2017 Esprit de Tablas
It looks like there was a problem contacting the store. Please try reloading your browser. If the problem persists try contacting us at orders@tablascreek.com
The Tablas Creek Vineyard 2017 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.
-
95 points; "A rich, complex and seductive mouthful of sweet black fruits, herbs and olives": Decanter (Jun. 2023)
-
95 points; "crushed red berry...layers of fruit...vivid freshness...utterly appetising": Falstaff (Mar. 2022)
-
95 points; "Shows the richness of the vintage but comes off lively": Vinous (Dec. 2020)
-
94 points; "one of the best Rhône-style wines in the United States": Karen MacNeil (Nov. 2020)
-
94 points; "concentrated and layered but delicately framed": Wine Advocate (Oct. 2020)
-
95 points; "another scintillating wine from this storied Paso Robles estate": Washington Wine Blog (Jun. 2020)
-
93-94 Points; "Finishes very long and precise, with mounting tannins and an emphatic echo": Vinous (Feb. 2020)
-
93 points; "personality meets refinement": Wine Spectator (Feb. 2020)
-
97 Points; "Full-bodied and perfectly balanced with a meaty texture": BevX (Oct. 2019)
-
94 Points Cellar Selection; "bright acidity pumps into the finish": Wine Enthusiast (Jan. 2020)
-
92-94 Points; "great intensity, juicy acidity, grainy tannins and a very long finish": Wine Advocate (Oct. 2019)
-
Outstanding Plus/Extraordinary; "it is beautifully balanced, complex, and very flavorful": The Underground Wineletter (Oct. 2019)
-
93-95 Points; "medium to full body, a layered, seamless texture, and a great finish.": Jeb Dunnuck (Nov. 2018)
-
93-95 Points; "vibrant, mineral-tinged black raspberry, cola and spicecake flavors that show excellent clarity": Vinous (Sep. 2018)
Tasting Notes
A cool wintergreen minty note sets off deeper smoked meat, redcurrant, mocha, and juniper aromas. The mouth shows Grenache's sweet fruit and licorice on that attack, then deepens into notes of black cherry, chocolate, and a chorizo-like meatiness, all with tremendous mouth-coating texture. The long finish, with lingering flavors of wood smoke, roasted meat, plum skin and crushed rock, hints at more rewards to come with cellar aging. We recommend that you drink either between now and 2024 or again starting in 2027 any time over the subsequent two decades.
Technical Details
Appellation
- Adelaida District Paso Robles
Technical Notes
- 14.5% Alcohol by Volume
- 4090 Cases Produced
Blend
- 40% Mourvedre
- 35% Grenache
- 20% Syrah
- 5% Counoise
Recipes & Pairings
Recipe Suggestions
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 2017 vintage saw our drought end with a bang, as we received 43 inches of rain and saw our rainiest month ever in January. The wet soils delayed budbreak to a normal time frame, and produced such a healthy vineyard that we saw canopy sizes and cane lengths we hadn’t seen in years. The summer began relatively cool, but was punctuated by two heat spikes, one in early July and the other in late August, that accelerated ripening and produced intense flavors. The resulting vintage shows the health of the vines with a combination of concentration and freshness, with bright acids framing powerful fruit.
The grapes for our Esprit de Tablas were grown on our certified organic and biodynamic estate vineyard.
The grapes were fermented using native yeasts in a mix of 1500-gallon wooden upright fermenters, open-top tanks and closed stainless steel fermenters. After pressing, the wines were moved into barrel and allowed to complete malolactic fermentation. The Esprit was selected from the vintage's best lots and blended in May 2018, then aged in 1200-gallon French oak foudres for another year before being bottled in July 2019.