I'll echo previous comments that this wine is in a very nice place. Opens to a hint of barnyard and meat, then smooth dark fruit (plum). Drinking very well.
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I rarely write tasting notes anymore, but felt I needed to with this bottle of Tablas Creek. I've had good, bad and in-between experiences with this blend from TC over the years, and to their credit if you have a bad bottle they will send you a new one. So, when I opened this bottle (one of 2 '09s left) I was hopeful but prepared for a wine on the decline. What a pleasant surprise to pour a glass and find the color still bright red and the nose still bright with red and dark fruit! If it wasn't for the tannins being mellowed out I would have guessed this to be no more than 5-7 years old. It's absolutely beautiful. Fingers crossed that my last bottle will be just as good when I open it...sooner than later!
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TN trajectory here seems to indicate it’s getting better now in 15th year of age. My feeling too. More round, more full, some balsam and super gentle. As good as most C9Ps I drank. Good stuff and probably on its peak plateau now. Were I a dedicated southern Rhone drinker, I would give it a 93, but I am not. Still, respect.
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Dark ruby color with complex dark fruits, spice, licorice, bramble, wet stone and pepper aromas. On the palate, it's medium-bodied and dry and round with a lush texture, dusty tannins and black cherry, plum, red currant flavors with a persistent minerality. Long finish. Blend of 40% Mourvèdre, 28% Syrah, 27% Grenache, 5% Counoise 14.5% alcohol
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Perfect example of why "there are no truly great wines, just great bottles of wine". I have had over 12 of these bottles, this is my last 750, and I have 2 1.5L. This was the richest, most powerful and most balanced GSM I have ever had and none of the prior 11 or so came close. What a spectacular wine!
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Stored at 55 degrees since purchase. Very strange bottle. Overripe nose kind of stewed. Not sure what happened here but this is not representative of Tablas Creek at all. 80 points
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Our last bottle. Decanted for 90 minutes. This vintage never found its sweet spot for us over the years, ranging from reticent to big bruiser. At this stage it’s pretty much just raspberries on the palate with tannins in the finish. Cellar stored since release. Pass.
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My guest put it best: holy crap, this is good. He wasn't there for the first two hours while it decanted and went through a weird volatile window (which blew off, thankfully), a grainy bitter tannin window (totally subsided), but he did experience the perfectly polished, deep, smooth,.and impeccably balanced product at the end. I don't see how this could improve from where it is now. Drink drink drink!
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Ripe strawberries, blueberries, dirt and milk chocolate collide with a pronounced spice note (cumin and crushed red chili flakes). Full bodied with soft supple tannins that linger on the palate. Still nice medium + acid here at age 13. A beautifully balanced and rounded GSM that drinks well now; but could go for a couple more years too.
Great with braised lamb
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This wine is drinking beautifully right now. Great complexity with none of the ingredients dominating. A perfectly blending wine. TCV just keeps making better and better wines, regardless of the vintage.
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40% Mourvedre/28% Syrah/27% Grenache/5% Counoise. Nice old school Paso and very reminiscent of older Beaucastel. Red cherry, cranberry, raspberry, and dark plum fruit. Notes of earth, stewed tomatoes, prunes, baking spice, raspberry liqueur, and savory herbs. Nice acidity, smooth tannins, and gool long finish. Great drinking window right now.
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This was for sure better than my bottle in 2018, but I still found it to be 'just ok'. Restrained red and plummy fruit with ample acidity, but with a short finish and just kind of boring. No wow factor at all. Enjoyable enough but not a repeat purchase and definitley not worth the cellar space/time (cellared since release).
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A truly exceptional bottle of wine! Everything is there but nothing is there, if you know what I mean. One of the most balanced red wines I have ever had. Just a complete wine from start to finish with no element being out of balance. Kudos to the blending team. Hard to believe this will get better with time, but who knows.
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Stunning from PnP and over a couple of hours. Deep, layered and nuanced. Powerful, supple, and warming with just the right about of structure to support it. Though it was beautiful out of the gates, it kept subtly evolving with air.
My TN scores on this wine were: 2014 92 (Excellent+) 2016 87 (Very Good) 2018 90 (Excellent)
It must have been in a closed / awkward phase in 2016. It is into maturity now and Outstanding+. I loved it.
Pine forest floor, turned earth, baked earth, baker's chocolate, mint, raspberry liquor, Christmas spice cake, cooked plum, some bay leaf, sometimes some fine tannins would sneak on on the finish, but these eventually melted, as it opened with air, soy, umami generally, fennel seed and an increasingly long, long finish.
