Winemaker Notes
#5 wine in VinePair's Top 50 of 2018
The Tablas Creek Vineyard 2015 Esprit de Tablas Blanc is a blend of three estate-grown varietals, propagated from budwood cuttings from the Château de Beaucastel estate. Roussanne provides the core richness, minerality, and flavors of honey and spice, while Grenache Blanc adds green apple and anise flavors, a lush mouthfeel and bright acids. Picpoul Blanc completes the blend, adding a saline minerality and tropical notes. A fascinating, structured Esprit Blanc that should be a pleasure to watch evolve in bottle.
Blend: 55% Roussanne, 28% Grenache Blanc, 17% Picpoul Blanc
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Tasted out of bottle, the 2015 Esprit de Tablas Blanc checks in as a blend of 55% Roussanne, 28% Grenache Blanc and 17% Picpoul Blanc raised mostly in foudre. It’s a rich, beautifully layered and textured white that’s going to shine on the dinner table. Exotic/tropical notes of orange blossom, caramelized lemons, wood smoke and spice give way to a medium to full-bodied, clean, impeccably balanced white that has plenty of density and length. It’s beautiful today, yet has the capacity to evolve gracefully for 10-15 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted out of barrel and scheduled to be bottled in December, the 2015 Esprit Blanc de Tablas (55% Roussanne, 28% Grenache Blanc and the balance Marsanne) offers an exotic bouquet of lemon curd, flower oil, tangerine and citrus in its medium-bodied, pure, nicely balanced style. It picks up a slight tropical slant with time in the glass, has nicely integrated acidity and will keep for a decade or more.
Range: (91-93) -
Wine Spectator
Focused on fruity peach, mandarin orange and pineapple flavors, with a juicy, smooth core. Floral highlights, along with matcha green tea and fennel accents, are harmonious and lovely on the smooth and crunchy finish. Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Picpoul Blanc.
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.
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.