2023 Vaccarèse
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The Tablas Creek Vineyard 2023 Vaccarèse is our fourth varietal bottling of this rare Chateauneuf-du-Pape grape, propagated from budwood cuttings from the Château de Beaucastel estate.
Vaccarèse is a little-known blending grape from the south of France; at less than 30 acres planted in France in 2016 it is one of Chateauneuf du Pape's rarest, and the two-thirds of an acre that we planted here in Paso Robles is California's first. But it's already shown tremendous potential, earning a spot in our Esprit de Tablas the last four vintages.
Tasting Notes
A nose of dark chocolate, black pepper, mint, and black raspberry. On the palate, black cherry, graphite, and cocoa powder, good acids, and then a finish with black tea and black licorice notes over healthy tannins.
Technical Details
Appellation
- Adelaida District Paso Robles
Technical Notes
- 13.5% Alcohol by Volume
- 246 Cases Produced
Blend
- 100% Vaccarèse
Certifications
Recipes & Pairings
Recipe Suggestions
Food Pairings
- Dried sausages
- Salty cheeses
- Santa Maria tri tip
- Coq au vin
Production Notes
Vaccarèse is large berried and yet quite dark, and produces wines with dark color, aromas of pine forest and juniper, flavors of tobacco, graphite, and spice, medium body, and some tannic grip. While we expect to ultimately use it in our red blends, with these early vintages, we are exploring what a seminal French ampelography calls its "indisputable aromatic floral originality" and "very fresh and very elegant flavor".
The 2023 vintage began with our wettest-ever winter, replenishing ground water and delaying budbreak. It continued with our coolest growing season in more than a decade, which combined with the late start to produce a harvest roughly a month later than most recent years, beginning in mid-September and not concluding until mid-November. Warm, sunny weather starting in October allowed the later-ripening varieties to reach full maturity. The exceptionally long hangtime and gradual ripening combined to produce fruit with deep colors, remarkable intensity, and noteworthy vibrancy. We believe 2023 has all the hallmarks of a blockbuster year.
The grapes for our 2023 Vaccarèse were grown on our Regenerative Organic Certified™ and biodynamic estate vineyard.
The fruit was destemmed and fermented on the skins for two weeks in a 1-ton microfermenter, punched down twice daily. Only native yeasts we used. After two weeks, the berries were pressed, and this was combined with the free-run juice into neutral oak barrels. It aged there on its lees until we bottled it in April of 2025.