Winemaker Notes
Pair with grilled steaks, pastas with meat sauces, rich beef stews and spicy sausages.
Blend: 55% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 13% Mourvedre, 7% Counoise
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesNeil Collins blends this wine from grenache, syrah, mourvedre and counoise, all of the fruit organically farmed at Tablas Creek. He ferments it without added yeasts and ages it in large French oak foudres, delivering a juicy, red-fruited wine with its warmth integrated into the rich fruit. Notes of strawberries, honey and toast last in a bright impression. For grilled ribs.
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.
