Summer Wine: Tercero Rosé 2008

Larry Schaffer of Tercero Wines does a great job making rosés, a fact that gets overshadowed by the fine work he does on his red wines.  Every year, I look forward to tasting his most recent pink wine - they are always interesting.

I managed to pick up a couple of bottles of the Tercero Rosé from the 2008 vintage this summer.  They may have been the last two bottles in the house at the Tercero tasting room in Los Olivos.  If you have a bottle that you forgot to drink, it’s showing very well right now.

A blend of 90% Grenache and 10% Mourvedre, this Santa Barbara County registers an alcohol number of 13.5% abv.  I believe it sold for around $15.  Schaffer’s present vintage rosé offers much more Mourvèdre.

The ‘08 is medium pink in the glass, with a nose of melon, strawberry, cherry and hint of funky earth lurking in the shadows.  There are plenty of shadows here, as the palate is quite complex.  There’s fruit laced with black tea, and an especially nice zing of acidity.  The tea flavor is something I don't get very often in rosés, particularly young ones.  Just a few years of aging has given the wine quite a bit of complexity.