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2002 Esprit de Beaucastel
Production Notes
The Tablas Creek Vineyard Esprit de Beaucastel 2002 is a blend of four estate-grown varietals, propagated from budwood cuttings from the Château de Beaucastel estate.
The 2002 vintage was tremendous: warm and sunny, with cool nights that prolonged the hangtime of the grapes. The warmth and long hangtime led to grapes that were concentrated, rich, and ripe, but with good balance as well as ripeness. Our first lots of Syrah came in on September 10th, followed by Counoise on September 17th, and Grenache and Mourvèdre both on September 24th. 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 Mourvèdre safely in the cellar on October 28th.
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 1200-gallon French oak foudres before being bottled in April, 2004. The wines are unfined and unfiltered.
We lost one of the five foudres containing the preliminary blend of the 2002 Esprit de Beaucastel in our December 2003 earthquake, reducing our production by 500 cases.
The 2002 Esprit de Beaucastel is a powerful expression of the excellent 2002 vintage, featuring a ripe, spicy nose of raspberries and blueberries backed by aromas of smoke and saddle leather, an elegant palate of red fruits laced with nutmeg and pepper and a long beautiful finish.
Updated tasting notes from a December 2010 vertical tasting can be found on the Tablas Creek blog.
Reviews
- "Ripeness, polish and drive": James Molesworth (May 2010)
- "Top 100 Wines of 2005": SF Chronicle (Dec. 2005)
- 91 points: Stephen Tanzer (July 2005)
- 4+ stars: Restaurant Wine (Jun. 2005)
- "Highly recommended": Saveur (Nov. 2004)
- 92 points; "a brilliant effort": Wine Spectator (Sep. 2004)
- 4 stars: Decanter (Sept. 2004)
- 92+ points; "a beauty": Wine Advocate (Aug. 2004)
- 92-95 points: Wine Advocate (Aug. 2003)
[...more recent Tablas Creek press]
Recipe Suggestions
Food Pairings
- Game
- Dark Fowl (i.e., duck)
- Richly flavored stews
- Lamb
- Asian preparation of red meats (i.e., beef stir fry)
Not Available for Purchase
Blend
- 57% Mourvèdre
- 27% Syrah
- 10% Grenache
- 6% Counoise
Technical Notes
- 14.4% alcohol by volume
- 2000 cases produced
Downloads
Upcoming Events
Real Men Drink Pink, June 23rd
Join us, along with a dozen Paso Robles rosé producers for the ultimate summer wine revel! Held at Star Farms in San Miguel, complete with a half-acre blue lagoon pool, white sandy beaches and tropical palm trees, the afternoon begins with a rosé Grand Tasting and continues with great live music and revelry. Proceeds benefit the Cancer Support Community. Details & more events »
Tablas Creek News
Featured Wine for May: 2011 Cotes de Tablas Blanc
In May, we're featuring our 2011 Cotes de Tablas Blanc at a 10% discount. In 2011, our Viognier crop was cut by 80% due to spring frost, leaving a tiny, intense yield of less than one-half a ton per acre. The resulting wine is rich and tropical, with stone fruits and honey, but at the same time firmly dry, with a very long, saline & mineral finish. Details »
On the Blog: Tablas Creek is a finalist for Best Winery Blog
May 20, 2013
We are proud to have been named a finalist for "Best Winery Blog" at the 2013 Wine Blog Awards. This is the sixth consecutive year we've been finalists, and we've taken home the trophy twice, in 2008 and 2011. We'd love to make the 2013 awards a three-peat, and look back at nine favorite posts of the last year. More »