VINsider News & Updates

Fall 2018 VINsider Shipment

We are pleased to announce the Fall 2018 VINsider Club shipment, highlighted by the 2016 Esprit de Tablas and Esprit de Tablas Blanc, rated 94-95 and 93 points respectively from Vinous. It also includes a library Esprit from a great vintage, a vibrant small-production varietal bottling of one of the grapes we introduced into California, and two small-production blends. The Classic Mix is below; information on the red-only and white-only shipments is on our club shipments page.

• 1 bottle of Esprit de Tablas 2016 (Our flagship red blend, based on Mourvedre; 94-95 Vinous, "impressive persistence and suave, even tannins" & 92-94 Wine Advocate)
• 1 bottle of Esprit de Tablas 2014 (A library vintage of our flagship red blend, based on Mourvedre, from one of our greatest vintages ever; 94 Vinous; 93-96 Wine Advocate; 98 BevX, "this wine will live for decades")
• 1 bottle of Esprit de Tablas Blanc 2016 (Our flagship white blend, based on Roussanne, from a great Roussanne vintage; 93+ Wine Advocate, "full-bodied, textural and layered" & 93 Vinous)
• 1 bottle of En Gobelet 2016 (Our blend sourced exclusively from dry-farmed, head-trained vineyard blocks; 94 Vinous, "impressive depth and intensity" & 92+ Wine Advocate)
• 1 bottle of Grenache Blanc 2017 (Our varietal bottling of this lovely southern Rhone white grape that we introduced to California; 91-92 Vinous, "Sharply focused and energetic")
• 1 bottle of Cotes de Tablas Blanc 2017 (Our showcase for Viognier's lushness, brightened by Marsanne & Grenache Blanc; 92 Wine Advocate, "full-bodied, textural and layered, with lovely balance" & 92 Vinous)
• We have published full tasting and production notes on the Tablas Creek blog.

If you need to your make any changes to your account: update a new shipping address (an adult signature is required) or a new credit card you can email your changes to wineclub@tablascreek.com, call us at 805.237.1231 X239, or update your VINsider information online.

The shipment’s cost of $224.00, plus applicable shipping and taxes, reflects as always a 20% VINsider member savings off the retail prices of the wines in the shipment. Shipped shipments (unless other arrangements were made) were sent out the week of October 1st.  Will-call customers can now pick up their shipments at the winery.  

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. This year, we're offering our top red wines from the exceptional 2017 vintage: the 2017 Esprit de Tablas and 2017 Panoplie. Details on the wines:

2017 Esprit de Tablas

• PRODUCTION NOTES: 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%). In 2017, we also had outstanding Grenache lots, and we added the most Grenache (35%) we ever have in the Esprit, along with 20% Syrah and 5% Counoise for black spice and acidity. The result is a powerfully fruity, chocolatey Esprit that should provide excellent drinking anytime in the first two decades. 

• PRESS: Vinous (Sept. 2018) 93-95 points, "vibrant, mineral-tinged black raspberry, cola and spicecake flavors that show excellent clarity and thrust. The mineral and spice notes drive an impressively persistent finish" 

2017 Panoplie

• PRODUCTION NOTES: 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 2017, we chose two exceptional lots of Mourvèdre to represent 69% of the wine, and added roughly equal parts Grenache (17%) and Syrah (14%), producing a wine with layers of dark red currant fruit over Mourvèdre's meaty, mocha signature. It will be hard to resist young, but we expect it to age effortlessly up to 30 years

• PRESS: Vinous (Sept. 2018) 95-97 points, "superb energy and tension in the mouth, offering sweet, densely packed black raspberry, boysenberry and floral pastille flavors sharpened by a peppery spice nuance"

VINsider Wine Club members were invited to order futures at the 30% en primeur savings. Pricing and availability are detailed on this PDF en primeur order form. Orders must be submitted to wineclub@tablascreek.com (or by fax, phone or mail) by December 3rd, 2018. The wines will be available at the standard 20% VINsider member savings upon their release.

We are excited to offer, in addition to our classic mix of red and white wines (and the occasional dry rosé) in each shipment, options for VINsider club members who prefer red-only and white-only shipments.  Like our classic mix, the red-only and white-only options are selected from small-production lots, special blends, and sneak previews.  

Please note that due to the limited supplies of our library wines, we cannot offer red-only or white-only options for our fall Collector's Edition shipments, although Collector's Edition members are welcome to choose red-only or white-only for their spring shipments.

If you have any questions about our different color mix options, please contact us at wineclub@tablascreek.com or 805.237.1231 x239.