2020 Grenache Blanc
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The 2020 Tablas Creek Vineyard Grenache Blanc is Tablas Creek’s eighteenth bottling of its 100% Grenache Blanc. The Grenache Blanc grape, a widely-planted but rarely acknowledged southern Rhone varietal, is the white variant of the better-known Grenache Noir. It has turned out to be a remarkable success in California since we introduced it in 1997, producing wines with full body, good acidity, and flavors of citrus, anise, and green apple.
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92 points; "Silky and energetic": Vinous (July 2022)
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93 points; "beautiful texture and minerality, with a lengthy finish": Owen Bargreen (Apr. 2022)
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93 points; "river-stone flavors weave through the more opulent elements of nectarine, melon and pear": Wine Enthusiast (Mar. 2022)
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91 points; "refreshing, with bright citrusy and stony
character and an uplifted finish": Robert Parker Wine Advocate (Mar. 2022) -
91 points; "impressively rich with gorgeous texture": Wine Review Online (Feb. 2022)
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92 points; "focused acidity leading to lingering mouth-coating slipperiness": Purely Domestic Wine Report (Jan. 2022)
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91 points; "Medium-to full-bodied with presence": James Suckling (Nov. 2021)
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93 points; "lemon curd and wet stones with supporting notes of citrus zest, meringue, lemon grass, guava, and honeysuckle": BevX (Sep. 2021)
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Extraordinary; "You don’t know Grenache Blanc? Then you do not know what you are missing. So why not start at the top?": Underground Wine Letter (Oct. 2021)
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92 points; "bright and tangy with notes of citrus and green apple, with a persistent minerality": Blue Lifestyle (Sep. 2021)
Tasting Notes
An intense Grenache Blanc nose of lemon curd, sarsaparilla, and briny mineral. On the palate, like a lemon meringue pie with the hint of graham cracker underlying the bright, luscious lemon. The finish is lovely and long, with creamy texture, notes of lemongrass and crushed rock, and a little pithy Grenache Blanc tannin coming out at the end. Drink now and over the next few years.
Technical Details
Appellation
- Adelaida District Paso Robles
Technical Notes
- 13.0% Alcohol by Volume
- 1074 Cases Produced
Blend
- 100% Grenache Blanc
Recipes & Pairings
Recipe Suggestions
Food Pairings
- Spicy Asian preparations of fish and chicken
- Shrimp Scampi
- Sushi
- Mussels Mariniere
Production Notes
We use most of our Grenache Blanc in our Esprit de Tablas Blanc and Cotes de Tablas Blanc each year. However, we have been so pleased by the flavors and intensity of the Grenache Blanc that we try to reserve a small quantity of Grenache Blanc for a single-varietal bottling most vintages.
The grapes for our 2020 Grenache Blanc were grown on our certified organic and biodynamic estate vineyard.
The 2020 vintage began benignly, with a cool spring that delayed budbreak to a little after normal, and continued 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. The vintage shows concentrated flavors and a distinctive savory, spicy character.
For the varietal Grenache Blanc, we chose lots that were fermented in stainless steel (for energy) and foudre (for roundness), blended them in March 2021 and bottled the finished wine under screwcap in June 2021.