2011 Cotes de Tablas Blanc
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The Tablas Creek Vineyard Côtes de Tablas Blanc is a blend of four estate-grown white Rhône varietals: Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Roussanne and Marsanne. The wine, like most wines of the Southern Rhône, is a blend of varietals, featuring the floral aromatics and stone fruit of Viognier, the crisp acids and rich mouthfeel of Grenache Blanc, and the structure and minerality of Marsanne and Roussanne.
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89 points; "beautifully drinkable": Wine Advocate (Aug. 2013)
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"Very dry but juicy and flavorful, with scintillating acidity": Bigger than Your Head (May 2013)
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"One of the best young Côtes de Tablas Blancs I can remember tasting": Gang of Pour (Jan. 2013)
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91 points; "flavors show very good depth": Tanzer's IWC (Nov. 2012)
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89 points; "pure balance and harmony": Wine Advocate (Aug. 2012)
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87-90 points; "bright and fresh ... racy": The Rhone Report (Jun. 2012)
Tasting Notes
The 2011 Côtes de Tablas Blanc features a serious nose, minty with stone fruits and honey lurking underneath. The mouth is broad and rich, peaches and cream, but dry, with a very long finish with a hint of tannin, cream, and rocks, nicely saline at the end.
Technical Details
Appellation
- Paso Robles
Technical Notes
- 13.1% Alcohol by Volume
- 1475 Cases Produced
Blend
- 27% Viognier
- 26% Grenache Blanc
- 25% Marsanne
- 22% Roussanne
Recipes & Pairings
Recipe Suggestions
Food Pairings
- Mussels Marinière
- Green salads with avocado and citrus dressing
- Scallops
- CevicheLight fish (halibut, sole) with tropical salsa
Production Notes
The grapes for our Côtes de Tablas Blanc were grown on our 120-acre certified organic estate vineyard.
The 2011 vintage was our second consecutive winter with healthy rainfall, but yields were dramatically reduced by two nights of frost on April 8th and 9th, impacting particularly early-sprouting grapes like Viognier and Grenache Blanc. Despite the low crop loads, ripening was slow due to a very cool summer, and harvest roughly three weeks later than normal, beginning in mid-September and not concluding until mid-November. Warm, sunny weather during harvest allowed the later-ripening varieties to reach full maturity. The long hangtime and low yields combined to produce fruit with notable richness balanced by higher than usual acidity, all at low alcohol levels. Our Viognier was harvested between October 4th and October 13th, Grenache Blanc between September 29th and October 20th, Marsanne between September 29th and October 17th, and Roussanne between September 22nd and November 8th.
All varietals for the Côtes de Tablas Blanc were whole cluster pressed, and fermented in stainless steel to emphasize their clean crisp flavors and preserve their aromatics. Only native yeasts were used. After fermentation, the wines were racked and blended, and bottled in June 2012. The wine underwent only a light cold stabilization before bottling.