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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 89.4 pts. and median of 90 pts. in 27 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by SteveG on 10/7/2020 & rated 88 points: Certainly more friendly than 4+ years ago, nicely matched our lamb chops, probably even more time would have been welcomed. (1294 views) | | | Tasted by SteveG on 3/27/2016 & rated 87 points: Garnet to black. Tar and ripe black fruit nose, berries, cherries, plums. The palate is powerful and concentrated, best either as an aperitif or perhaps with heavily spiced food. The finish displays the expected drying tannins, as well as significant acridity. Slightly toned down on day two, this is an accomplished wine but too much for my personal taste. (2110 views) | | | Tasted by Hodby on 11/2/2015 & rated 83 points: Dark red-purple color. Enormous nose of roasted fruits: plum, cherry, berries. On arrival, medium tannin and medium-high acidity; rather stiff. Gamy fruit and nothing else in the mouth, pegging the needle of my fruit-bomb tolerance scale too close to its maximum. It's not bad wine per se, but it's sure not a style I like. Perhaps if one likes hot climate wines (Minervois reds, Barossa valley shiraz, Amador county zinfandel, etc.), this may be one for you. Bottle #1 of one. (2239 views) | | | Tasted by iByron on 2/13/2014 & rated 90 points: Glass-clinging dark purple red in the glass. Purple black in a full drinking pour. Black fruit cobbler and a bit of tar on the nose and palate. Velvety tannins on the long finish. At a real sweet spot now. (3226 views) | | | Tasted by tward on 4/26/2013: Grapey and kind of "burnt" tasting. This may have been due to less than ideal cellaring conditions for a couple of years. (3293 views) | | | Tasted by iByron on 2/25/2013 & rated 90 points: Dark glass-clinging reddish purple; drinking pour is near black. Very closed on opening (surprise, surprise), yielding a little dark fruit under vanilla. Palate is likewise with dark berries and tar (but not in a scary way). Tannins are nice and velvety. After time in the air (as expected), it opens up nicely, yielding black fruit cobbler on the nose and yielding mounds of blackberry licorice creme surrounded by crushed velvet tannins on the palate. Not as rough and rustic as its Southwest France brethren, but a commanding presence in the glass nonetheless. Think Mike Tyson (ca. 1995) in a tux. Wonderful now with a decant. Should bring pleasure for another five to seven years or more. (3256 views) | | | Tasted by subir on 3/23/2012 & rated 92 points: Deep purple color, lovely, clear nose of dark fruit and leather. Medium body with a 45 second finish. (2491 views) | | | Tasted by vino_per_tutti on 7/15/2011 & rated 88 points: Dark purple. Brambly, purply nose with smoke and tobacco. Mouthfilling flavor of ripe berries, raspberry and spice. Still pretty fruit forward. Tannins give plenty of grip to an otherwise thin finish. Nice with a big bolognese sauce. (2693 views) | | | Tasted by dino_mike on 2/18/2010 & rated 88 points: Very nice spicy leathery flavors and purple fruits dominate. A definite dry tannin feel but overall a voluptuous quality. Goes really good with food. I think it's at it's peak NOW before fruit fades and dryness dominates but I am wholly unfamiliar with Tannat except for the few vintages Tablas has put out. (2767 views) | | | Tasted by wequedad on 1/7/2010 & rated 91 points: As promised. Popped and poured ... but allowed to sit in glass for 30 minutes. Dark garnet color with a cherry rim. Great nose. Spicy, dusty nose with pronounced leather note. Would have guessed it was a syrah if served blind. Palate gives tart cherries and cassis. A sweet note and chewy. THIS IS GOOD!! Great finish ... goes on for 45 seconds+. The fruit and tannins are almost evenly balanced with just a bit more tannin.
