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by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

Mostly Tablas Creek / Tercero Wines - October 2, 2013

We tried last night (10/2/13) Mostly Tablas Creek/Tercero Wines:

  1. Uriondo DdO: Bizkiako Txakolina (20% MuneMahatsa/70% OndarrabiZuri/10% TxoriMahatsa; MailetaMahasti vnyd;11.5%; www.DeMaisonSelections.com; 12%) Ibarratxe Zorriketa/ Zaratamol/Bizkaia/Spain NV: Pale yellow color;rather stony/mineral quite aromatic/apple blossom/ mango very pretty nose; very acid/screechy somewhat sour/tangysome stony/mineral/austere light appley/grapefruity flavor; very tart/screechy/sour/tangy/lean/austere bit stony/mineral/apple blossom/ mango finish; quite a pretty nose but too hurty/screechy on the palate to be enjoyable. $19.00 (WoP)
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  2. Tercero TheOutlier GWT SBC (12.5%) 2012: Med.light gold color; quite fragrant/floral GWT/rose petal/spicy/cinammon slight hair-oil/GWT quite attractive nose; bit soft rather pretty/GWT/roses/spicy/ cinammon slight GWT/hair-oil pleasant flavor; long soft spicy/cinammon/GWT/rose petal bit hair-oil finish; would like a bit more acidity; quite a pretty/understated rendition of GWT at a very good price. $22.00
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  3. Tercero Viognier WhiteHawkVnyd/SBC (14.1%; www.TerceroWines.com) SantaMaria 2011: Light gold color; attractive low-kep peach/pear/Viog/peach blosom/spicy restrained/attractive nose; fairly tart/lean/restrained strong peach/pear/Viog bit tangy/grapefruity flavor; long fairly tangy/tart strong peach/pear/Viog finish; a strong acidity you don't usually find in Viognier but balanced & well-crafted; definitely not on the DollyParton side of Viognier; well-priced at $22.00.
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  4. TablasCreekVnyds Viognier Estate/PasoRobles (13.0%) 2012: Bright med.gold color; beautiful/fragrant floral/peach blossom/pineapple slight chalky/mineral some Condrieu-like/powerful nose; bit soft ripe/very lush floral/ pineapple/peach blossom/peachy/graham cracker slight mineral/chalky complex flavor; very long/lingering very strong pineapple/mango/peachy/peach blossom/floral slight mineral finish; not a classic Calif Viog and not a DollyParton; powerful aromatics that you usually find only in Condrieu; beautiful perfumey Viog at a great price. $24.00 (VIN)
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  5. Qupe Viognier Sawyer-LindquistVnyd/EdnaVlly (13.2%; DemeterCertifiedBioDynamic) 2012: Light gold color; quite fragrant/perfumed pear/peach/Viog/peach blossom/high-toned slight mineral/stony rather spicy lovely nose; fairly tart rather rich/lush/balanced quite spicy/floral floral/pear/peach/peach blossom/quite spicy lightly mineral/stony flavor; very long/linger strong peach/pear/Viog/peach blossom/floral slight mineral rather complex very balanced finish; has the classic Qupe finesse & balance; lots of high-toned notes and lots going on in this wine. $nc (BL)
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  6. TablasCreekVnyds Vermentino Estate/PasoRobles (12.5%; www.TablasCreek.com) 2012: Light yellow color; fragrant pineapple/mangospicy slight metallic/pungent/resiny/stony quite attractive/perfumed nose; fairly tart/citric rather rich/mouthfilling strong pineapply/mango slight stony/metallic/steely/resiny quite pretty flavor; very long tangy/citric lush bit resiny/metallic/stony rather rich/pineapple/mango/ spicy/cotton candy finish; quite strong aromatics for Vermentino w/ that underlying stony/steely character of that grape; a very lovely white at a great price. $21.60 (VIN)
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  7. Tercero GrenacheBlanc Camp4Vnyd/SantaYnezVlly (13.5%) 2011: Pale yellow color; pleasant floral/honeysuckle/spicy/apple blossom rather perfumed nose; soft bit citric/orangey/honeysuckle/floral/GB attractive flavor;long floral/honeysuckle/GB/orangey soft fairly lush finish; an attractive GB at a good price. $22.00
