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2014 Esprit de Tablas Bottle

2014 Esprit de Tablas

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The Tablas Creek Vineyard 2014 Esprit de Tablas is a blend of four estate-grown varietals, propagated from budwood cuttings from the Château de Beaucastel estate. The wine is based on the dark red fruit, earth, spice and mid-palate richness of Mourvèdre, with additions of Grenache for forward fruit, approachability and lushness, Syrah for mineral, aromatics, and back-palate tannins, and Counoise for brambly spice and acidity.

Tasting Notes

The 2014 Esprit de Tablas has a powerfully expressive, nose with deep aromas of licorice and cherry liqueur given lift by spicy notes of pink peppercorn and mint. The mouth is luscious but still very young, with flavors of chocolate-covered cherries, a briny sea spray note, and serious tannins. The finish shows more baker's chocolate and cherry cola notes, as well as a smoky berry element. We recommend that you drink either between 2017 and 2021 or 2024-2040.

Updated tasting notes from a May 2019 vertical tasting can be found on the Tablas Creek blog.

Technical Details

Appellation

  • Adelaida District Paso Robles

Technical Notes

  • 14.5% Alcohol by Volume
  • 3800 Cases Produced

Blend

  • 40% Mourvedre
  • 35% Grenache
  • 20% Syrah
  • 5% Counoise

Recipes & Pairings

Food Pairings

  • Game
  • Dark Fowl (i.e., duck)
  • Richly flavored stews
  • Lamb
  • Asian preparation of red meats (i.e., beef stir fry)

Production Notes

The 2014 vintage was our third consecutive drought year and saw our earliest-ever beginning to the growing season. The summer was warm but without serious heat spikes, and our coolest August in a decade slowed ripening at a critical period. When it warmed back up in September, the fruit tumbled in, and we finished in mid-October, about two weeks earlier than normal. The result was a vintage with excellent concentration balanced by good freshness, which should be vibrant and powerful young, but with the balance to age. We were harvesting all four red grapes simultaneously through September and early October: Mourvèdre between September 4th and October 2nd, Syrah between September 5th and October 2nd, Grenache between on September 10th and October 9th and Counoise between September 11th and October 1st.

The grapes for our Esprit de Tablas were grown on our certified organic estate vineyard.

The grapes were fermented using native yeasts in open and closed stainless steel fermenters. After pressing, the wines were moved into barrel, blended, and aged in 1200-gallon French oak foudres before being bottled in June 2016.

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