose, redolent of ripe pear, fresh rain flowers, strong perfumy lychee florals; very expressive; hints of chalk and woodsy spice. Beautiful.
BODY: white-yellow color; medium bodied.
TASTE: not as dry at the '08 - this is a touch sweet; kind of Sauv. Blanc-y; tropical juicy flavors of lychee and clean pear; woodsy spice; hint of minerality underneath; great acid; I prefer this over the '08 - I would call the '08 “more interesting” but I think I would usually prefer a drink of this, the '09; 12.5% alc. not noticeable; medium length finish (23 - 31 sec.). I think this is a “drink over next 5 years” wine. I love the purity of fruit in this wine and would LOVE to taste a late-harvest version, if one existed – if Larry could summon the botrytis fairy onto some of this fruit that would be even better!!
FOOD PAIRING OBSERVATION: I tasted this both on its own and also paired with a spicy Thai coconut red curry (maybe a 5 out of 10 w/r/t spiciness): I thought this was a “one-way” good pairing: the wine made the food better, but the food did not make the wine better: the wine needs more r.s., imo, to be a “two-way” good pairing with spicy food. In trying to think of an analogy I could make to pairing wine with spicy food I came up with this: a successful wine-with-spicy food pairing is like jumping into water: imagine jumping feet first into water from 10 feet above; right before you enter the water you’re moving pretty quickly – as soon as you enter the water the downward energy contained in your body spreads-out perpendicularly throughout your body into the water. A successful wine-with-spicy food pairing strikes me the same way: my mouth has a gentle burn going from the food, and as soon as the wine hits my palate a synergistic effect occurs: the burn seems to immediately dissipate and the food’s other flavors are intensified, and the wine spreads-out across my palate with a greater breadth and depth than without the spicy food. I think a certain level of residual sugar is required for this effect, and I didn’t get that with this wine: when this hit my palate the forward energy did not broaden or deepen, it just continued forward, much like someone who dives into water cuts forward much more than does someone who jumps into water.
This is likely my favorite of Larry’s wines…I meant to buy some from him at the Hagen lunch tasting, but had to rush out too fast. I know where to find him!
Thanks, Brian, good to read about the latest release. Larry toted his 08 to FallTacular, a wine I really enjoyed. BTW, if I’m with high-end Thai, only Z-H will do
"2008 Tercero Gewurtztraminer
Quite flowery and good gewurtz character—roses and some sweet apple and orange blossom. Lilting palate with aromatic replays and plenty of interest. Kudos to Larry for making a very enjoyable gewurtz in Southern California."
We opened one last night, too! Very nice. Wish I had more time with it. Six people and I had to find two wines to go with artichokes (difficult) and lobster / shrimp (broiled and sauteed).
Must buy more white wines!!!
The tropical fruits, lychee (or what I think they resemble) and spice notes are spot on, Brian. Like the 2009 Tercero Rose’, this wine picked up weight. Just yummy! Wanted more. Why did I give the first bottle to a friend?
Thanks for the kind words on this one - and the Rose too (-:
I’m hopeful that I can get more folks to try these as I think they’ll fit more into folks’ wheelhouses than previous releases . . . as will my 09 Grenache Blanc that will be released shortly . . .
2009 Tercero Gewürztraminer The Outlier- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (5/28/2014)
– cracked and poured –
– tasted non-blind over a couple hours –
NOSE: smells a bit sweet; typical lychee; smoky twigs; tropical-fruited; a touch floral; simple.
BODY: pale yellow-green color; medium bodied.
TASTE: noticeably off-dry, which I recall from prior experience with this wine; papaya; nice smoky mineral aspect to this — flinty?; 12.5% alc. not noticeable; very good, as long as the r.s. isn’t a deal-breaker; medium to medium-long finish of medium intensity; I prefer a drier (or much sweeter) expression of Gewurztraminer — this is kind of half-dry; overall, solid-but-not-exciting performance for this bottle; I seem to recall liking this a bit more a few years ago, back when it had more intensity of fruit flavor married to its sweetness and mineral tones. Although it would be interesting to see where this would go with two or three more years in the cellar, I’m not confident it would necessarily get any better. Drink now.
The dumpster dive fooled me again – I’m thinking “Larry is going to release some 09 Grenache Blanc soon?” Actually, the way he makes those, I bet an 09 GB would be great right now.
I love the Outlier. I favor the Grenache Blanc and the new Roussanne slightly, but all three are fantastic wines and great value.
I, too, greatly enjoy Larry’s Grenache Blanc, although it has been years since I’ve had a bottle. The Roussanne is a member of the Tercero stable with which I have no experience; I’ll have to fix that someday.
Thanks for the kind words, all. Making a slightly ‘off dry’ wine can be quite challenging as you need to ‘stick’ the fermentation at a certain point and hope it stays there . . . which it rarely does. Therefore, this wine has ranged from and RS of .5% up to 1.25 % depending upon vintage. That said, I always try to keep acid levels high, and they are generally in the 7 grams per liter range. Therefore, I try to keep the ‘noticeable’ sugar to a minimum - just enough to boost the fruit, give the wine a bit more body, and cover up the bitter components that the wine inherently has
If I remember correctly, the 09 was in the range of about 1% RS. I opened an 08 recently - about.6% - and it was aging beautifully
Thanks for the kind words on my Grenache Blanc. A WB member recently posted a note on my 06, the first version I made, which is still quite lively (and I still have some left in stock for sale!!!). I generally am a fan of these wines with at least a year of bottle age on them.
I made my first Roussanne last year (all of 47 cases for my 2012), and fell in love with it so much that I’m bottling 150 cases of my 2013 next month! I’m also bottling my first white rhone blend - can’t wait!
Just ordered the Outlier and the Grenache Blanc. I have greatly enjoyed the Outlier for a number years now. This will be my first of the GB. Thanks everyone for the reminder.
2009 Tercero Gewürztraminer The Outlier- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (10/27/2014)
– cracked and poured –
– tasted non-blind over a couple hours –
{Same experience as most recent bottle}. Typical, medium-sweet lychee aroma on the Nose. Medium bodied on the palate. Slight alcohol taste; lots of mineral; noticeably slightly sweet. The fruit is fading here, and I would recommend drinking up. Great QPR.
The Grenache Blanc has always been our favorite of Larry’s white wines but we recently tried the Roussanne for the first time and it is wonderful. A lovely pairing with roasted chicken.
![[basic-smile.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/83717c74df9b0ce202453063bc4f11baf0ee6b8a.gif "smile"){kind=small}
![[drinkers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/82916bed5ad74ac8470bc04089d9758b0c80c9fa.gif "drinkers"){kind=small}
![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
Had to use the new TM![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
