2008 Côtes de Tablas

Production Notes

The Tablas Creek Vineyard Côtes de Tablas is a blend of four estate-grown Rhône varietals: Grenache, Syrah, Counoise and Mourvèdre. Like most wines of the Southern Rhône, it is a blend of varietals, featuring the fruit and spice of Grenache balanced by the spice and mineral of Syrah, the appealing briary wildness of Counoise, and the structure of Mourvèdre.

The grapes for our Côtes de Tablas were grown on our 120-acre certified organic estate vineyard.

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 Mourvèdre between September 30th and October 30th.

All varietals were fermented in stainless steel with the use of native yeasts: the Syrah in open-top fermenters, punched down manually, and the other varietals in closed fermenters with pump-over aeration. After pressing, the wines were racked, blended, aged for a year in 1200-gallon French oak foudres, and then bottled in December 2009. The wines underwent only a light filtration before bottling.

Tasting Notes

The 2008 Côtes de Tablas shows a juicy, vibrant, spicy nose with a little minty lift. Its flavors alternate between red raspberry and darker fruits, with refreshing acidity and a licorice-laced finish with gently lingering tannins.

Updated tasting notes from a September 2011 tasting can be found on the Tablas Creek blog.

Reviews

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Recipe Suggestions

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Food Pairings

  • Grilled steaks
  • Pastas with meat sauces
  • Rich beef stews
  • Spicy sausages
Cotes de Tablas

Not Available for Purchase

Blend

  • 42% Grenache
  • 21% Syrah
  • 20% Counoise
  • 17% Mourvèdre

Technical Notes

  • 14.5% Alcohol by Volume
  • 2300 Cases Produced

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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 »