2016 Cotes de Tablas
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The Tablas Creek Vineyard Côtes de Tablas is a blend of four estate-grown Rhône varietals: Grenache, Syrah, Counoise and Mourvedre. Like most wines of the Southern Rhône, it showcases Grenache, featuring that grape's characteristic generous fruit and refreshing acidity, balanced by the spice and mineral of Syrah, the appealing briary wildness of Counoise and the structure of Mourvèdre.
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91 Points; " red-fruit oriented with medium tannin and tons of bright, red fruit.": Wine Casual (June 2019)
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90 points; "It offers a medium-bodied, silky, elegant, finesse-oriented package that’s well worth drinking": Jeb Dunnuck (November 2018)
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92 points; "Finishes long and spicy, with sneaky tannins that add shape and youthful grip": Vinous (September 2018)
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94 points; "Full bodied and nicely balanced with a supple texture": BevX (June 2018)
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91 points; "Crushed rose, bright cherry, framboise, and jasmine aromas align": Wine Enthusiast (June 2018)
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92 points; "a rich but succulent core of fruit, bright acids and fine-grained tannins": Wine Advocate (May 2018)
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"Outstanding/Outstanding Plus... a lovely fruit driven wine and a bright underlying crispness": Underground WineLetter (April 2018)
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91-92 points; "an appealing combination of richness and elegance": Vinous (Nov 2017)
Tasting Notes
Explosively rich and spicy on the nose, with aromas of black licorice, cherry compote, new leather, plum skin and star anise. We found the mouth fresh and refreshing, with flavors of wild strawberry darkened by clove, leather, and milk chocolate. Nice chewy tannins come out on the finish, suggesting that as good as it is to drink now, it will go out in an interesting way a decade or more.
We shared updated tasting notes from a November 2018 tasting on the Tablas Creek blog.
Technical Details
Appellation
- Adelaida District Paso Robles
Technical Notes
- 13.5% Alcohol by Volume
- 2015 Cases Produced
Blend
- 55% Grenache
- 25% Syrah
- 13% Mourvedre
- 7% Counoise
Recipes & Pairings
Recipe Suggestions
Food Pairings
- Grilled steaks
- Pastas with meat sauces
- Rich beef stews
- Spicy sausages
Production Notes
The grapes for our Côtes de Tablas were grown on our certified organic estate vineyard.
The 2016 vintage, while still marked by drought, saw better rainfall than the four previous years, and the vineyards showed good health through most of the growing season. That season started with a very early budbreak and continued warm weather spurred our earliest-ever beginning to harvest, on August 18th. But beginning mid-August, three cool weeks slowed the ripening for all but our earliest grapes, and allowed them to reach flavor and phenolic maturity with slightly above-average hang time. The resulting vintage shows excellent concentration but also remarkable vibrancy, with electric acids framing appealing juiciness.
All varietals were fermented in a mix of stainless steel and wooden upright fermenters with the use of native yeasts. After pressing, the wines were racked, blended in June 2017, aged for a year in 1200-gallon French oak foudres, and then bottled in February 2018. The wine is unfined and underwent only a light filtration before bottling.