Tablas Creek Esprit de Tablas Rouge 2011
-
Tasting
Panel -
Wine
Enthusiast
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The nose shows exuberant freshness, with Mourvedre's signature currant, black tea and roasted meat aromas, given lift by a tangy, winey note showing rosemary and mineral. The mouth is long, fine and balanced, lusher than the nose suggests, with flavors of licorice, spice, meat drippings and clove, mid-weight now (relatively soon after bottling) but with every expectation of deepening over coming months.
Blend: 40% Mourvèdre, 30% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Counoise.
Professional Ratings
-
Tasting Panel
Smooth and spicy with ripe berry fruit and minerality; meaty, lush and balanced with a long finish.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Very dry and fairly tannic, it's severe on first sip and hard to appreciate, although there are some good black cherry, cola, leather, oak and black pepper flavors. It's complex in its own way, and gets better as it breathes in the glass. Give it a good, long decanting, and drink it now through 2018. The blend is Mourvèdre, Grenache, Syrah and Counoise, in that order.
Other Vintages
2021- Vinous
-
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast
-
Wine
Enthusiast - Vinous
-
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator
- Vinous
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling -
Wine &
Spirits -
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker
- Vinous
-
Robert
Parker -
Jeb
Dunnuck
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wilfred
Wong -
Wine
Spectator -
Jeb
Dunnuck
-
Wine
Spectator -
James
Suckling -
Wine &
Spirits -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker
-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine &
Spirits
-
Tasting
Panel -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Connoisseurs'
Guide
-
Robert
Parker -
Tasting
Panel -
Wine
Spectator
Tablas Creek is a pioneer of California’s Rhone movement. Founded in 1989, it is the culmination of a friendship between two of the international wine community’s leading families dating back to 1967: the Perrin family of Chateau de Beaucastel and the Haas family of Vineyard Brands. After a four-year search, the partners chose Paso Robles, California for its many similarities to the Southern Rhone and began the lengthy process of importing vine cuttings, building a grapevine nursery, and creating an estate vineyard from the ground up. Today, the vineyards at Tablas Creek are proudly Biodynamic® and organic certified by Demeter USA.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
Paso Robles has made a name for itself as a source of supple, powerful, fruit-driven Central Coast wines. But with eleven smaller sub-AVAs, there is actually quite a bit of diversity to be found in this inland portion of California’s Central Coast.
Just east over the Santa Lucia Mountains from the chilly Pacific Ocean, lie the coolest in the region: Adelaida, Templeton Gap and (Paso Robles) Willow Creek Districts, as well as York Mountain AVA and Santa Margarita Ranch. These all experience more ocean fog, wind and precipitation compared to the rest of the Paso sub-appellations. The San Miguel, (Paso Robles) Estrella, (Paso Robles) Geneso, (Paso Robles) Highlands, El Pomar and Creston Districts, along with San Juan Creek, are the hotter, more western appellations of the greater Paso Robles AVA.
This is mostly red wine country, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel standing out as the star performers. Other popular varieties include Merlot, Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Grenache and Rhône blends, both red and white. There is a fairly uniform tendency here towards wines that are unapologetically bold and opulently fruit-driven, albeit with a surprising amount of acidity thanks to the region’s chilly nighttime temperatures.