2010 Syrah

Production Notes

The 2010 Tablas Creek Vineyard Syrah is Tablas Creek’s eighth bottling of this classic Rhone varietal. The wine displays the character of the Syrah grape exuberantly and elegantly, with classic flavors of bacon fat, wood smoke, blackberry and mineral, and should reward time in bottle to mature.

We use most of our Syrah as a part of our Esprit de Beaucastel and Côtes de Tablas blends each year. However, we believe that Paso Robles is one of the world's great environments for Syrah, and in favorable vintages we try to reserve some particularly classic barrels of Syrah for a single-varietal bottling.

The 2010 vintage saw healthy rainfall after three years of drought. The ample early-season groundwater and a lack of spring frosts produced a good fruit set. A very cool summer delayed ripening by roughly three weeks, with harvest not beginning until mid-September and still less than half complete in mid-October. Warm, sunny weather between mid-October and mid-November allowed the later-ripening varieties to reach full maturity. The long hangtime and cool temperatures combined to produce fruit with intense flavors and dark color at low alcohol levels. Syrah began our red harvest on September 28th and harvest continued through October 13th.

The grapes for our 2010 Syrah grapes were grown on our 120-acre certified organic estate vineyard.

The Syrah grapes were destemmed and then fermented using native yeasts in small open-top stainless steel tanks. After two weeks, they were pressed, and moved to a balance of new and old French oak barrels to complete their fermentation. The wine was assembled in August of 2011 and aged for nearly another year in a 1200-gallon foudre before being bottled in May 2012.

Tasting Notes

The 2010 Syrah shows a rich, round, creamy nose, classic cool-climate "butter in a butcher shop" Syrah, with additional aromas of licorice, white pepper, crushed rock and a little cedary oak.  The initial impression in the mouth is one of freshness, but it packs a punch of flavor with blackberry, creamy minerality, mint and substantial but fine-grained tannins. Hold for 6 months or more, and then drink for another fifteen.

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Food Pairings

  • Grilled steaks
  • Lamb
  • Cassoulet
  • Spicy sausages
Syrah

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Blend

  • 100% Syrah

Technical Notes

  • 14.5% Alcohol by Volume
  • 700 Cases Produced

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