The Tablas Creek Vineyard spring 2019 releases are here and, as usual, they are not to be missed. This year there are six wines including two delicious white wines, two beautiful rosés, and two lovely red wines. These are wines not to miss. They represent the perfect trifecta!

My notes on these six wines follow below with an introduction to Tablas Creek Vineyard and links to all Tablas Creek Vineyard articles also shown at the end of this article.

 

SPRING 2019 TABLAS CREEK RELEASES

2018 Tablas Creek Vineyard 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 2018 Tablas Creek Vineyard Vermentino is again a lovely wine with a balance and complexity that makes it a great complement to a wide variety of foods including seafood, pasta, simply prepared chicken, and vegetables. The production in 2018 was 1120 cases which was lower than the past few years.
Pale yellow in color the wine has a lovely perfume with hints of honeysuckle and grapefruit with a faint mineral undertone. On the palate, it has great fruit that is very pure and refined showing grapefruit tinges and subtle hints of white peach. Bright and crisp on the finish this is a uniquely delicious white wine that is a joy to drink – Outstanding Plus.      $27  

2016 Tablas Creek Vineyard Roussanne Adelaida District Paso Robles
This 2016 Tablas Creek Vineyard Roussanne is Tablas Creek’s 16^th 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 2016. The 2016 vintage was still marked by drought but had more rainfall than the previous four years. Yields recovered slightly but were still low. The selected lots were aged in three different types of barrels and blended in April 2017 and bottled in December 2018. The production was 900 cases.
Light yellow in color the wine has a great floral tinged perfume with a honeyed nuance and hints of green apple. Rich and full with great balance, texture, and flavor the wine should evolve and develop additional complexities with several years more bottle age. This is a white wine that can age for a very long period and will provide great drinking pleasure well into the future – Outstanding Plus/Extraordinary Potential.       $40        

 

2018 Tablas Creek Vineyard Patelin de Tablas Rosé Paso Robles
This is a consistently delicious rosé in the style of the great rosés from Provence. The 2018 production was down about 25% from 2017 with 2690 cases produced. It is made with 76% Grenache, 20% Mourvèdre, and 4% Counoise. The grapes for this wine came from nine top Rhone vineyards in Paso Robles located in four Paso Robles appellations.
Pale salmon pink in color with golden hue the wine has a gorgeous floral perfume with a faint exotic tinge and hints of peach and strawberry. Showing lovely floral tinged fraise de bois fruit with hints of peach the wine is delicate and finesseful yet flavorful and very appealing with a nice underlying crispness – Outstanding.   $25

 

2018 Tablas Creek Vineyard Dianthus Adelaida District Paso Robles
This rosé is named for a type of flower with a pink color that is known as “pinks”. The 2018 Dianthus is made from 51% Mourvèdre, 39% Grenache, and 10% Counoise taken from the oldest section of estate vines propagated from cuttings from Château de Beaucastel. The 2018 production was 1500 cases the same as in 2017. Always packed with fruit, this 2018 Dianthus is a great follow up to the stunning 2017.
Very light reddish pink in color with a golden hue this rosé has a great perfume with hints of watermelon and cherry showing floral nuances. Loaded with fruit the wine is beautifully balanced with watermelon and cherry flavors accented by a floral citrus undertone and a nice underlying crispness. This is a really delicious rosé – Extraordinary.     $30

 

2017 Tablas Creek Vineyard Patelin de Tablas Paso Robles
The 2017 vintage marked the end of the drought. The 3580 case production was up about 15% from 2016. The wine was made with 48% Syrah, 32% Grenache, 16% Mourvèdre, and 4% Counoise sourced from several of the top Rhone vineyards located in the four regions of Paso Robles.
With a deep color the wine has a lovely berry and plum perfume accented by a floral spice undertone and a faint underlying herbal tinge. With lots of berry and plum fruit on the palate the wine is lush and flavorful with spice tinges and a floral herbal undertone. It is certainly very appealing now, but has great underlying structure and promises additional complexities over many years into the future. And don’t forget that it offers great value as well – Outstanding/Outstanding Plus Potential.       $25       Best Buy

2017 Tablas Creek Vineyard Côtes de Tablas Adelaida District Paso Robles
The 2017 vintage was the end of the drought but the production of this wine in 2017 was only slightly higher at 2135 cases compared with 2050 cases produced in 2016. The wine is composed of 53% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 12% Mourvèdre, and 10% Counoise grapes grown on Tablas Creek’s certified organic estate vineyards.
With a deep color the wine has a great perfume with an exotic tinge also showing a myriad of black and red fruits with a faint spice tinge. On the palate it is loaded with fruit showing hints of cherry, plum, and blackberry and has lovely balance with lots of flavor. This is a really delicious red wine that is distinctive with great early appeal and also with the ability to age beautifully over an extended period of time – Outstanding Plus.    $35

As usual from Tablas Creek Vineyard all of these wines are beautifully crafted , delicious, and a pleasure to drink. Don’t miss them!

INTRODUCTION TO TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD

Now is its 30^th year Tablas Creek Vineyard consistently produces really amazing and well-priced wines that few other California wineries can match. The specialty is, of course, Rhone 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 Chateau Beaucastel in Chateauneuf 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 – Mourvèdre, Grenache Noir, Syrah, Tannat, and Counoise and 1/3 white varieties – Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier, Picpoul Blanc, and Grenache Blanc. The centuries old Chateauneuf du Pape tradition is followed with the varieties blended to produce wines of a unique style and complexity. The concept of blending different varietals to make wines is one that I have always believed would make better wines in California. There are only a few exceptions to this belief and those would include the Burgundian varietals, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

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 at www.tablascreek.com and also have a wine club, Tablas Creek VINsider, which offers discounts and special offerings to members.

 

LINKS TO ALL PREVIOUS TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD ARTICLES

 

TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD – FALL 2018 RELEASES

TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD – SPRING 2018 RELEASES

TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD FALL RELEASES – November 2017

TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD SPRING 2017 RELEASES – May 2017 

TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD FIVE OUTSTANDING NEW RELEASES – September 2016

TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD NEW RELEASES – April 2016

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