2025 Clairette Blanche
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The Tablas Creek Vineyard Clairette Blanche is our seventh varietal bottling of this rare grape, prized in the Southern Rhone for producing whites that maintain their acidity and minerality in a warm climate. The half-acre of estate grapes we own were propagated from budwood cuttings from the Château de Beaucastel estate.
Tasting Notes
A nose with both tropical (green mango and lemongrass) and chalky mineral elements. On the palate, salted lemon with bright acids and smooth texture. Somehow both mouth-filling and mouth-watering. I'm excited to have enough of this to show to a slightly larger audience.
Technical Details
Appellation
- Adelaida District Paso Robles
Technical Notes
- 13.0% Alcohol by Volume
- 160 Cases Produced
Blend
- 100% Clairette Blanche
Certifications
Recipes & Pairings
Recipe Suggestions
Food Pairings
- Mussels Marinière
- Green salads with avocado and citrus dressing
- Scallops
- Light-fleshed fish (halibut, sole) with tropical salsa
Production Notes
Clairette Blanche, once one of the most widely planted white grapes in the Rhone, saw decades of decline before a recent resurgence of interest thanks to its ability to maintain freshness in a warming climate. We imported it into the United States in 2003 as part of our goal to have all the Chateauneuf du Pape varieties. It was released to us in 2009, planted in 2010, and its first harvest was 2013. Our small (half-acre) block on our certified organic and biodynamic estate vineyard is one of the only ones in California.
The 2025 vintage began dry but finished wet, with two-thirds of the winter's precipitation coming in February and March. That late rain delayed budbreak and allowed us to dodge any spring frosts. The summer was warm but rarely hot, with the fewest 100° days in our history. Harvest began at a normal time frame but cool temperatures in September and October slowed down harvest. We navigated two early rain events without damage and finished an extended but unhurried harvest in early November. The exceptionally long hangtime and gradual ripening combined to produce fruit with deep colors, remarkable intensity, and noteworthy vibrancy. We believe 2025 has all the hallmarks of a blockbuster year.
The fruit was whole cluster pressed, and fermented with native yeasts in a small variable capacity stainless steel fermenter until bottling in June 2026.