2008 Esprit de Beaucastel

Production Notes

The Tablas Creek Vineyard Esprit de Beaucastel 2008 is a blend of four estate-grown varietals, propagated from budwood cuttings from the Château de Beaucastel estate. The wine is based on the dark red fruit, earth, spice and mid-palate richness of Mourvèdre, with additions of Grenache for forward fruit, approachability and lushness, Syrah for mineral, aromatics, and back-palate tannins, and Counoise for brambly spice and acidity.

The 2008 vintage was our second consecutive drought vintage, with low yields, cool-climate characteristics, and a persistent elegance across both whites and reds. A late spring and moderate summer combined with beautiful harvest weather to produce gradual ripening and red wines that were unusually fresh and approachable despite appealing lushness. Syrah began the harvest of our reds between September 9th and October 7th, followed by Grenache between September 23th and October 24th, Counoise between October 2nd and 28th, and Mourvedre between September 30th and October 30th.

The grapes for our Esprit de Beaucastel 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 1200-gallon French oak foudres before being bottled in July 2010.

Tasting Notes

The 2008 Esprit de Beaucastel shows a deep, spicy nose with waves of fruit alternating between red and black raspberry and cherry, grilled meat, balsamic, and licorice. The palate shows raspberry, currant and black cherry fruit highlighted by beautiful acidity, an appealing mintiness, and substantial but fine-grained tannins. The wine is remarkably approachable despite its youth, and we think it will only get better. Enjoy over the next two decades.

Updated tasting notes from a December 2010 vertical tasting can be found on the Tablas Creek blog.

Reviews

Read reviews on our Esprit de Beaucastel 2008:

[...more recent Tablas Creek press]

Recipe Suggestions

[...more recipes]

Food Pairings

  • Game
  • Dark Fowl (i.e., duck)
  • Richly flavored stews
  • Lamb
  • Asian preparation of red meats (i.e., beef stir fry)
Esprit de Beaucastel

Not Available for Purchase

Blend

  • 38% Mourvèdre
  • 30% Grenache
  • 26% Syrah
  • 6% Counoise

Technical Notes

  • 14.5% alcohol by volume
  • 3000 cases produced

Downloads

Share
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 »