Really like this wine. Tablas continues to make excellent wines that please ... year after year. Surprise your wine drinking friends and serve this blind. They'll never guess. (2795 views) | | | Tasted by green-steve on 1/3/2010 & rated 89 points: Popped and poured and ready to go! Dark garnet, medium bodied wine; a nosefull of dark fruits; fruit forward palate - berries, and a little spice; fine slightly drying tannins, medium finish. Overall a very pleasant bottle. (2650 views) | | | Tasted by MBrown on 10/18/2008 & rated 91 points: Really enjoyed this. (2922 views) | | | Tasted by CADomer on 9/2/2008 & rated 90 points: Very nice. Uncomplicated and tasty. Kind of like a Merlot goes Syrah. Deep dark color with the fruit to match. (2781 views) | | | Tasted by xwine on 8/31/2008: While this has some similarities with tannat from the southwest of France, it is not as "hard" or "rough" as most. Color is very dark, and it almost comes across as a cross between syrah and petite sirah. Fun wine, but the price is a bit steep. (2949 views) | | | Tasted by MBrown on 8/4/2008 & rated 90 points: Wonderful wine. Deep dark color...great flavors of fruit and smoke. (2753 views) | | | Tasted by LPskeleton on 6/3/2008 & rated 87 points: Very grapey with touches of earth. Focused and linear with black fruit preserves in your face. Concentrated but short. 87pts. lacking the expected tannin. (3003 views) | | | Tasted by dino_mike on 5/5/2008 & rated 88 points: Pleasant and different. Red fruits and minerals but a nice dry mouthfeel that when they diminish with age may make the wine spectacular. (2960 views) | | | Tasted by Kate363 on 4/27/2008 & rated 92 points: this wine is great - it is like a gamey Syrah. we drank it with short ribs - incredible pairing! I will be searching for more! (3059 views) | | | Tasted by DenisLee on 4/15/2008: Very dark. Tasted like a Pinot on steroids. Tannic, but not overly so. (3130 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Tablas Creek Producer website
Tablas Creek Vineyard, founded by the Perrin family of Chateau de Beaucastel and Robert Haas of Vineyard Brands, is dedicated to growing grape varieties traditional to France's Rhone Valley. The partners chose hilly western Paso Robles for its limestone soils, rugged terrain, and ocean influence. All Tablas Creek wines are estate grown using environmentally sustainable practices.Tannat Varietal character (Appellation America) | Wikipedia
A southern French variety, it's most commonly found in the southwest part of the country near the Pyrenees. Characteristically, it has hard tannins, raspberry aromas, and a fair amount of astringency. Given those tannins, it's successful as the base for French roses, where tannins are minimized by little skin contact. In blends, particularly in California, Tannat adds bite to what might otherwise be flabby or soft wines resulting from overripe grapes.
Wine from the Tannat grape is typically rough and tannic when young, but with aging will mature into a full-bodied red wine. Modern winemaking in France (Madiran appellation) has begun to emphasize the fruit more and utilize barrel aging to help soften the tannins, with the wines typically spending about twenty months in oak prior to bottling.
The Tannat vine was introduced in Uruguay by Basque settlers in the 1870’s and began to flourish as it readily adapted to the local soil and climate. Today it is often blended with Pinot Noir and Merlot, and is made in a variety of styles including those reminiscent of Port and Beaujolais. Although considered Uruguay’s national grape, Tannat is also grown in Argentina, Australia, Brazil and in Italy's Puglia region where it is used as a blending grape.
Tannat wines produced in Uruguay are usually lighter in body and lower in tannins than those from France. In France, efforts to solve the harsh tannic nature of this grape led to the development of the winemaking technique known as micro-oxygenation. Vineyards in Uruguay have begun to distinguish between the "old vines" that are descendants from the original European cuttings and the new clones introduced in the 1990’s. The newer vines tend to produce more powerful wines with higher alcohol levels but less acidity and complex fruit characteristics, although some wineries utilize both vines to make blends.
First brought to the US late in the 19th century by a UC Berkeley agricultural professor, Tannat plantings did not receive much attention until the 1990’s when California producers, most notably in the Santa Cruz Mountains and Paso Robles viticultural areas, began using it in blends with Cabernet Franc, Sangiovese and Syrah. In 2002, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms formally recognized Tannat as a separate varietal.
In the vineyard, Tannat is one of the easiest varietals to grow, ripening late and being frost hardy. Unlike other varietals, it is not prone to overproduction and so does not require thinning. The grape’s berries have thick skins, which make it resistant to powdery mildew and botrytis, and which contributes to the varietals naturally high tannins. One notable difficulty with growing Tannat is its thick stems, which cling tightly to the berries and can be difficult to remove at harvest.
Tannat has significantly higher polyphenol content than other red grapes, making it the most bioactive variety with regards to oxidative reactions in food. Doctors have recommended Tannat as being the best wine grape for cardiopulmonary health because it contains a large amount of the antioxidant procyanidin, a chemical which helps bolster blood vessels and increase oxygen flow to red blood cells, ultimately helping to avert cardiovascular disease.
Tannat makes decidedly robust wines, with pronounced aromas of tobacco smoke, plum or ripe berries. The wines also tend to be dense purple-red in color, with significant tannins and a wonderfully spicy finish. Notable California producers include Bonny Doon Vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains and Tablas Creek Vineyards in Paso Robles.USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Central Coasthttp://www.ccwinegrowers.org/links.html
http://www.discovercaliforniawines.com/regional-wine-organizations/
http://beveragetradenetwork.com/en/btn-academy/list-of-winegrowers-association-in-central-coast-california-274.htm
Central Coast AVA Wikipedia |
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