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2004 Esprit de Beaucastel Bottle

2004 Esprit de Beaucastel

The Tablas Creek Vineyard Esprit de Beaucastel 2004 was our fourth release of our flagship red blend, incorporating four estate-grown varieties from grapevines propagated from budwood cuttings from the Château de Beaucastel estate. Like the Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape red, it is based on the dark red fruit, chewy tannic structure, and meaty richness of the Mourvedre grape.

Tasting Notes

The 2004 Esprit de Beaucastel is dark black-red in color, with a rich briary nose of dark red fruit (plum and currant), sweet spices (nutmeg, clove) and mocha. The elegant, layered palate shows spicy plum and cherry fruit, smoky, meaty flavors, and ripe tannins. The long finish reveals mineral and black cherry. The wine is showing remarkably well now, but should evolve elegantly in bottle for 10-15 years or longer.

Updated tasting notes from a May 2019 vertical tasting can be found on the Tablas Creek blog.

Technical Details

Appellation

  • Paso Robles

Technical Notes

  • 14.5% alcohol by volume
  • 3250 cases produced

Blend

  • 50% Mourvèdre
  • 27% Syrah
  • 17% Grenache
  • 6% Counoise

Recipes & Pairings

Food Pairings

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

Production Notes

The 2004 vintage was excellent, with a very early spring balanced by a long, warm (but rarely hot) summer. The extended ripening cycle gave the grapes intense aromatics, pronounced minerality, good acids, and good structure. Our first lots of Syrah came in on September 3rd, followed by Grenache on September 17th, and Counoise September 30th. An early onset of the fall rains on October 14th stopped harvest for a short time, but two weeks of sunny, cool, and breezy temperatures allowed us to harvest most of the rest of the Mourvèdre between October 23rd and 25th. A final lot of Mourvèdre, harvested on November 18th (our latest harvest ever) completed the 2004 vintage.

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 June 2006. The wine is unfined and unfiltered.

The 2004 Esprit de Beaucastel is dark black-red in color, with a rich briary nose of dark red fruit (plum and currant), sweet spices (nutmeg, clove) and mocha. The elegant, layered palate shows spicy plum and cherry fruit, smoky, meaty flavors, and ripe tannins. The long finish reveals mineral and black cherry. The wine is showing remarkably well now, but should evolve elegantly in bottle for 10-15 years or longer.

Updated tasting notes from a December 2014 vertical tasting can be found on the Tablas Creek blog.

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