Great pairing with a grilled grassfed ribeye.
14.5% abv
They don't make 'em like this anymore? Seriously, this is unapologetically deep, dark, and even a touch rustic and points to the initial Esprit designation de Beaucastel which was still the label in the 2009 vintage. And clearly it needed time in the bottle to really shine IMO.
Note: I'm not sure if I bought this bottle six, eight, or ten years ago, but since then it's been stored in good, but not perfect conditions - dark with seasonal temperature fluctuations from the mid-50s to mid-upper-60s. So if you've got bottles stored in ideal conditions, this bottle may represent an approximation of what you'll find in roughly 2027.
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Perfect cork easily removed. Unfortunately, serious TCA put a damper on the meal. I was really looking forward to to sharing this bottle with friends based on my past experiences. Oh well, my last bottle of this vintage in my cellar. Too bad !!
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I agree with the TCV vintage chart. This wine still needs some aging. Still very well crafted but the tannins are not as softened as I have gotten from other aged Esprit. This was with a 2 hour decant.
Drinking beautifully right now, although, strangely, not completely integrated yet. Still fruit driven with a bowl of black and blue fruits in the palate, finishing with some tar and redwood bark notes. A bit hot. Drink 2025 to 2031. Worth Seeking Out.
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I’ve had many Tablas Espirits over the years and I’ve drank them all fairly young. This however takes the prize. It’s entering a mature phase and drinking perfectly. I get a nose of ripe blueberries blended with stewed figs and raisins; I think you could even throw some herbs in there. It’s fresh but starting to show age. On the palate it’s medium to full bodied, medium plus tannins, medium alcohol and a long finish. This paired well with lamb chops (it’s certainly a food wine). I’d say the wine has recently entered its perfect drinking window. Perhaps 2020-2026.
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Ruby to garnet color. Medium clarity. Nose of smoke and tobacco wrapped in dark fruits. Body has structured tannins dark fruits with good acid backbone. long finish loved it and justvenering it’s mature phase.
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Very nice bottle that has very little space left to grow. Everything seems developed and delivers a well aged rendition of this Tablas. Drank this on my 41st birthday!
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Bottle #3 of 4, last tasted 1.5 yrs ago. Consumed this bottle over 2 days. 40% Mourvèdre, 28% Syrah, 27% Grenache and 5% Counoise. Black cherry compote, charred wood, anise, and bitter dark chocolate. Silky smooth at this point, with significant extraction and glycerol, making it a bit "hi octane" for my liking, but it is still quite delicious, keeping me coming back for another sip. Tannins are finely grained and well integrated, with good acidity and a mouth staining finish of fruit and spice. Drink now through 2021.
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I should have read my previous note before opening. This NEEDED 3 hours before enjoying. Dark and unyielding until our last glass, about 3 hours after being opened... That last glass was great though.
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Brought this to Venue by Sebastian to share with my wine buddies over dinner. We had tomato bread, romanesco, burrata, cold pasta with truffle oil, angel hair pasta with sakura ebi, chermoula chicken, braised lamb foreshank,chilean seabass, duck confit, poached foie gras, pan seared foie gras, grilled octopus and grilled spice pork collar.
Decanted for an hour before pouring. Dark purple in colour with notes of blackcurrants, lacquer, some chocolate, coffee, and black spices.
Made up of 40% Mourvedre, 28% Syrah, 27% Grenache and 5% Counoise, this wine is wonderfull integrated with all the elements in a wonderful harmony.
Wholesome, delicious and likable. Will get more of this wine the next time it is on promotion.
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Dark crimson but with the clarity that goes with ten years. Concentrated and muscular black and red fruits with a huge dose of dark chocolate. The grippy tannins were fierce on opening but after an hour lost harshness and added punch to the spicy palate. The nose is CdP like with dark chocolate, and mouth has more of a sour cherry Nebbiolo accent than a raspberry liqueur ganache character. Flavors are complex and integrated. The medium long cherried-dark chocolate and leather finish invites dipping into this glorious rendition again and again. Wish the Magnum format were available. 5+12+19+8
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After a 3 hour decant this wine started to unwind a bit and show it's beauty. Luscious and perfumed boysenberries, black cherries, and licorice. I really enjoyed this wine and look forward to my next.
