Santa Barbara County Tasting Trip - Day 2 (Tercero, Scott Cellars, Qupé/Verdad/Ethan, Sides Restuarant)

Larry Schaefer is making some of the most pure and clean Cali Rhones these days and offers them at very fair prices. He is equally adept with his whites, roses, and reds - all are made in a balanced style that tries to be true to their varietal character. On this day, Larry graciously agreed to meet with my wife and I and poured us many of his current wines (Elizabeth, one of Larry's very knowledgeable tasting room assistants, helped us after Larry had to leave due to family obligations). We were treated to 10 wonderful wines. Thanks Larry!

• 2010 Tercero Gewürztraminer The Outlier 90 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. Very aromatic. Citrus, tart, and nicely balanced but has good weight to it. Love this stuff.

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• 2010 Tercero Viognier White Hawk Vineyard 89 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. Minerally nose with some subtle perfume notes that carry through to the palate. Still a little tight at this stage. Much less heft and viscosity than the usual domestic Viognier, which I really appreciate. This was showing better than the last time I tried this right after it had been bottled last summer.

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• 2010 Tercero Grenache Blanc Camp 4 Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. Nicely aromatic. On the palate, soft, flavorful, and well-balanced. Classy wine. Another winner with this vintage.

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• 2010 Tercero Mourvèdre Rosé 90 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. Lovely, fragrant rosé, showing lots of minerality and fresh strawberry. Larry is giving this stuff away at the club price! This is a killer summer wine that complements so many dishes so very well. Can be drunk on its own quite nicely, too.

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• 2008 Tercero Cuvée Christie 88 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. Juicy dark and red berries up front, a little on the candied side. Pretty well balanced. I've had this quite a few times now and it is still not one of my favorites, but it is still a very nice wine. It's just that Larry is making so many other great wines that one of them is bound to end up at the bottom for me.

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• 2009 Tercero Mourvèdre Camp 4 Vineyard 92 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. This may be my favorite Tercero wine to date. Gorgeous dark fruit, complemented with some intriguing spice, nice weight and mouthfeel but still in a balanced and structured frame. Larry hit it out of the park with this beauty!

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• 2009 Tercero Grenache Watch Hill Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. Very aromatic with some nice fresh berry scents. On the palate, bright upfront fruit with some good acidity to balance things out. Another excellent effort from Larry.

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• 2008 Tercero Syrah Larner Vineyard 89 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. A little funkiness on the nose. Nice fruit up front leading to a very tannic finish. Nicely balanced. This could definitely use more time to soften the tannins. I liked this better than the 2007 vintage.

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• 2008 Tercero Cuvée Loco Larner Vineyard 91 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. Huge nose of dark berry and spice. On the palate, a good burst of juicy dark fruit with a touch of baking spice. Well-balanced with a fairly tannic finish. This is progressing nicely since the last time I tried this about a year ago. This could benefit from another year of rest. Wonderful wine.

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• 2007 Tercero Syrah Thompson Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. Nose showed a candied fruit quality to it. On the palate, though, it was very dry with nice cherry flavors and some spice. Nice texture as well.

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This turned out to be a mixed experience - my wife and I really enjoyed the whites, and really disliked the reds that were poured for us. The two whites were both very interesting and flavorful. On the other hand, the Pinot was just OK and the two Sangios and one Zin/Syrah blend were exceedingly alcoholic and very much not our style.

• 2009 Scott Cellars Cuvée Blanc 90 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. Very fragrant showing some white peach and perfume which carried through to the palate. Long finish. Very nice white.

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• 2008 Scott Cellars Pinot Gris First Slope 89 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. Nice perfume notes on the nose. On the palate, slightly viscous with some pretty perfume flavors and finishing quite dry. Enjoyable.

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• 2009 Scott Cellars Pinot Noir First Mesa Sierra Madre Vineyard 84 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. Tight and unremarkable nose. On the palate, sort of "dull" (not vibrant), but showing some floral and cherry notes. Could use some acidity to brighten it up -- overall, not bad, but lackluster.

