2011 Tercero Grenache Larner Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (8) Avg Score: 90.4 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View PIntag's profile
  • Report Issue

  6/19/2020 - PIntag wrote: 90 Points

  Been about 4 years since my last bottle of this. Again, a nice medium-weight varietally-transparent red, nicely balanced and overall, pleasing to drink. The only thing holding this back from additional enjoyment was the kind of "hard" mouthfeel - difficult to describe, but it just didn't "focus" on the palate, though it wasn't muddled. In any case, that's bit of a nitpick, as I really enjoyed it overall.

  1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Ellen5181's profile
  • Report Issue

  3/3/2018 - Ellen5181 wrote:

  See below. Day 2 was definitely more subdued and an easier quaffing wine. Less alcohol.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Ellen5181's profile
  • Report Issue

  3/2/2018 - Ellen5181 wrote:

  Appearance - clear, medium plus, ruby
  
  Nose - initially it felt a bit closed but quickly opened up just with the cap off. Definitely feeling the alcohol burn. This feels like a big wine. Medium plus on nose. Ripe raspberries. Black licorice. Cinnamon, vanilla, hazelnut. Getting leaves and grass. With time and air, the alcohol is more pronounced as are the spices in a fume kind of way (sorry Larry) which I don’t love. Picking up a stemmy bitterness on nose.
  
  Palate - tastes youthful, but it’s not quite integrated enough for my tastes at this point. The fruit seems ripe and juicy. Raspberries. There is a stemmy seedy taste. Black pepper. Tannins come out after you swallow. They leave a film on the inside of my front gums. The body is medium plus. There is texture on the palate such that you expect to see sediment but I do not. Alcohol is definitely on the higher side, listed as 14.5% on label. Finishes on a bitter note. Acidity is medium.
  
  I’m on the fence on this one so giving it a neutral. Definitely needs food. I had it with an Italian seasoned chicken breast and a vegetable dish (carrots and potatoes)...it went fine but not a standout. It leaves me wanting something sweet or “something else” to end the meal vs “let me pour myself another glass of wine.” The texture reminds me of a Spanish wine or Malbec with grittiness. Maybe a bit of unsweetened dark chocolate on finish?
  
  I love that Larry does pure varietals and don’t question the technique here. I enjoy a good Southern Rhône, like Garnachas, and wonder if this is why you usually see Grenache as part of a blend? Perhaps it’s the other varietals that help round it out?
  
  Thanks Larry!

  1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View MillerRoad's profile
  • Report Issue

  8/23/2017 - MillerRoad wrote: 90 Points

  Opened a bit tight. After a hour, was singing. Held up well to some Mexican inspired beef. The darkness, spice, and earth was a great pairing.

  2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View BarryPaulPrice's profile
  • Report Issue

  6/16/2017 - BarryPaulPrice Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Larner grows some of my favorite Grenache grapes in the area. What Larry does with it is to tease out the red fruit aspects while maintaining some good food-friendly acidity in the finish. This is not a super sweet Grenache and has a touch of pepper on the end. The Larner-fruit signature to me is in having that little bit of additional backbone on the finish. What Larry does consistently well, is make these wines approachable enough that you simply cannot resist drinking them. What’s funny about Larry is, he is a very smart guy, he doesn’t over-intellectualize his wines. They are well made, but not intimidating, or overly complicated. Even when they have layers, they present themselves to you in an inviting way, rather than feeling closed and impenetrable. Maybe I am crazy, but that’s the feeling I get both from Larry and as I drink his wines.

  2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

View all 8 Community Tasting Notes

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.