Wine Enthusiast (Mar. 2004)
Wine Advocate (Aug. 2003)
Saveur (Aug. 2003)

How is it drinking?
Vintage Chart

The Tablas Creek Vineyard Rosé 2002 is a blend of three estate-grown varietals, propagated from budwood cuttings from the Château de Beaucastel estate. The blend is traditional of the southern Rhône, though the blend of grapes is predominantly Mourvèdre, and therefore more like the solid, dry rosés of Bandol than the lighter Grenache-based Tavel.

Each year, we take the grapes for our Rosé from the oldest section of French source vines at Tablas Creek. When we first received our vines from France, we had just enough to plant a few rows of each varietal on a hill overlooking our vine nursery. Over the next few years, we used cuttings from these plants to plant the rest of our 120-acre vineyard.

These few rows of high-quality vines ripen later than the rest of the vineyard, so we harvest the Mourvèdre, Grenache, and Counoise together and co-ferment them (on their skins) in a single stainless steel fermenter. After 72 hours, we draw about 800 gallons of juice off the blend, and ferment it dry away from the skins.

The 2002 Rosé is extremely rich, ripe, and full of fruit, with aromatics of ripe strawberries balanced by fresh acidity and a lingering finish. This is a serious wine for all seasons, and particularly useful for pairing with difficult foods… or for enjoying outside on a sunny day.