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2007 Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc
2007 Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc honored with American Wine Award
Each year, Food & Wine names their top American wines in nine major categories, two wines per category: $20 and under, and over $20. We are thrilled that the 2007 Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc is the winner of Food & Wine's 2009 American Wine Award for best Rhône-Style White over $20.
The Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc is available in national distribution. As with all our signature wines, the 2007 Esprit Blanc was released early to VINsider wine club members in the September 2008 club shipment.
Production Notes
The Tablas Creek Vineyard Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc 2007 is a blend of three estate-grown varietals, propagated from budwood cuttings from the Château de Beaucastel estate. Roussanne provides the core richness, minerality, and flavors of honey and spice, while Grenache Blanc adds green apple and anise flavors, a lush mouthfeel and bright acids. Picpoul Blanc completes the blend, adding a saline minerality and bright acids.
The 2007 vintage was shaped by the cold, dry winter preceding it. The lack of ground water produced small, intensely flavored berries, and a very light crop. Yields on some varietals were down as much as 30%. The light yields and the consistent, warm summer led to a relatively early harvest and wines with tremendous color and flavor intensity. Grenache Blanc was harvested between September 6th and Octobe 1st, Roussanne between September 6th and October 24th, and Picpoul Blanc in one day on October 2nd.
The grapes for our Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc were grown on our 120-acre certified organic estate vineyard.
The fruit was whole cluster pressed, and fermented with native yeasts. The Roussanne was fermented in a balance of stainless steel fermenters, 60-gallon oak barrels, and one 1200-gallon foudre. The Grenache Blanc was fermented partially in stainless steel and also in one foudre, and the Picpoul Blanc was fermented in small neutral oak and stainless steel barrels. All the wines went through malolactic fermentation. After a very long fermentation, the varietals were blended and bottled in August 2008.
Tasting Notes
The 2007 Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc is a powerful expression of the 2007 vintage at Tablas Creek. It shows aromas of rose petals, candied lemon, honeycomb, white pepper, and sweet oak, rich Roussanne flavors of honey and sweet spice and long, dry, slightly tropical finish. It should drink well when young but will also reward time in bottle; we expect it to show beautifully for at least the next 8-10 years.
Updated tasting notes from a July 2011 vertical tasting can be found on the Tablas Creek blog.
Reviews
- 93 points; "still fresh and vibrant": The Rhone Report (Jun. 2012)
- 94 points: The Rhone Report (Dec. 2010)
- "Nice combination of weight and precision": James Molesworth (May 2010)
- 93 points: The Rhone Report (Nov. 2009)
- 5 stars: Piedmont Post (Nov. 2009)
- "American Wine Award: Best Rhone White": Food & Wine (Oct. 2009)
- 93 points: Wine Advocate (Aug. 2009)
- 91 points: Wine Enthusiast (Aug. 2009)
- 89 points: Wine Spectator (Mar. 2009)
- 92 points: Tanzer's IWC (Nov. 2008)
- 92-94 points: Wine Advocate (Jun. 2008)
- 92 points: Wine Review Online (May 2009)
[...more recent Tablas Creek press]
Recipe Suggestions
Food Pairings
- Cooked shellfish (lobster, softshell crab, shrimp)
- Roasted or grilled vegetables (eggplant, asparagus, peppers)
- Foods cooked with garlic and olive oil
- Rich fish dishes (i.e., salmon, swordfish)
- Asian stir fry
Not Available for Purchase
Blend
- 68% Roussanne
- 22% Grenache Blanc
- 10% Picpoul Blanc
Technical Notes
- 13.5% alcohol by volume
- 2150 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 »