After years of searching, Robert Haas (Vineyard Brands) and the Perrins (Château de Beaucastel) found the perfect site for their new estate in the steep and stony hills west of Paso Robles. Tablas Creek Vineyard was conceived with the same vine selections as Beaucastel: Mourvedre, Grenache, Syrah and Counoise. Natural farming techniques in the vineyard allow our grapes to be the purest expression of the warm climate and the calcareous clay soils in which they grow. Fermenting with native yeasts and selective blending of the varietals, as practiced by Beaucastel for 150 years, allow the wine to best express its rich and elegant esthetic qualities. We have left no stone unturned in our effort to make Tablas Rouge a forceful
statement of its outstanding terroir.
TECHNICAL NOTES
34% Mourvedre
30% Grenache
30% Syrah
6% Counoise
14.5% alcohol by volume
Tablas Creek Vineyard Rouge is modeled after Château de Beaucastel, with a Mourvedre-based cuvee that combines an appealing earthiness with layers of rich fruit. The harvest was early
in 1997, benefitting from a warm spring and a hot, dry summer. Tablas Rouge 1997 shows a very deep cherry red color and presents a ripe berryish nose with leathery overtones. It is
complex and layered with jammy red fruit and just a hint of oak. There is good intensity and depth and the wine finishes with excellent persistence on the palate.
Tablas Rouge is estate bottled from vines grown on the Tablas Creek Vineyard Estate cultivated without the use of herbicides or systemic pesticides. Only hand hoeing,
cover crops, mulch, scorching and
mowing are used for weed control. Natural predatory insects, "Bordeaux Mixture" and sulfur control pests and fungi.
