2001 Côtes de Tablas

Production Notes

The Tablas Creek Vineyard Côtes de Tablas is a blend of four estate-grown Rhône varietals: Mourvèdre, Syrah, Grenache and Counoise. Like most wines of the Southern Rhône, it is a blend of varietals, featuring the meatiness of Mourvèdre, the spice and structure of Syrah, and the generous fruit of Grenache and Counoise.

All varietals were fermented in stainless steel with the use of native yeasts: the Syrah in open-top fermenters, punched down manually, and the other varietals in closed fermenters with pump-over aeration. After pressing, the wines were racked, blended, aged for a year in 1200-gallon French oak foudres, and then bottled in June 2003. The wines underwent only a light filtration before bottling.

Tasting Notes

The 2001 Côtes de Tablas is Tablas Creek’s second release of its Côtes de Tablas red blend, made in the style of a full-throttle Côtes du Rhone. The 2001 vintage began with a late-spring frost, reducing quantities of grapes by nearly 50%. The summer was warm and sunny, but cool nights preserved the aromatics of the Syrah, while the low yields (1.5–2.5 tons per acre) produced intense flavors and chewy tannins. The harvest began with the Syrah on August 28, followed with the Grenache and Counoise in mid-September, and finished with the last lot of Mourvèdre on October 3.

Tasting Notes

The 2001 Cotes de Tablas shows a beautiful balance of earth, spice and fruit, soft, generous tannins, and excellent length. Try it with lamb, duck, grilled vegetables, rich stews, and pastas.

Updated tasting notes from a September 2011 tasting can be found on the Tablas Creek blog.

Reviews

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Recipe Suggestions

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Food Pairings

  • Grilled steaks
  • Pastas with meat sauces
  • Rich beef stews
  • Spicy sausages
Cotes de Tablas

Not Available for Purchase

Blend

  • 38% Mourvèdre
  • 34% Syrah
  • 24% Grenache
  • 4% Counoise

Technical Notes

  • 14.5% Alcohol by Volume
  • 2900 Cases Produced

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Upcoming Events

Celebrate Paso Robles Wine Festival with Tablas Creek

Join us for the Paso Robles Wine Community's biggest celebration! We'll pour Esprit de Beaucastel at Friday's Reserve Event and a range of new releases at Saturday's Grand Tasting. And all weekend we'll have special wines open at the winery and will be taking tours to visit our herd of sheep, alpacas and donkeys. Sunday 11am to 1:30pm enjoy Chef Jacob Lovejoy's small plates, free with a tasting. 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: When Terroir Was a Dirty Word

May 15, 2013

Take a look at the seven-line entry of Frank Schoonmaker, America’s foremost wine expert and author in 1964, about terroir. His association, rather than the "somewhereness" the wine exhibits, is more of a taste of dirt, neither elegant nor elevated: "somewhat unpleasant, common, persistent”. My, how things have changed. More »