Winemaker Notes
The 2008 Esprit de Beaucastel shows a deep, spicy nose with waves of fruit alternating between red and black raspberry and cherry, grilled meat, balsamic, and licorice. The palate shows raspberry, currant and black cherry fruit highlighted by beautiful acidity, an appealing mintiness, and substantial but fine-grained tannins. The wine is remarkably approachable despite its youth, and we think it will only get better. Enjoy over the next two decades.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 38% Mourvedre, 30% Grenache, 36% Syrah, and the rest Counoise, the 2008 Esprit de Beaucastel has notes of graphite, damp earth, forest floor, underbrush, and loads of blue and red fruits. A distinctively peppery, spicy, earthy wine with medium to full body, this will be an early drinker and best consumed in its first 5-7 years of life. 91-93 points.
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James Suckling
A subtle and delicate wine with subtle chocolate, berry and spices on the nose and palate. Lovely length and balance. 38% Mourvedre, 30% Grenache, 26% Syrah, and 6% Counoise.
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Wine Spectator
Offers a complex array of ripe cherry, wild berry and plum, with touches of mineral, presented in a supple, elegant, well-integrated style, with dark red berry flavors forming the core. Drink now through 2020.
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.