Reviews

Stephen Tanzer (July 2005)
Wine Advocate (June 2005)

In exceptional vintages, Tablas Creek Vineyard produces small quantities of Panoplie: a Mourvèdre-based cuvee from meticulously selected grapes, made in the model of Château de Beaucastel's Hommage á Jacques Perrin. In 2003, only 230 cases were produced.

The 2003 vintage was tremendous: warm and sunny, with cool nights that prolonged the hangtime of the grapes and led to wines with excellent acidity. A relatively early flowering, combined with a warm but not overly hot summer produced unusually long hangtime, and grapes with concentrated flavors and a distinct minerality. Our first lots of Syrah came in on September 18th, followed by Grenache on September 25th, and Counoise and Mourvedre both on October 8th. The beautiful fall weather allowed us to bring in fruit when it was at peak ripeness, and allow other blocks to continue to mature. The harvest continued through October, with the last lot of Mourvedre safely in the cellar on October 29th.

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

The grapes were fermented using native yeasts in open and closed stainless steel fermenters. After pressing, the wines were moved into barrel, blended, and aged in large-format French oak barrels before being bottled in April, 2005. Panoplie is unfined and unfiltered.

The Tablas Creek Vineyard Panoplie 2003 is a barrel selection of the most intense lots of Mourvèdre, Grenache, Syrah, and Counoise, all estate-grown varietals propagated from budwood cuttings from the Château de Beaucastel estate.

The 2003 Panoplie is a dense purple-red in color. It has a rich plum nose with nutmeg and clove notes. The complex voluptuous palate shows ripe berry fruit and is intense, layered, and elegant with a wonderfully long licorice and spice finish.