HOW IS IT DRINKING?
Vintage Chart

The 2006 Tablas Creek Vineyard Grenache is Tablas Creek's first varietal bottling of the most widely planted grape in the Rhone Valley. The wine shows the bright fruit and spice, medium body and tangy acidity of the Grenache Noir grape.

We use most of our Grenache in our Esprit de Beaucastel and Cotes de Tablas blends each year. However, we feel that this is a grape whose bright fruit, spice and acidity lends itself well to bottling as a single-varietal wine as well. In addition, Grenache seems to improve more dramatically with vine age than any other grape we grow, and we have been increasingly impressed with its performance in Paso Robles the last few years, culminating in this year's single-varietal bottling.

As with all our wines, our Grenache grapes were grown on our 120-acre certified organic estate vineyard.

The 2006 vintage was a study of contrasts, with a cold, wet start, a very hot early summer, a cool late summer and a warm, beautiful fall. Late winter rainfall gave the grapevines ample groundwater, and produced relatively generous crop sizes. The moderate late-season temperatures resulted in a delayed but unhurried harvest, wines with strong varietal character, noteworthy elegance and good acids. The Grenache harvest began October 4th and continued through October.

The Grenache grapes were destemmed and then fermented using native yeasts in closed stainless steel tanks. After three weeks, they were pressed and moved to 1200-gallon foudres to complete their fermentation. The Grenache lots were blended in June of 2007, when we added 10% Syrah to give a touch of black fruit and mineral to the wine. It was aged for an additional year in a 1200-gallon foudres and bottled in June 2008. The wine underwent only a light filtration before bottling, and should be expected to throw a sediment over time.

The 2006 Grenache displays a bright, juicy nose of cherry, plum, licorice and black tea, medium body with notable elegance, and a vibrant, spicy finish that turns a touch darker and firmer at the end.