Winemaker Notes
A nose of minty nectarine complicated by pink grapefruit pith and a little sweet wheatgrass nuttiness. On the palate, the first impression is creamy, like vanilla custard, then bright with apricot fruit and meyer lemon brightness. The pithy bite comes back out on the finish, which combines with the wine's refreshing acids to make a long, clean finish with lingering notes of stone fruit and sweet green herbs.
Blend: 40% Grenache Blanc, 21% Viognier, 19% Roussanne, 15% Marsanne, 5% Clairette Blanche
Ideal food pairings include seafood cooked with garlic and white wine, green salads with avocado and citrus dressing, lemon chicken, scallops, and light-fleshed fish with tropical salsa.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Patelin de Tablas Blanc is a very expressive blend of 40% Grenache Blanc, 21% Viognier, 19% Roussanne, 15% Marsanne and 5% Clairette Blanche. The nose features white apricot, honey and spring blossoms, with streaks of crushed stone and lime peel. The palate balances honeyed fruits and broad texture with tangy acidity and shimmery mineral character on the long finish.
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Wine & Spirits
This wine blends grenache blanc (40 percent) with viognier, roussanne, marsanne and clairette, emphasizing scents of white flowers and pulpy white-fleshed fruits like pear and golden apple. The flavors are generous, adding melon, a lemon cream highlight and tart phenolics that give way to a honeycomb finish. Delicious with miso-glazed cod.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A beautiful, classic white from this team is the 2020 Patelin De Tablas Blanc, which is 40% Grenache Blanc, 21% Viognier, 19% Roussanne, and the rest Marsanne and Clairette. Nicely concentrated and medium-bodied, with beautiful notes of lemon curd, white flowers, and some toasty nuances, I’d gladly drink a bottle.
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Wine Spectator
Shows precision and wonderful balance, with crisp, minerally notes that add a savory element to the lime, white grapefruit, dried thyme, nectarine and citrus zest flavors. Features a fresh frame. Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Roussanne, Marsanne and Clairette Blanche. Drink now.
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.
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.