Winery/Producer: Tablas Creek Vineyard.
Appellation: Paso Robles, California
Tasting Room and Location:
9339 Adelaida Road
Paso Robles, California
Tel. 805 237-1231
Grape Variety Tasted: Six wines, Reserve Tasting: 2012 Esprit De Tablas Blanc ($45), 2008 Esprit De Beaucastel Blanc ($55), 2012 Esprit De Talbls ($55), 2011 Esprit De Tablas ($60), 2009 Esprit De Beaucastel ($65) and the 2008 Esprit De Beaucastel ($70).
Tasting Price: $15.00 for the Estate tasting (with one complimentary tasting per bottle purchased); $40.00 for the Reserve Tasting.
Comments: Russ Anderson, owner of the Caviste Wine Shop in Winston-Salem, North Carolina has been recommending Tablas Creek wines to us for several years and has said it is one of his favorite North American vineyards. So when we told him about our planned vineyard adventure of the Central Coast, the Tablas Creek Vineyard was put at the top of our list…and our visit was even better than we expected.
Since we had signed up for the Reserve Tasting ($40/person, $25 for club members) we were ushered into a private tasting room with a host all to ourselves. An advantage of the Reserve Tasting is that you have stools to sit on rather than having to stand at the bar, a small but very nice feature and one that allowed a more relaxing experience. We really appreciated the wines being served and discussed in a quiet setting. Our host, Gustavo, was from Chile and seem to be very devoted to wine making as well as being knowledgeable and informative about Tablas Creek wines and their production…during harvest time he’s actively involved with the wine production. For the Reserve Tasting the choice of wines is somewhat open ended. In addition to the six reserve wines we were also offered tastings form the Estate listing. Pours were generous and second tastings were always offered.
The six reserve wines we tasted could only be described as superb, then in addition we tasted the 2015 Patelin De Tablas Rose and the 2013 Mourvedre which were also delicious. In the end we bought all the wines we tasted, plus some we had previously tasted before our vineyard visit.
In addition to wine, Tablas Creek also has a very nice shop with all kinds of wine related items. We bought a 1 foot tall live Grenache vine as a gift for our cat sitter who especially likes Grenache wine. Live grape vines are not your ordinary gift shop items and it was a nice touch that added to the depth of our visit for years to come. Tablas also has a very pleasant patio area for guests to picnic and drink wine purchased in the shop. It’s sited on a hillside overlooking an expanse of grape vines in the distance and we have already picked out the table for our next visit where were going to enjoy some Tablas Creek wine and one of Vicky’s special picnic lunches.
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Recommendation from the tasting: Did we like the wines we tasted? Well it’s not often that we need help carting our purchase to the car, but it took two men and a strong woman to load our wine into the car. But, what’s really unique about the Tablas Creek Vineyard is they are producing “Old World” Rhone style wines in the Central Coast of California…and their wines are simply OUTSTANDING. Tablas Creek Vineyard should be on every wine drinkers “Must Visit List”. Even if your only a drinker of traditional California wines you should try a little bit of the Rhone Valley wine that’s produced right here in the USA. We recommend the Tablas Creek wines, without reservation, and strongly suggest a tasting of several of their wines at the vineyard…it’s a very special opportunity!!!
See also our review of:
Tablas Creek Vineyard Esprit de Tablas Rouge Paso Robles 2013
Tablas Creek Vineyard Patelin de Tablas 2013
Tablas Creek Vineyard Patelin de Tablas Blanc 2014
Rhone Blend wine tasting dinner: A great dinner-party format