2021 En Primeur Offering on Panoplie and Esprit de Tablas 2020

We are pleased to invite you to participate in our eighteenth annual barrel tasting and sale en primeur of Tablas Creek Vineyard's remarkable wines from the outstanding 2020 vintage: Esprit de Tablas and Panoplie. Offering wine en primeur is a time-honored French tradition most often associated with first-growth Bordeaux estates. In outstanding vintages, valued customers are offered the opportunity to secure a limited quantity of sought-after wines at a special price in advance of bottling and subsequent general release. The wines will be available for delivery or pickup in fall 2022.

The 2020 Vintage:

The 2020 vintage began benignly, with a cool spring that delayed budbreak to a little after normal, and continued with below-average temperatures through July. Beginning in August, the weather turned hot, accelerating ripening and producing intense flavors. The state's terrible fires stayed well north of us, and the harvest finished early, under a compressed timeline but good conditions. Early-ripening varieties show cool tones, good freshness, and dark fruit, while later-ripening grapes bring luscious fruit and noteworthy density and plush texture.

The Wines:

• 2020 Esprit de Tablas: Esprit de Tablas is Tablas Creek's signature red blend, always led by the dark red fruit, earth, spice and mid-palate richness of Mourvèdre (40%), along with additions of Grenache (30%), Syrah (21%), Counoise (5%), and making their first appearance in Esprit, two new grapes: Vaccarese (3%), and Cinsaut (1%). Esprit blends with relatively high percentages of both Mourvedre and Grenache are often found in our best vintages, with the other varieties moving to secondary roles providing darker color, spice, and chewy tannins. The result is a luscious, dark-red-fruited Esprit with plenty of structure. It should drink well when young, yet age for two decades or more.
• 2020 Panoplie: Panoplie is our elite Mourvèdre-based cuvée, made in the model of Château de Beaucastel's Hommage a Jacques Perrin and selected from the top 5% of lots that come into the cellar each vintage. In 2020, we chose three exceptional lots of Mourvèdre to represent 59% of the wine, and added two lots of Syrah (28%) and one of Grenache (13%). The resulting Panoplie shows Mourvèdre at its most luscious, with dark currant and plum fruit alongside a meaty, mocha density. Syrah’s black fruit and chalky tannins give the wine grip, while Grenache adds juicy vibrancy and spicy lift. A blockbuster, it will be hard to resist young but should age effortlessly for 30 years or more.
  

To Taste:

Although we are unable to host an in-person futures tasting event this year, we have two ways for you to learn about the 2020 vintage and these two wines.

1. Visit the winery between November 16th and December 13th, when we will have samples of the new Esprit de Tablas and Panoplie for you to taste.
2. Join Proprietor Jason Haas and Winemaker Neil Collins on our Facebook and YouTube feeds at 5pm PST on Friday, December 10th for a virtual tasting and discussion.

To Order:

You can download a PDF order form for VINsiders and for VINdependents. If you wish to place an en primeur order, just return it to us by email or fax, or give us a call at 805.237.1231 x236.

Additional Resources:

• Read our 2020 vintage and wine notes here.
  
• Make your tasting reservations online.
• The order period ends December 13th.