Tablas Creek Esprit de Tablas Blanc 2019

Tablas Creek Vineyard was founded in 1989. Robert Haas of Vineyard Brands and Jean-Pierre Perrin of Château de Beaucastel conceived the project while traveling through California visiting many of the region’s early pioneers in the 1970s. The wine scene in California was very different at the time, with more focus on Burgundian varieties. The Perrin and Haas families were convinced that California’s Mediterranean climate could produce great Rhône-inspired wines, but they would need to find the perfect location to do so—one with high-calcium soils, a long growing season and moderate nighttime temperatures. The search lasted four years, from 1985 to 1989. The Perrins ultimately settled on the western reaches of Paso Robles, just 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean in what is now the Adelaida District.

The Tablas Creek Vineyard 2020 Esprit de Tablas Blanc is the vineyard’s flagship white blend, chosen from the top lots of six white Rhone varieties propagated from budwood cuttings from the Château de Beaucastel estate. Roussanne provides the core richness, minerality, and flavors of honey and spice, while Grenache Blanc adds green apple and anise flavors, lush mouthfeel and bright acids. Picpoul Blanc adds pineapple brightness and saline minerality, Bourboulenc provides limestoney, citrusy lift, Clairette Blanche brings clean fruitiness and chalky minerality, and Picardan finishes with a little burst of acid, further emphasizing the mineral notes.

A lovely, The mouth is  A powerful, textured Esprit Blanc that is drinking well now but which we expect will really shine with time in the cellar. Drink over the next two decades.

94 points; “Complex, pure and creamy”:

Decanter (Jun. 2023)

94 points; “Shows fine definition and tension on the palate”:

Vinous (Jul. 2022)

“Proving that Tablas Creek’s white-Rhone game is not only strong but perhaps the best in the state, this blend is a stunner”:

SOMM Journal (Apr. 2022)

94 points; “great minerality as well as length”:

Miquel Hudin (Feb. 2022)

98 points; “has an old world feel seldom seen in California”:

Purely Domestic Wine Report (Jan. 2022)

92 points; “The palate is pleasantly lifted”:

Robert Parker Wine Advocate (Mar. 2022)

94 points & Editors’ Choice; “showcases what the winery does best”:

Wine Enthusiast (Dec. 2021)

93 points; “bursting with aromas of fresh anjou pear, white flowers, and honeysuckle”:

Vinepair (Nov. 2021)

95 points; “Bright acidity … stone fruit and jasmine … well balanced”:

James Suckling (Nov. 2021)

96 points; “perfectly balanced with a silky yet vibrant texture”:

BevX (Oct. 2021)

Extraordinary; “impressively rich, flavorful, and complex”:

Underground Wine Letter (Oct. 2021)

93 points; “Lush and minerally”:

Blue Lifestyle (Sep. 2021)

• 63% Roussanne
• 20% Grenache Blanc
• 14% Picpoul Blanc
• 3% Picardan