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W cassoulet at 540MH. We had this after the 2010, which at this time was the better wine. Both 5 hour decant. This one really needs it as upon opening it had nothing. Color was a bit darker than the 2010, nose much more subdued or thinner but still good fruit and spice. Really enjoyable next to each other. This will live a few more years, probably not as long as the 2010. Great combo with the food.
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Man, I had high Hopes for this one.....but unfortunately it was pretty boring. Not giving up much on the nose (even on day 2) and really basic on the palate with some darker fruits and even a bit of heat. Drinkable for sure....just not that great. I've got a bottle left so I'll hope its just in an awkward phase or something and keep my fingers crossed....but definitely no fireworks with this one.
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Notes after 2 hours decant at 56 degrees with lamb. This needed time to unfurl Upon uncorking and after 45 mins this seemed reticent and tired but awakened gracefully to reveal aromatics of dark cherries and garrigue at 1-1/2 hours Thankfully. Flavors of cherries, earth, florals with a mid palate that wants a bit more intensity, medium acidity, medium bodied and length in the finish leaving haunting floral aromas. Almost old world in its lack of oak presence. Thankfully. Tannins are pretty well integrated and slightly drying and ethanol seems generally well masked. 91+
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Tasted this for first time last summer, along side the 2008 and 2011. All were good, but the rank was 2011, then 2008, and then this 2009. The 2011 showed best due to the higher acid profile. I have revisited all three this summer, and the 2011 is showing even better. The 2009 has gotten less interesting as the ripeness shows more. The funny thing is that I think all three are at 14.5 abv, but the 2011 doesn’t show it at all, while the 2009 does. That being said, this has some nice fruit forward blackberry, earth, anise. Good flavors but just a bit of slight overripe feel to it. Drink now and enjoy it with sausages and such. I won’t expect this to last a long time.
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I decided to pop this open after a recent Tablas Creek blog post on this wine, though mine are stored in the low-mid 60's F, so should see a different and accelerated aging vs. ideal cellar conditions. Had this nearly a week ago with no written notes, unfortunately - the *intent* is usually there to write down or note immediately in CT, but it doesn't always happen. The good news is that this really has settled in as the blog post suggested. Though still showing a very ripe, fruit-driven profile, I only got hints of the previous "cough syrup" notes towards the middle-end of the bottle. It really came across like a warm+ southern Rhone vintage and now complete with secondary notes. So upfront black fruits and balsamic notes were joined with dusty earth, leather, cool eucalyptus, and dried herbs along with exotic spices. Still a burly wine that I don't think will achieve excellence - it just lacks the finesse and structure, I think, but highly enjoyable and a very nice bottle.
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Tasty Paso red blend, at $45 USD. The blend is 40% Mourvèdre, 28% Syrah, 27% Grenache and 5% Counoise. Black cherry, plum, charcoal, licorice, and cooking spices. Mouth coating tannins with med acidity and a long and fruit-laden finish. Drink now through 2022.
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This was opened last night. Opaque black-ruby. Thick legs. Nose very reminiscent of a CdP, with olive and garrigue. While somewhat restrained on the nose, the wine is more expressive in the mouth, though still a little tight. I'm inclined to think this has more upside with a little more bottle age. 5-11-16-7: 89/100.
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Must be some bottle variation. Nose was quite good, but a bit thin on the palate. Decent amount red fruit. Well made but drinks like a cote du Rhone rather than a CDP
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Very happy with this one. Fresh nose out of the bottle with plenty of fruit. Still youthful on the palate with dark and red berries, nice acidity and restrained tannins. A very nice bottle with lots of milage age (disclaimer: It was my last bottle)
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Took to a restaurant for a birthday celebration. Decanted for an hour. Excellent example of a GSM and as good as a similar vintages CdP. Lots of black fruit with a hint of vanilla. Long finish. One of the best wines I’ve tasted this year.
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W grilled lambchops at Rudy & Jenny. Fun evening. This wine “did not speak to me” and Helen thought it was somewhat boring. Upon opening (2 hour decant) the nose was pretty good, color pretty red fruit. But on palate this was fruit but one dimensional, looked like second bottle tried to do better, but it wasnt. I guess drink now. Nit sure how come i have another 4.
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Much better than the last bottle we opened. I think I will keep my last bottle at least 5 years as this has a great future ahead. Still robust and somewhat medicinal (in an appreciable way).
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Rich, lush with cherry and pepper. Still quite firm, and needs more time, but still good to drink now. The larger than usual percentage of Syrah is evident. Excellent.
