tercero wines specializes in small lot, hand crafted wines that truly show off site and process. Larry Schaffer's philosophy is pretty straightforward - winemaking is not about the winemaker but about the variables mother nature supplies each year. He uses 100% whole cluster fermentation on all of his reds, including his pinots; he ages in 4-10 year old French oak barrels to avoid overt aromas and flavors derived from the barrels; he does not rack his wines, instead allowing for the slow and steady development provided by the older oak barrels.
For his pinots, he works with multiple clones from the same fantastic site, processes each separately but in a similar manner, and puts together a single blend to show off the site and smaller bottlings of each individual clone to show off their unique qualities.
