2007 Panoplie included in Spring 2010 VINsider shipment
The 2007 Panoplie, rated 98+ points by Robert Parker, was sent exclusively to Tablas Creek Vineyard’s VINsider club members. One bottle was included in the spring 2010 club shipment, with VINsiders offered the opportunity to order 4 additional bottles. In addition, VINsiders who reserved this wine as futures in December, 2008 received their wine in the fall of 2009. Ordering the Esprit de Beaucastel and Panoplie en primeur is available exclusively to VINsider wine club members.
We have more information on the VINsider wine club, and more VINsider news
In exceptional vintages, Tablas Creek Vineyard produces small quantities of Panoplie: a Mourvèdre-based cuvée from meticulously selected grapes, made in the model of Château de Beaucastel’s Hommage á Jacques Perrin. In 2007, only 500 cases were produced.
The 2007 vintage was the best vintage we've yet seen at Tablas Creek. Yields were very low (down between 15% and 30%, depending on variety) due to a cold and very dry winter, which produced small berries and small clusters. A moderate summer without any significant heat spikes followed, allowing gradual ripening, and producing red wines with tremendous intensity, excellent freshness and a lushness to the fruit which cloaks tannins that should allow the wines to age gracefully. Syrah began the harvest of our reds between September 5th and October 3rd, followed by Grenache between September 25th and October 22nd and Mourvèdre throughout October and completing the harvest on October 30th.
The grapes for our Panoplie were grown on our 120-acre certified organic estate vineyard.
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 large-format French oak demi-muids before being bottled in July 2009.
The Tablas Creek Vineyard Panoplie 2007 is a barrel-by-barrel selection of the most intense lots of Mourvèdre, Grenache, and Syrah in the cellar, structured for long aging. It is a dense purple-red in color with a rich plum nose, ripe and sweet with coffee and eucalyptus notes. The complex palate shows full flavors of red and black fruit, licorice, pepper, and roasted meat. It is concentrated, dense and elegant with a wonderfully long licorice and spice finish.
Updated tasting notes from a December 2012 vertical tasting can be found on the Tablas Creek blog.
Expected Maturity
2012-2035
Not Available for Purchase
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 »
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 »
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 »