Winemaker Notes
Pair with game dark fowl like duck, rich flavored stews, lamb, or beef stir fry.
Grape Varieties: 40% Mourvèdre, 30% Syrah, 21% Grenache, 9% Counoise
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Made from 40% Mourvedre, 30% Syrah, 21% Grenache and the balance Counoise, the 2012 Esprit de Tablas is an elegant, supple and medium to full-bodied red that excels on is lively pure texture and overall elegant personality. Revealing perfumed notes of sweet cherries, black raspberries, ground herbs and underbrush, this moderately concentrated, balanced and overall pretty Paso Robles red will evolve nicely through 2022.
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Tasting Panel
Fresh and juicy with graceful style and elegant, juicy berry fruit; spicy, smooth and long. 40% Mourvedre 30% Syrah 21% Grenache 9% Counoise.
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Wine Spectator
Graceful and delicately complex, with a lively core of bright acidity that plays up a floral boysenberry aroma. Offers sleek flavors of raspberry, smoked spice and subtle bitter chocolate. Mourvèdre, Syrah, Grenache and Counoise. Drink now through 2021. 4,400 cases made.
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.