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Popped and poured from split. This is a medium-red wine with some modest sediment at the end of the bottle and teeth-staining capacity throughout. On the nose, this has cherry, herbs, and some beef jerky. In the mouth, this has flavors of red fruit and some stones, all leaving a chewy finish. Overall, this is good; everything is in step now and the wine is perfectly pleasant with or without food. 90 points.
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A 90 minute decant let this show well and I loved it! It's so well balanced, a medium body, smooth on the palate with integrated acids, resolved tannins in the background adding complexity along with an off-dry level of sweetness that had all parts singing in perfect harmony! Way to go TC!
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I probably should not have even rated this wine as I really could not appreciate it at all. I have had a lot of Tablas Creek wines in the past several years and loved just about all of them but this wine just was not doing it for us. I totally noticed the cough syrup thing too. I decanted on night one but could not get it going. Tried again on the second day with slightly better results but still not there for me. I have another bottle and will hold it for 3 or 4 years to see if it evolves through what is maybe a phase.
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Certainly not drinking as well as my Oct. 2014 notes indicate. On PnP I was shocked to find DRROBVINO's description "this is some tasty cough syrup" totally correct. Really, very much like cough syrup. Fortunately this subsided rather quickly with air.
I decided to decant and vigorously aerate for several minutes and it helped. But it continued to come across as too hot and had a "Parker-grasping" profile with some soy and roasted chocolate making it heavy. Still, nice underlying fruit with some dusty earth, touch of cocoa powder, cherry, and brush.
Since I've got a couple other bottles I can only hope it will pass through an awkward phase and drink well as an aged, mature wine. The TCV vintage chart does not show it in the "closed" phase, but this bottle spent several years stored at ~65, which accelerates (and changes) aging. Time will tell. Hopefully, it will again deserve its price tag.
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If I catch a cold, this is some tasty cough syrup. If I want to enjoy a food-friendly, tasty wine with medium acidity, this ain't it. When your fruit grows in Paso, I am sure the 90+ degree days make it hard to keep your wine from getting too sugary. That being said, this is a really well-made wine. I would not buy this wine again at $50/bottle (not even at $25). Drink this tasty California cough syrup now through 2020.
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Nose is aromatic, color starting to show some of the age. Some mild sediment was removed with decanting. Tastes like a solid and dense core of medium red fruit. There is some earth and dry leaves but to me the fruit is still front and center. I have the perception of sweetness, but it seems to come from the fruit itself. The wine finishes dry and in good balance, not hot. I did not get stewed fruit or prunes as others have mentioned in previous notes.
This wine has evolved considerably compared to the tasting that I had upon release (improved to my palate). Fruit is still in the forefront (enough to pair with a luxardo cherry and balsamic gastrique) but more integrated into the rest of the wine. The tannin has been tamed but still enough to cut the fat from the rack of lamb we had. We've had a few different glasses of Chataneuf du Pape lately, and my wife guessed CdP blind which was a really good call to me (unblind). The wine improved with the 1 hour decant/aeration prior to dinner. If I had any bottles left I would drink within the next 3-5 years.
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Tasty and balanced, with ripe red fruit and a dusting of earthy characteristics. I wouldn't say this has improved since last taste, but it's still very nice.
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Tasted blind. Purple-tinged ruby color. Tastes young and ripe. Fruit forward and simple, but pretty good weight. Ripe black cherry. Cinnamon, pepper, and slight hints of game. Drying tannins on at the finish are somewhat rough but useful in that they provide a modicum of seriousness to this wine.
I think this wine is full of grenache. My guess is that this is a young GSM wine from a not-very-prestigious region. I will guess Cotes du Rhone or something similar like Languedoc or a Spanish garnacha. I know there is a bottle of Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel among the 18 wines in the blind sample set, and I really hope, for the sake of California and the good Beaucastel name, that this is something different.
Rating: 85
Non-blind p.s.: Oh no! I’ve been skeptical of Tablas Creek, so this isn’t a complete shocker. But this wine certainly tastes way more like a basic Cotes du Rhone than a good Chateauneuf du Pape. I found this inferior to every bottle of Chateau Beaucastel I've ever tasted.
