2021 Esprit de Tablas Blanc
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The Tablas Creek Vineyard 2021 Esprit de Tablas Blanc is our flagship white blend, chosen from the top lots of five white Rhone varieties propagated from budwood cuttings from the Château de Beaucastel estate. Roussanne provides the core richness, minerality, and flavors of honey and spice, while Grenache Blanc adds green apple and anise flavors, lush mouthfeel and bright acids. Picpoul Blanc adds pineapple brightness and saline minerality, Bourboulenc provides limestoney, citrusy lift and Clairette Blanche brings clean fruitiness and chalky minerality.
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94 points, Wine of the Vintage; "The ultimate food-friendly white with a masterful balance of freshness and depth.": Decanter (Nov. 2023)
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94 points; "Tablas Creek manages blends like few other domestic producers": Wine Enthusiast (Nov. 2023)
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94 points; "All in all, an impressive performance.": (Oct. 2023)
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94 points; "seductive ... Vibrant and focused": JamesSuckling.com (Oct. 2023)
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94 points; "Serious and seriously delicious": Decanter (Aug. 2023)
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96 points; "will easily go head to head with some of the finest examples of Chateauneuf Blanc": Owen Bargreen (Aug. 2023)
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97 points; "perfectly balanced with a vibrant yet lush texture": BevX (Jun. 2023)
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94 points; "This is texturally thrilling": Vinous (May 2023)
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94-96 points; "concentrated yet detailed flavors, mouthwatering acidity and a touch of textural bitterness... a dynamic wine": Robert Parker Wine Advocate (Dec. 2022)
Tasting Notes
An immediately appealing nose of poached pear, crystallized pineapple, honeysuckle and a touch of sweet oak. On the palate, luscious and textured, with honey, green apple, and graham cracker flavors, solid acidity, and a little dancing mango-like tropicality from the Picpoul. Fresh and lifted, but long and textured. A charming Esprit Blanc that will be hard to resist young but which should also do beautifully with time in the cellar. Drink now and over the next two decades.
Technical Details
Appellation
- Adelaida District Paso Robles
Technical Notes
- 13.0% Alcohol by Volume
- 1610 Cases Produced
Blend
- 70% Roussanne
- 17% Picpoul Blanc
- 10% Grenache Blanc
- 2% Bourboulenc
- 1% Clairette Blanche
Certifications
Recipes & Pairings
Recipe Suggestions
Food Pairings
- Cooked shellfish (lobster, softshell crab, shrimp)
- Roasted or grilled vegetables (eggplant, asparagus, peppers)
- Foods cooked with garlic and olive oil
- Rich fish dishes (i.e., salmon, swordfish)
- Asian stir fry
Production Notes
The 2021 vintage came after a chilly, relatively dry winter, the exception being a single storm that dropped more than a foot of rain on us in late January. The cold, dry winter produced a fruit set with smaller clusters and smaller berries, and yields were down about 25% compared to our average. The growing season was ideal, with each hot stretch followed by a cool period that allowed the vines to recover, and that combined with the low yields to produce some of our most intense fruit ever and our highest average acids since the chilly 2011 vintage. We believe that 2021 has all the hallmarks of a blockbuster year.
The grapes for our Esprit de Tablas Blanc were grown on our certified organic and biodynamic estate vineyard.
The fruit was whole cluster pressed, and fermented with native yeasts. The Roussanne was fermented in oak of various sizes: 60-gallon oak barrels, 170-gallon demi-muids, and 1200-gallon foudres, about 10% new. The other varieties were fermented in a mix of neutral oak and stainless steel barrels. All the wines went through malolactic fermentation. The Esprit Blanc was selected from the vintage's best lots, blended, and returned to foudre in April 2022, and aged an additional 8 months in foudre until its bottling in December 2022, then aged an additional 9 months in bottle before its release.