Winemaker Notes
Pair it with Mediterranean cuisine, Spanish tapas, preparations with garlic and olive oil... or just enjoy it outside on a sunny day.
Blend: 46% Mourvedre, 41% Grenache, 13% Counoise
Professional Ratings
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Connoisseurs' Guide
In all ways the deeper, more serious wine of the two Tablas Creek bottlings, the 2014 Dianthus follows up on the striking success shown by 181the 2013 version and hews to the same rich and weighty lines with the fruity substance and structure of a Rosé clearly meant to be enjoyed with food. It is the rare example that will reward cellaring and should display a little more complexity and polish with age, but its considerable virtues of richness and depth are plainly evident now and it ranks with our favorites among the current crop of Rosés.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
One to the top rosés coming out of California, Tablas Creek's 2014 Rose Dianthus is a blend of 46% Mourvedre, 41% Grenache and the balance Counoise that spent 6 months in stainless steel. It has an almost Tavel-like raspberry color to go with terrific notes of wild strawberries, raspberries, spice and assorted wild herb aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, full, rich and with some oomph on the palate, it has bright acidity and a clean finish. Drink this beauty anytime over the coming year.
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Wine Spectator
A racy pink, with watermelon and smoky pepper aromas and layered, supple raspberry flavors that move at a brisk clip. Mourvedre, Grenache and Counoise.
Whether it’s playful and fun or savory and serious, most rosé today is not your grandmother’s White Zinfandel, though that category remains strong. Pink wine has recently become quite trendy, and this time around it’s commonly quite dry. Since the pigment in red wines comes from keeping fermenting juice in contact with the grape skins for an extended period, it follows that a pink wine can be made using just a brief period of skin contact—usually just a couple of days. The resulting color depends on grape variety and winemaking style, ranging from pale salmon to deep magenta.
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.