Winemaker Notes
The 2000 Côtes de Tablas is Tablas Creek's first national release of its Grenache-based red blend, made in the style of a full-throttle Côtes du Rhone. The 2000 vintage was particularly favorable to the Grenache grape: warm sunny days through the ripening season gave the Grenache good sugars and excellent balance, while the low yields (2.5 - 3 tons per acre) produced intense flavors and chewy tannins. The Syrah was harvested on September 18th and 19th, while the Grenache was harvested between September 20th and September 29th.
Both varietals were fermented in stainless steel with the use of native yeasts: the Syrah in open-top fermenters, punched-down manually, and the Grenache in closed fermenters with pump-over aeration. After pressing, the wines were racked and blended, and aged for a year in 1200-gallon French oak foudres. The wines are unfined and unfiltered.
The 2000 Côtes de Tablas is a rich, juicy wine, with spicy aromatics of black pepper, licorice, roasted meat, and cassis. The flavors are intensely fruity, with blackberry and kirsch backed up by ripe tannins and impressive concentration.
Professional Ratings
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.
The largest and perhaps most varied of California’s wine-growing regions, the Central Coast produces a good majority of the state's wine. This vast California wine district stretches from San Francisco all the way to Santa Barbara along the coast, and reaches inland nearly all the way to the Central Valley.
Encompassing an extremely diverse array of climates, soil types and wine styles, it contains many smaller sub-AVAs, including San Francisco Bay, Monterey, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria Valley.
While the Central Coast California wine region could probably support almost any major grape varietiy, it is famous for a few Central Coast reds and whites. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel are among the major ones. The Central Coast is home to many of the state's small, artisanal wineries crafting unique, high-quality wines, as well as larger producers also making exceptional wines.