Winemaker Notes
Pair with Mussels Marinière, green salads with avocado and citrus dressing, scallops, ceviche, light fish (halibut, sole) with tropical salsa.
42% Viognier; 26% Roussanne; 21% Marsanne; 11% Grenache Blanc
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Take, for example, the 2008 Cotes de Tablas blanc, a sensational blend of 42% Viognier, 26% Roussanne, 21% Marsanne, and the rest Grenache blanc. This seems to be a winner every year. From the hilly limestone soils of their vineyard, this blend seems to take on far more minerality and delineation than in many places in California. The good news is that there are 3,000 cases of this wine, which displays nice hints of quince, crushed rock, citrus, honeysuckle, white currant, and white peach. Beautiful fruit, good delineation, medium body, and lots of freshness make for a zesty, personality-filled dry white to drink over the next several years. A few wineries make 100% Grenache blanc, but Tablas Creek may produce the best.
Full-bodied and flavorful, white Rhône blends originate from France’s Rhône Valley. Today these blends are also becoming popular in other regions. Typically some combination of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier form the basis of a white Rhône blend with varying degrees of flexibility depending on the exact appellation. Somm Secret—In the Northern Rhône, blends of Marsanne and Roussanne are common but the south retains more variety. Marsanne, Roussanne as well as Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picpoul and Ugni Blanc are typical.
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.