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2009 Grenache
Production Notes
The 2009 Grenache is Tablas Creek’s fourth varietal bottling of the signature grape of the southern Rhone Valley. The wine shows the bright fruit and tangy acidity of the Grenache Noir grape, as well as the characteristic concentration of the 2009 vintage.
We use most of our Grenache in our Esprit de Beaucastel and Côtes de Tablas blends each year. However, we feel that this is a grape whose bright fruit, spice and acidity lends itself well to bottling as a single-varietal wine as well. In addition, Grenache seems to improve more dramatically with vine age than any other grape we grow, and we have been increasingly impressed with its performance in Paso Robles the last few years. We first produced a single-varietal Grenache bottling in 2006.
The grapes for our 2009 Grenache were grown on our 120-acre certified organic estate vineyard.
The 2009 vintage was our third consecutive drought year, with yields further reduced by April frosts. Berries and clusters were small, with excellent concentration. Ripening over the summer was gradual and our harvest largely complete at the time of a major rainstorm on October 13th. Crop sizes were 15% smaller than 2008 and 30% lower than usual. The low yields and gradual ripening resulted in wines with an appealing lushness, rich texture and wonderful chalky tannins. Grenache lots were harvested between September 26th and October 3rd.
The Grenache grapes were destemmed and then fermented using native yeasts in closed stainless steel tanks. After two weeks, they were pressed and moved to neutral barrels to complete their fermentation. The Grenache lots were blended in June of 2010, aged for an additional year in a 1200-gallon foudre and bottled in May 2011.
Tasting Notes
The 2009 Grenache shows a powerfully Grenache nose of cherry liqueur, licorice root, and cocoa, but held in check with an appealing mineral note. In the mouth it shows rich at first, with rare meat and wild strawberry, then big tannins come to the fore. The tannins resolve in the finish and leave a suggestion of clean minerality. Pair now with substantial food, or age for a decade or more for a more elegant profile.
Reviews
[...more recent Tablas Creek press]
Recipe Suggestions
Food Pairings
- Grilled steaks
- Pastas with meat sauces
- Rich beef stews
- Spicy sausages
Not Available for Purchase
Blend
- 100% Grenache
Technical Notes
- 14.5% Alcohol by Volume
- 600 Cases Produced
Downloads
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 »