Two Compelling 2019 Rosés
It’s rosé time and the two new rosés from Tablas Creek Vineyard I am sure will be among the best of all the 2019 rosés yet to come. Don’t miss them!
2019 Tablas Creek Vineyard Patelin de Tablas Rosé Paso Robles
This rosé is made from 76% Grenache, 19% Mourvédre, and 5% Counoise from fruit sourced from nine top Rhône vineyards in Paso Robles. The production was 2250 cases. Very pale orange in color with a golden hue and golden edge it has a gorgeous perfume of peach and strawberry with a floral citrus undertone. On the palate this is a lovely beautifully balanced rosé with elegance and finesse and lovely strawberry and peach flavors with a faint citrus tinge on the finish – Outstanding Plus. $25
2019 Tablas Creek Vineyard Dianthus Rosé Adelaida District Paso Robles
This Rosé is named for the genus of flowering plants that are known for their deep pink blossoms. The fruit for this wine comes from the oldest vineyard section of estate French sourced vines at Tablas Creek. The production was 900 cases. Pale reddish pink in color with a faint golden orange hue and a golden edge the wine exhibits a complex perfume of red fruits including strawberry, cherry, and raspberry with an exotic floral nuance. With great fruit and intensity, yet harmonious and perfectly balanced with a bright underlying crispness, this is a real tour-de-force. Tablas Creek sums up the description of this Rosé as follows: A Rosé to convert people who think that pink wines can’t be serious.” I totally agree. This is the best California Rosé I have ever tasted and one of the very best Rosés I have ever tasted period. Don’t miss it – Extraordinary. $30 Best Buy
New White And Red Wine Releases From Tablas Creek Vineyard
Along with the two stunning 2019 Rosés Tablas Creek Vineyard has released two lovely white wines and two delicious red wines. And, true to form, these wines are very distinctive with great appeal at very affordable prices. They should appeal to all wine lovers and I highly recommend that you give them a try. And, if, for some reason, you do not know Tablas Creek Vineyard you really need to get in the game and buy these wines to see what you are missing. Tablas Creek Vineyard makes wines that are easy to love. And, once you have experienced them you are likely to remain a fan eagerly waiting for the latest releases each year. Very simply, the wines are consistently great every year. The reason is experience and knowing how to do things the right way from the very beginning. Illustrative of this fact please take a look at the end of this article for a history of Tablas Creek Vineyard taken from my first Tablas Creek Vineyard article nearly 10 years ago. And, that explains where they are today. If it is Tablas Creek Vineyard you know it is going to be really good. And, an easy way to make sure that you get a regular supply of their wines including special bottlings and save money at the same time you can join their Vinsider Wine Club by clicking here)
White Wines
2018 Tablas Creek Vineyard Roussanne Adelaida District Paso Robles
This 2018 Tablas Creek Vineyard Roussanne is Tablas Creek’s 18th varietal bottling of their most important white wine grape. Most of the Roussanne production is used each year in the Esprit de Tablas Blanc bottling. However, when there are some lots that are especially powerful in terms of varietal character they are saved and bottled in a small quantity varietal bottling. Such was the case with this 2018. The 2018 vintage was the first dry year after a very wet one. It was exemplified by an ideal balance of vine health and stress. The 2018 Roussanne yields were low and the 630 case production of varietal wine represents the smallest production in a decade.
Light yellow in color the wine has a lovely honeyed perfume with faint tinges of floral spice and pear. Very flavorful, lush, and beautifully balanced the wine has lovely fruit with pear and green apple nuances and a faint floral citrus undertone. The wine is delicious now and a real pleasure to drink, but if you can resist and cellar it for a few years it will develop additional complexity of a a period of many years into the future – Outstanding Plus/Extraordinary Potential. $40
2019 Tablas Creek Vineyards Vermentino Adelaida District Paso Robles
This is what I have had to say about Vermentino in the past: True confession – I love Vermentino! The Vermentinos from Northern Italy and Corsica and Sardinia are great as are the French Vermentinos (known as Rolle in France) from the Rhône Valley and the Côtes de Provence. And, Tablas Creek Vineyard consistently produces one of California’s best Vermentinos….Vermentino gets my vote as one of the greatest under the radar white wines in the world.
The current release 2019 Tablas Creek Vineyard Vermentino is the 18th bottling of this wine and it is one of the best Vermentinos I have ever tasted. It’s balance and complexity makes it a great complement to a wide variety of foods including seafood, pasta, simply prepared chicken, and vegetables. The production in 2019 was 1650 cases.
