2022 Esprit de Tablas (En Primeur)
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The Tablas Creek Vineyard 2022 Esprit de Tablas is our flagship red blend, always led by the dark red fruit, earth, spice and mid-palate richness of Mourvèdre (40%), along with additions of Grenache (28%), Syrah (22%), Vaccarese (4%), Cinsaut (3%), and Counoise (3%). Esprit blends with relatively high percentages of both Mourvedre and Grenache are often found in our best vintages, with the other varieties moving to secondary roles providing darker color, spice, and chewy tannins. The result is a serious, delicious Esprit with flavors of sugarplum and black raspberry, cocoa powder and newly-turned earth. It should drink well for two decades or more.
Available to order through December 11th on the futures cart page
Tasting Notes
A deep nose poised between red (redcurrant and red licorice) and black (black plum and cracked black peppercorn) with an additional loamy earth element that speaks of the Tablas Creek site. The palate is mouth-filling with flavors of sugarplum and black raspberry, cocoa powder and newly-turned earth. The long, youthfully tannic finish with a hint of sweet oak suggests there's more to come both in barrel and in bottle. A serious, delicious Esprit.
Technical Details
Appellation
- Adelaida District Paso Robles
Technical Notes
- 13.5% Alcohol by Volume
- 3050 Cases Produced
Blend
- 40% Mourvedre
- 28% Grenache
- 22% Syrah
- 4% Vaccarese
- 3% Counoise
- 3% Cinsaut
Certifications
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 2022 vintage was our third year of drought, but because the rain that we received came early, the vines showed good health though with cluster counts down by about 15%. Two frost events, one in April and one in May, reduced yields further. A cool first half of the summer was followed by our hottest-ever August and September, producing an early start and an even earlier finish to harvest. The vintage's extremely low yields produced concentrated flavors, noteworthy texture, and intense fruit.
The grapes for our Esprit de Tablas were grown on our biodynamic and Regenerative Organic Certified 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's components were then selected for Esprit, blended in June 2023 and have been aging in 1200-gallon foudre ever since. We expect the wine to be bottled in July 2024.