Winemaker Notes
A lifted nose of orange blossom, honeycomb, and spicy pine nut. On the palate, the signature clean, precise elegance of the 2018 vintage, with flavors of baked custard, marmalade, and saline minerality, deepened by a little sweet oak. Then lively and juicy on the finish like biting into a fresh pear, complete with the little hint of pear skin tannin. A balanced, elegant Esprit Blanc that we expect to go out two decades, gaining additional nuttiness and complexity with time in bottle.
Blend: 66% Roussanne, 21% Grenache Blanc, 8% Picpoul Blanc, 3% Picardan, 2% Clairette Blanch
Ideal pairings include cooked shellfish (lobster, softshell crab, shrimp), roasted or grilled vegetables (eggplant, asparagus, peppers), foods cooked with garlic and olive oil, or rich fish dishes (salmon, swordfish) Asian stir fry.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Tablas Creek’s top white has been roussanne-dominant for several vintages now, and they’ve learned how to capture the variety’s elegant fleshiness without letting it get blowsy, propping it up with higher-acid whites, like grenache blanc, picpoul, clairette and picardin. This wine smells of apple pulp and honey at first go, giving up little but seductive texture. On the second day open, the wine becomes grand, the weight of roussanne comfortable and powerful, with a lemony, crisp apple contour.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The flagship white is the 2018 Esprit de Tablas Blanc, which checks in as 66% Roussanne, 21% Grenache Blanc, 8% Picpoul Blanc, and tiny amounts of Picardan and Clairette Blanche. Light gold-colored, with notes of mulled pears, lemon curd, white flowers, and spice, it hits the palate with medium-bodied richness, terrific elegance and purity, no hard edges, and a solid finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Esprit de Tablas Blanc is a blend of 66% Roussanne, 21% Grenache Blanc, 8% Picpoul Blanc, 3% Picardan and 2% Clairette Blanche aged in about 20% new French oak. The nose begins with soft floral perfume over hints of tree fruit, flint and beeswax. The light to medium-bodied palate is bright and juicy with an anchoring touch of texture on the uplifted finish.
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.
