Recent Wines - Tercero, Transcendence and Lato

[Steve Anderson]

Quick notes on a few Santa Barbara County Wines over the past month:

2008 Tercero Cuvee Loco. Realized I hadn’t had one of Larry Schaffer’s wines for a while so grabbed an old favorite. A 50-50 blend of Larner Syrah and Grenache. Popped and poured. Always fun to try and tell which grape is dominant. The nose tells me it seems to be Syrah, with nice dark fruits and a touch of meat and pepper. Also a touch of menthol. On the palate, nice and smooth. More dark berries fleshed out by some licorice, spice and an earthy note. Drinking well now. Even better on day two and into day three, which tells me it has some life ahead. Very nice and glad I bought a couple more on my last trip through Los Olivos.

2011 Transcendence Zotovich Chardonnay. Stopped by the Lompoc Wine Ghetto a few months back and made a side trip to the Transcendence tasting room a short ways away. Picked up a bottle of 2010 Larner Syrah and this Chard. Popped and poured. Nice light yellow/gold color. A nice nose of Lemon/citrus and pear. Nice and clean on the palate with more pear, lemon zest and nice acidity. Winery notes indicate no oak and no malo. I enjoyed this wine and this style. Recommended.

2012 Paul Lato “The Manga Girl” Rosé of Pinot Noir. Paul made a nice Rosé for Hilliard Bruce in 2011 and this is his first* under the Paul Lato label. Beautiful light pink color with just a hint of orange in the glass. Delicate strawberry, watermelon and a hint of white flowers on the nose. Not bone dry, but not sweet, maybe off-dry or demi-sec might be a good description. Similar flavors on the palate with good acidity and mouthwatering, lip smacking finish. Still going strong on day two. Just a hint of effervescence on opening, presumably CO2 from bottling, but blew off quickly and not noticeable after a few minutes. The bottle gave a pretty good pop on day two, but not noticed in the glass. Enjoyed this and will be fun to try again in a few months. Not yet released from the winery, but available from 20-20 Wine Merchants in LA. Only two barrels, so will be a rare treat.

*Edit: There are no Paul Lato Rosé's other than the 2012 in Cellar Tracker, but I did find a reference to the 2004 "Pro Bono" Rosé in an old web post.

2006 Paul Lato “Suerte” Solomon Hills Pinot Noir. Was nice to find a couple of bottles at auction at a great price. Paul makes a number a SB County Pinots. I’ve really enjoyed the few Suerte bottlings I’ve had and (to me) one of the lighter bodied of the Pinots he makes. This was absolutely gorgeous. A beautiful, clear light ruby red. Wonderful texture/mouthfeel with subtle black cherry, blackberry, earth and spice. I don’t have a lot of experience with Burgundy, but feel safe in saying this is probably one of Paul’s more burg-like Pinot offerings. Was surprised to see an ABV of 14.5% on the label. No hint of that at all.
Cheers,
Steve




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