2007 Tannat

Production Notes

The 2007 Tablas Creek Vineyard Tannat is Tablas Creek’s sixth bottling of this traditional varietal from South-West France, known principally in the Pyrenees foothills appellation of Madiran, but originally native to the Basque region. The Tannat grape has intense fruit, spice, and tannins that produce wines capable of long aging, and it is traditionally blended with Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Franc.

When we imported our Châteauneuf du Pape clones, the Perrins’ French nurseryman included the Tannat because he believed it would thrive in the rocky limestone soils of Paso Robles. We have planted just under an acre of Tannat, and it has indeed thrived here.

Our Tannat grapes (and the small section of Cabernet Sauvignon in our nursery block) were grown on our 120-acre certified organic estate vineyard.

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. About one-third of our Tannat was harvested in one day on October 3rd, and the remaining two-thirds co-harvested and co-fermented with our tiny Cabernet block on October 10th.

The Tannat and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were destemmed and co-fermented using native yeasts. The wines were then moved to small barrels where they were aged for 18 months. The wine was bottled in May of 2009, and we aged it a further 6 months in bottle before releasing it in November.

Tasting Notes

The 2007 Tannat shows a dense purple-red color and has a nose of tobacco, smoke, game herbs (sage and juniper), chocolate and ripe berries. The rich palate has juicy flavors of raspberry and plum, with big but ripe tannins, and a long, smoky, generous finish. We believe that it will benefit from 3-5 years of bottle aging and drink well for a decade more.

Reviews

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Recipe Suggestions

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Food Pairings

  • Game stews
  • Pepper steak
  • Szechuan beef
  • Duck breast
Tannat

Not Available for Purchase

Blend

  • 90% Tannat
  • 10% Cabernet Sauvignon

Technical Notes

  • 15.0% Alcohol by Volume
  • 320 Cases Produced

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