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  8. TablasCreekVnyds Esprit Blanc de Tablas Estate/PasoRobles (13.5%; 64% Roussanne/26% GrenacheBlanc/10% PicpoulBlanc) 2011: Light gold color; quite perfumed/aromatic honeysuckle/ floral/spicy/honeyed/peach blossom light toasty/oak/smokey/pencilly complex/fragrant nose; soft rich/ lush/powerful floral/honeysuckle/ peach blossom/mostly Roussanne/perfumed light pencilly/toasty/oak some complex flavor; very long/lingering ripe/honeysuckle/floral/peachy/peach blossom light toasty/oak complex finish; a rich/lush/powerful white blend; doesn't seem to have the stony/mineral content or the structure of previous EdB Blancs; this wine will only get better and should go out 10 yrs at least. $32.00 (VIN)
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  9. TablasCreekVnyds EnGobelet Estate/PasoRobles (13.9%; 29% Mourv/27% Grenache/26% Tannat/18% Syrah) 2011: Very dark color; very strong grapey/plummy/licorice/boysenberry some jammy/ripe light toasty/oaksome spicy quite lovely nose; bit soft rather lush/ripe very plummy/Mourv/spicy /boysenberry light toasty/oak flavor w/ some rough tannins; very long ripe/lush/bit PR jammy strongplummy/Mourv/spicy/boysenberry finish w/ rough/rustic tannins; more of a ripe/PR/jammy/ rough&tumble red and not the refined/elegance of the Esprit; speaks strongly of Mourv than anything; should be quite good w/ more age. $36.00 (VIN)
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  10. TablasCreekVnyds Esprit de Tablas Rouge (14.5%; 40% Mourv/30% Grenache/20% Syrah/10% Counoise) 2011: Dark color; beautiful/fragrant Grenache/strawberry/raspberry quite spicy slight toasty/oak very perfumed nose; smooth/balanced/svelte/polished strong strawberry/Grenache/ raspberry/slight plummy light toasty/oak flavor w/ smooth/well-integrated tannins; very long/lingering rather complex strong strawberry/Grenache/plummy/raspberry/very spicy light toasty/oak well-structured complex finish w/ some smooth/seamless tannins; seems a bit understated after the EnGoblet but the impeccable balance this shows should take it out 10 yrs and more; a lovely/very spicy/polished/ seamless/well-made Rhone blend. $44.00 (VIN)
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  11. KerlooCllrs Syrah-Grenache UplandVnyd/SnipesMtn (60% Syrah/40% Grenache; 115 cs; U/U; 13.9%;www.KerlooCellars.com) WallaWalla/WashState RyanCrane 2011: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah some strawberry/plummy/licorice bit dusty/earthy/gamey strong taosty/smokey/oak quite aromatic lovely nose; some tart intense plummy/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah mouthfilling rather smokey/toasty/oak rich/mouthfilling/lush slight earthy/gamey/dusty flavor w/ some rich/lush/ripe tannins; long rich/ripe/lush strong blackberry/boysenberry/plummy/Syrah slight strawberry/perfumed bit earthy/dusty/gamey some toasty/charred/oak finish w/ rich/ripe tannins; could use 4-8 yrs of age but quite good drinking now. $nc (S&AH)
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  12. VaPianoVnyds Syrah Estate/WallaWallaVlly (Block 4 & 6; 150 cs; www.VaPianoVineyards.com; 14.4%) 2009: Black color; very intense blueberry/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/licorice light toasty/oak slight roasted/Rhonish/coffee fairly complex beautiful classic WashStateSyrah nose; big/ripe/boysenberry/ blackberry/Syrah/licorice slight earthy/gamey/minty bit Rhonish/roasted/pungent some toasty/oak flavor w/ big/ripe tannins;very long intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/ licorice/DrPepper some toasty/smokey/oak slight roasted/Rhonish ripe/lush/structured finish w/ big/ripe tannins; can use 4-10 yrs of age; quite an impressive WashState Syrah w/ nice underlying Rhonish character. $nc (S&AH)
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  13. Daou Chemin de Fleurs PasoRobles (48% GrenacheBlanc/26% Roussanne/26% Viognier; 14.2%) 2010: Med.gold color;rather spicy/floral/peach/Viog-like/honeysuckle lovely/perfumed nose; soft/lush/ripe floral/peachy/honeysuckle/pineapple bit fat flavor; long soft/fat/ripe/lush strong floral/honeysuckle/ peachy/Viog-like slight tobaccoy/oak finish; a bit on the ripe/soft/porky side but a very good-drinking white at a stupid/silly price.$11.00 (PSM)


