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REVIEWS
Tanzer's IWC (Nov. 2007)
Wine Advocate (Aug. 2007)
Anthony Dias Blue (Jun. 2007)
Wine Review Online (May 2007)
Wine Advocate (Aug. 2006)

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Vintage Chart

The 2005 Tablas Creek Vineyard Grenache Blanc is Tablas Creek's second national release of its 100% Grenache Blanc. The Grenache Blanc grape, a little-known but widely-planted Southern Rhone varietal, produces wines with tremendous body, good acidity, and flavors of citrus, anise, and green apple.

We use most of our Grenache Blanc in our Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc and Cotes de Tablas Blanc each year. However, we have been so pleased by the flavors and intensity of the Grenache Blanc over the past few years that we decided to reserve a small quantity of Grenache Blanc for a single-varietal bottling.

As with all our wines, our Grenache Blanc grapes were grown on our 120-acre certified organic estate vineyard.

The 2005 vintage was one of nature's lucky breaks, with excellent quality and higher-than-normal yields. The wet winter of '04-'05 gave the grapevines ample groundwater, and a warm period in March got the vines off to an early May flowering. The summer was uniformly sunny but relatively cool, and harvest began (relatively late for us) in the 3rd week of September. The grapes spent nearly a month longer than normal on the vine, and the resulting wines were intensely mineral, with good structure and powerful aromatics. The Grenache Blanc was harvested between September 26th and October 26th.

The Grenache Blanc grapes were whole cluster pressed, and fermented using native yeasts in stainless steel tanks. After primary fermentation, the wine was moved to neutral French oak barrels to complete malolactic fermentation. The final blends were assembled in May 2006, and bottled in July 2006. The wines underwent only a light cold stabilization before bottling.

The 2005 Grenache Blanc is a vibrant expression of the Grenache Blanc grape. Aromas of lemon and anise are followed by full body, flavors of candied lemon, green apple and marzipan, zesty acids and a long, elegant finish.