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1999 Reserve Cuveé
Reserve Cuvée: The Beginning
In the early years of Tablas Creek, we produced just one red wine and one white wine, and called these Rouge and Blanc. Beginning in 1999, we separated our red production into two wines: the Reserve Cuvée (which the next year we would rename Esprit de Beaucastel) and the Petite Cuvée (which would become the Cotes de Tablas).
Like the Esprit de Beaucastel, the Reserve Cuvée is a selection from our most compelling lots, blended for elegance, richness, and longevity.
Production Notes
The Tablas Creek Vineyard Reserve Cuvée 1999 is a blend of four estate-grown varietals, propagated from budwood cuttings from the Château de Beaucastel estate. The wine is based on the dark red fruit, earth, spice and mid-palate richness of Mourvèdre, with additions of Grenache for forward fruit, approachability and lushness, Syrah for mineral, aromatics, and back-palate tannins, and Counoise for brambly spice and acidity.
The grapes for our Reserve Cuvée were grown on our 120-acre certified organic estate vineyard.
The 1999 Reserve Cuvée is a powerful expression of the outstanding 1999 vintage. The crop was small and concentrated. The harvest took place starting in September under ideal conditions and continued through October. The lots were fermented separately with native yeasts, then blended in the spring of 2000 and aged in 1200-gallon foudres until the wine's bottling in July of 2001.
Tasting Notes
The 1999 Reserve Cuvée is a deeply colored, richly intense, highly extracted wine, redolent of ripe cherries, raspberries, currants and blueberries held together in a velvety tannic structure. We expect it to age for a decade or longer.
Updated tasting notes from a December 2010 vertical tasting can be found on the Tablas Creek blog.
Reviews
- 4 stars; "Beaucastel in California": Decanter (Dec. 2002)
- "The Anti-Merlot": Forbes Magazine (Aug. 2002)
- 90 points: Wine Advocate (Feb. 2002)
[...more recent Tablas Creek press]
Recipe Suggestions
Not Available for Purchase
Blend
- 40% Mourvèdre
- 27% Grenache Noir
- 23% Syrah
- 10% Counoise
Technical Notes
- 14.7% alcohol by volume
- 2208 cases produced
Downloads
Upcoming Events
Paso Robles Rhone Rangers Experience 2/19
Join the 40+ members of the Paso Robles Rhone Rangers chapter for a seminar, lunch and tasting on everything Rhone and Paso Robles. Event tickets, including the seminar, lunch and grand tasting are $75, and tickets for the Grand Tasting alone are just $25. Details & More Events »
Tablas Creek News
February Featured Wine: 2009 Tannat
Each month, we feature a wine that we feel is showing particularly well, and offer that wine at a 10% discount. The 2009 Tannat is dark and smoky, rich with fruit yet powerfully structured. The Wine Advocate gave it 90-93 points and called it "absolutely fabulous...with an opulent, full-bodied personality graced with exquisite inner perfume". Read more » or order online »
On the Blog: Mapping out Tablas Creek's future
February 1, 2012
It's been a busy couple of years for us. We expanded our winery, launched the Patelin de Tablas wines, and dove into Biodynamics. But perhaps the biggest investment we've made in the long-term success of Tablas Creek is the purchase of the 150-acre parcel to our south. Read more »