2005 Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc

Production Notes

The Tablas Creek Vineyard Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc 2005 is a blend of three estate-grown varietals, propagated from budwood cuttings from the Château de Beaucastel estate.

The 2005 vintage was one of nature’s lucky breaks, with excellent quality and higher-than-normal yields. The wet winter of ’04–’05 gave the grapevines ample groundwater, and a warm period in March got the vines off to an early May flowering. The summer was uniformly sunny but relatively cool, and harvest began (relatively late for us) in the 3rd week of September, giving the grapes nearly a month longer than normal on the vine. The resulting wines were intensely mineral, with good structure and powerful aromatics. The Grenache Blanc harvest began September 26th, the Roussanne in several batches between September 26th and November 7th, and the Picpoul Blanc in one day on November 1st.

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 half in stainless steel fermenters and half in small oak “pieces”, while the other varietals were fermented 100% in stainless steel. All the wines went through malolactic fermentation. The varietals were blended in May, after which the wines were racked, blended, cold stabilized, and bottled in June 2006.

The 2005 Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc is a vibrant expression of the terroir of Tablas Creek. It shows aromas of honeysuckle, mint, lemon peel and spice, with rich Roussanne flavors of honey, rose petals, pear, petrol and white flowers, excellent breadth, cleansing acidity and great length. It should drink well when young but will also reward time in bottle; we expect it to show beautifully for at least the next 5–7 years.

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

Reviews

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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
Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc

Not Available for Purchase

Blend

  • 70% Roussanne
  • 25% Grenache Blanc
  • 5% Picpoul Blanc

Technical Notes

  • 14.5% alcohol by volume
  • 1800 cases produced

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