And the usual stuff from the BloodyPulpit:

And the usual stuff from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Tercero: These wines are from our friend, Larry Schafer. Followed him from the very start; I did/I did. These are just the recent whites of his I'd ordered; yet to do the reds. These three whites are a good/solid lineup. They are not big/bombastic/in-your-face renditions of these grape. Somewhat on the understated side; they are quite pretty wines at very attractive prices.
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2. Qupe: This is the first of Bob's Viogniers from the Sawyer-Lindquist vnyd I've tried. All the previous Viogs have come from Ibarra-Young vnyd in SantaYnezVlly, which I presume is warmer than the EdnaVlly vnyd of theirs. I have always liked Bob's I-Y Viogniers, but felt they were a bit on the simple side compared to his Roussanne. This S-L Viognier struck me as much more interesting & shows more complexity than the I-Y ones. Probably his best Viog yet and equal in stature to his BienNacido Hillside Roussanne, which I regard as maybe the greatest Roussanne in Calif...a world-class wine.
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3. Tablas: Another wnry I've followed from the very start. These prices are the 20% off prices that VINsider Club members receive. They have long labeled their top end Rhone blends (both Rouge & Blanc) as Esprit de Beaucastel. Over the last few yrs, they've been shrinking the font-size of the Beaucastel. Now they feel it's time for TCV to stand on its own merits, so they've changed the name to Esprit de Tablas.

The two EdT blends both had wonderful aromatics. I find tasting these two blends upon release a bit
underwhelming. They typically seem well-constructed and polished wines; but they seldom reveal what profound wines they will become with age. Sometimes you just gotta believe. Of the two reds, most of my group preferred the EnGobelet because of its power & aromatics. I thought it was more of a classic PasoRobles red and spoke less of the TCV slightly-Rhonish/elegant style. The EdT
struck me as more of a TCV style of wine.

This set of 5 TCV releases struck me as the strongest TCVinsider release yet. Certainly, the group must have felt that way, because my re-order request was rather large. I was mightly impressed by the aromaticsthey displayed, across the board. Very well-crafted/polished/elegant wines, atypical of Paso.
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4. EnGobelet: This refers to the classic pruning method they use in CdP for nearly all varieties except Syrah. They do not use it for Syrah because its horizontal growth tendency leaves the fruit dragging on the ground. According to JasonHaas, EnGobelet looks strikingly like the conventional head-pruning used in Calif, with a few odd exceptions. They have a block of vines at the vnyd at TC that are trained EnGobelet.
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5. Daou: I stopped in to the Daou tasting room just before NEB4. Had never had their wines before. A spectacular venue w/ grand vistas and obviously mucho $$'s behind it. Located near/on the old StanleyHoffman Ranch. I liked the wines I tasted there, but the wnry has a Cabernet focus that doesn't jive w/ my interests, and I thought the wines were on the pricey side, so pretty much blew them off. This wine, normally priced at $36, showed up at the PojoaqueSuperMarket, of all places, priced at $11. Clearly the case of the distributor dumping a wine they couldn't sell because of being an unknown and overpriced or an invoicing mistake.
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6. WashState: I'd never had the Kerloo (the sound made by a crane) or VaPiano wines before. Thought they were both pretty up-front/classic WashState Rhones and quite good. These were gifts from a friend (thank you, Slivia) and don't know their retail prices. Would guess in the $40-$50 range, though.

TomHill

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