HOW IS IT DRINKING?
Vintage Chart

The 2008 Tablas Creek Vineyard Vermentino is Tablas Creek's seventh bottling of this traditional Mediterranean varietal, known principally in Sardinia, Corsica, and Northern Italy. It is also grown in the Rhone Valley (particularly Côtes de Provence) where it is known as Rolle. The Vermentino grape produces wines that are bright, clean, and crisp, with distinctive citrus character, refreshing acidity and surprising richness.

When we imported our Châteauneuf du Pape clones, our contact in the French nursery service included the Vermentino because he believed it would thrive in the rocky limestone soils of Paso Robles. We have planted about an acre of Vermentino, and it has indeed thrived here.

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

The 2008 vintage was a series of narrow escapes, bookended by a late spring frost and an early October freeze. A second consecutive drought year led to low yields, and a relatively moderate summer to gradual ripening. Shatter (incomplete berry fertilization) led to particularly low yields on Vermentino. The combination of low yields and moderate summer temperatures produced wines approachable young, with surprising lushness despite much lower than normal alcohols.

The Vermentino grapes were whole cluster pressed, and fermented using native yeasts in stainless steel to emphasize the minerality of the grapes. The wine was bottled in February 2009.

The 2008 Vermentino shows a clean, mineral nose featuring peppered citrus and pear. Flavors of green apple and lime are heightened by refreshing acidity, good richness, no evidence of oak and a lingering finish.