Pale yellow in color the wine has a stunning floral perfume with a subtle exotic citrus spice nuance. With great freshness the wine has lovely grapefruit tinged flavors with lovely balance and a bright underlying crispness. A unique and stunning wine this has tremendous early appeal and is a joy to drink – Extraordinary. $27
Red Wines
2018 Tablas Creek Vineyards Côtes de Tablas Adelaida District Paso Robles
This wine is a blend of four estate grown varietals and is composed of 45% Grenache, 33% Syrah, 12% Counoise, and 10% Mourvèdre. It is a stunning wine that in its youth really benefits from decanting. The color is a very deep red with a complex perfume showing a myriad of red fruits with an underlying floral spice. It has lots of rich fruit wrapped in a well-structured frame. With air it opens to show an underlying suppleness. Very flavorful with complex floral spice tinged fruit this is a wine that can be enjoyed now and will benefit with further age in the bottle – Outstanding Plus/Extraordinary Potential. $35
2018 Tablas Creek Vineyards Patelin de Tablas Paso Robles
This wine is a blend of four varietals sourced from some of the top Rhône varietal vineyards in Paso Robles. It consists of 40% Syrah, 33% Grenache, 21% Mourvèdre, 3% Counoise, 3% Terret Noir. It has a deep red color and a great perfume showing cherry fruit with an exotic tinge and a faint spiciness. On the palate there is an abundance of cherry fruit with exotic spice tinges. Bright and crisp yet with depth and richness the wine is very flavorful and has a lot of early appeal. Yet there is also the structure and balance to assure that it will age gracefully for many years into the future. Either way this is a great red wine with lots of style, finesse, balance and flavor. Bravo – Extraordinary. $25 Best Buy
Tablas Creek Vineyards History
Now in its 31st year Tablas Creek Vineyard consistently produces really amazing and well-priced wines that few other California wineries can match. The specialty is, of course, Rhône varietals and their wines are beautifully crafted and very food friendly. Since 1997 they have made balanced and harmonious wines year in and year out. Below is the introduction to my first article on Tablas Creek Vineyard:
Tablas Creek Vineyard is a partnership between the Perrin family, proprietors of Château Beaucastel in Châteauneuf du Pape, and Robert Haas, founder of Vineyard Brands, as majority partners and French and American friends as minority partners. The search for a vineyard location to grow Rhone varietals began in 1987 and in 1989 they purchased a 120 acre parcel in West Paso Robles some 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean. Here the rock and limestone soils are of the same geologic origin as at Beaucastel and the climate is also similar. The result is grapes that mature fully, yet retain crisp acidity. The vine cuttings were imported from Beaucastel to replicate the clonal selection and assure the quality and genetic source. The vine cuttings arrived in 1990 and planting began several years later. The first wine was made in 1997. Production, both in terms of quantity and number of wines produced, has been increasing steadily since then. Today the planting is complete and consists of 2/3s red varieties – Mourvedre, Grenache Noir, Syrah, Tannat. and Counoise and 1/3 white varieties – Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier, Picpoul Blanc, and Grenache Blanc. In addition to varietal bottlings, the centuries old Châteauneuf du Pape tradition is followed for many of the wines with the varieties blended to produce wines of a unique style and complexity.
Since its first wines were produced some 30 years ago the quality of Tablas Creek Vineyard wines has been widely acknowledged. Tablas Creek Vineyard makes wine from their organic estate vineyard. They also mostly buy grapes from other Paso Robles Rhone specialists which are planted with cuttings from their organic estate vineyard. The latter wines are designated Patelin de Tablas. The Tablas Creek wines are available in limited quantities nationally for most of their offerings. The wines are also offered for sale directly from the winery along with special limited bottlings offered only from the winery. They can be contacted by clicking here and also have a wine club, Tablas Creek VINsider, which offers discounts and special offerings to members. If you want to make sure that you do not miss any of the Tablas Creek wines I highly recommend that you join the wine club which will also save you money plus give you access to wines that you might not otherwise see.
LINKS TO ALL PREVIOUS TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD ARTICLES
TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD – FALL 2019 RELEASES – October 2019
TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD – SPRING 2019 RELEASES – April 2019
TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD – FALL 2018 RELEASES – October 2018
TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD – SPRING 2018 RELEASES – April 2018
TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD FALL RELEASES – November 2017
TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD SPRING 2017 RELEASES – May
TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD FIVE OUTSTANDING NEW RELEASES – September 2016
TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD NEW RELEASES – April 2016
TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD NEW RELEASES – September 2015
TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD AND CALERA NEW RELEASES – April 2015
TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD 2012 AND 2013 RELEASES – August 2014
TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD AND RIDGE VINEYARDS – May 2014
TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD – WORLD CLASS CENTRAL COAST WINERIES – January 2014
TABLAS CREEK AND TYLER TOO – March 2011
One comment so far for “GREAT NEW RELEASES FROM TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD – ROSÉ, WHITE, AND RED”
You’re always spot-on right; it must get boring. The wine arrived day before yesterday, so my wife and I had it last night with grilled chicken in bechamel sauce and an onion tart.
Wow. We both thought it had wonderfully clean delineated flavors, with perfect balance. “Perfect balance” is something I very seldom say about a wine, but there it was in the magnificent 2019 Vermentino from Tablas Creek.
Nobody else finds these kinds of great wines. You’re a treasure. Thanks so much.
Bill
P.S. Have a few more “perfect balance” wines up your sleeve?