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• 2009 Scott Cellars Sangiovese Sand Dune White Hawk Vineyard 79 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. Nose giving up almost nothing. On the palate, candied fruit and alcohol with only a tiny hint of varietal distinctiveness. I didn't find much to like about this red.

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• 2009 Scott Cellars Sangiovese Rolling Loam Stolpman Vineyard 69 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. Unlike the 2009 Sand Dune Sangio, this was quite aromatic, but unfortunately showing lots of licquer-like alcohol. On the palate, this was loaded with extremely overripe candied fruit and out of control heat from the high alcohol level. Overall, totally disjointed and unenjoyable.

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• 2007 Scott Cellars Cuvée J 69 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. Really not much to say about this except that this is a boozy, overripe Zinfandel. Undrinkable.

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There was some buzz around town that Bob Lindquist was pouring at the tasting room, so I decided to try and rub elbows with one of the Central Coast's winemaking legends. I'm glad I did. Not only did I get a chance to try some of his and his wife's wonderful wines, I got to chat with Bob for a few minutes about one of his passions - the Dodgers. As for the wines, he was pouring a couple of his library wines, a 2001 Hillside Select Syrahs and a 2004 Roussane (which I did not try). The highlight of the tasting for me, though, was the fantastic 2007 Hillside Select Syrah - a fantastic wine at a very fair price.

• 2010 Verdad Albariño Santa Ynez Valley 88 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. A little bit viscous, with a big burst of honeysuckle, but finishing quite dry. Nice.

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• 2011 Verdad Albariño Sawyer Lindquist Vineyard Edna Valley 89 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Edna Valley

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. Tart and loaded with citrus and minerality. Well balanced and enjoyable wine.

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• 2009 Qupé Chardonnay Reserve Bien Nacido Block Eleven 89 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. A little noticeable oak and slight buttery component, but this didn't cross the line for me, also showing some minerality and citrus. Very nice.

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• 2010 Qupé Los Olivos Cuvée 89 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. Very dry wine showing aromas of roses and flavors of dried cherry and herbs. Nicely balanced wine as well. Really enjoyed this.

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• 2008 Qupé Syrah Purisima Mountain Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley

  Los Olivos Tasting room. Tight nose but showing some pretty florals. On the palate, tobacco and dried herbs. Very dry. Nicely balanced.

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• 2007 Qupé Syrah Bien Nacido Hillside Estate 93 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley

  Tasting room in Los Olivos. Gorgeous spicy aromas. On the palate, good up front fruit, loaded with all kinds of spice and herbal flavors. Very good density with great mouthfeel. Well balanced. Long finish as well. Wonderful wine.

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• 2001 Qupé Syrah Bien Nacido Hillside Estate 88 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley

  Tasting Room in Los Olivos. Poured as a "bonus" bottle by Bob Lindquist. This showed quite soft and juicy with some secondary notes and tannins pretty much resolved. Mr Lindquist stated that this would go another 10 years, though, personally, I thought the 2007 was much better and this 2001 was going past its prime. But what the hell do I know? It was a very good wine, nonetheless.

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After hearing so much about this restaurant (formerly "Brothers" at Mattei's Tavern), my wife and I decided that this would be a great place to celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary. The food was delicious and the service excellent. The wine list also gave me a chance to try an Arcadian Pinot for the first time.

• 2005 Arcadian Pinot Noir Dierberg Vineyard 88 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley

  Ordered at Sides restaurant in Los Olivos. Lots of juicy fruit, gorgeous and focused. Lacked a little acidity, I thought, especially of a wine of this pedigree. I have to say that I was a little disappointed -- I've heard that these Pinots are more old world than new. Not the case with this wine.

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A wonderful day to celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary. Los Olivos is like a wonderful playground for wine geeks - there are more than 25 tasting rooms within short walking distance from each other.