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We’ve been Tablas Creek (T.C.) wine club members for years; their wines are ALWAYS good-to-awesome. We received this bottle in September 2011. For years, I waited to open their wines only if/when they were in a “peak” maturity stage according to their vintage chart. But since their Esprit de Beaucastel/Tablas red blends evolve and change every nanosecond, they usually go through a “closed” phase around five years post-harvest for 2-to-5 years. According to T.C.’s vintage chart and wine blog, this wine recently “exited” its closed phase, so here we go…… The bouquet is dark fruited, herbaceous, earthy (a bit flinty and chalky), and typical for a Chateauneuf-du-Pape-styled red blend. The wine pours quite dark, not surprising considering this blend consists of 40% Mourvedre, 28% Syrah, 27% Grenache, and 5% Counoise. Sure enough, this red blend is fabulous, exhibiting a fruit profile of 90% dark fruits and 10% red fruits, such as plums, blackberries, black cherries, figs, raspberries, sour cherries, and currants. Next “up to the plate” after those delicious fruits are dried herbs found in a typical Herbs de Provence spice blend, as well as a significant element of black pepper. The wine is nicely rich, creamy, and medium-bodied (perhaps thanks to the oak used in the wine-making process, even though I’m not detecting any oak elements in the flavor profile, such as baking spices) and has significant food-friendly structural elements as well, such as zippy tannins and palate-cleansing acidity, that would probably allow this wine to continue to age/mature/develop gracefully and beautifully for another five-to-twenty-five years. All of this beauty’s elements (fruits, spices, structure) are gorgeously and harmoniously integrated, which results in a fabulously-well-balanced and food-friendly red blend that would pair well with any red meat/protein dish. I paired this beauty with my “usual” quality-red-wine-and-red-meat-dish: a rib eye steak spiced with Kosher salt, black pepper, and Herbs de Provence. This ALWAYS good-to-awesome red blend would pair well with just about any red meat protein/dish, such as lamb chops/shanks/racks, prime rib, Beef Wellington, and/or any quality steak. The tannins and acidity beautifully and elegantly cleanse the palate which leads to a long, lingering finish. As usual, this red blend is/was fabulous and I can’t wait for the 2007 and 2008 bottles we have in our wine coolers to exit their “closed” phases. We’ll probably pop-open the four bottles of this 2012 red blend before they go into a “closed” phase since I don’t want to “sit on them” for five years (or so). Robert and Jason Haas (founder and son/current General Manager), you’ve been warned: if I ever win one of those MASSIVE lotteries (PowerBall, MegaMillions, etc.), I’ll be showing-up at your winery with one, two, or three “big rigs” to empty-out your cellar/inventory, as well as going to several other good-to-great Paso Robles wineries that I’ve liked/loved for years to buy hundreds (if not thousands) of cases of high-quality wines. As usual, this red blend was indeed wonderful (like ALL of your wines ALWAYS are)!!!!!!!!!!
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After 3 hrs of decanting - very soft and approachable wine with nice balance. Don't really feel the alcohol. Relation to C9P is unmistakeable. Not sure this is for Summer, though. More of a Winter fireplace wine. Happy to still have 15 Bt of this and 2 of 2007
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2010 Two Hands Garden Series plus a lot more (Colonial Beverage, Chesterland Ohio): Wow, this is really good. Needs some air, but really nice. Purple/ruby in color. The nose has cherries, roasted herbs, spice and some vanilla. Great texture. Good balance. On the palate, nice cherries with spice. Good balance. Long finish. Outstanding wine.
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Popped and poured. In a good place but could still use more ageing. Nose of black fruits, leather, earth and cigar. Taste of blackberries, plum, and a touch of raisin. Nice tannins and acid level. Medium finish.
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A beautiful garnet colored, full bodied red blend of 40% Mourvedre, 28% Syrah, 27% Grenache and 5% Counoise. There is light sediment in the bottle. Aromas of strawberry, blueberry, cassis, chocolate and tobacco in which almost all of that finds its way to the palate. The wine finishes long with strong tannins and medium plus acidity. A great wine now and probably better in 5 years.
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PNP. Plum, blackberry, clove, smoke, earth, tar, anise. Medium+ body and acidity; high alcohol; high chalky tannins. Fairly long finish, but a bit hot. Nice complexity, but surprisingly high tannins for a rhone blend and too hot. After an hour of air, this was much smoother, softer, better balanced. Also better with food. Decant next one.
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This never got better...to my taste it's a bit unbalanced and tannic...probably not enough Grenache to suit me...but at this price point why not buy a nice CdP???
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Mourvèdre, Syrah, Grenache and Counoise combine to make a full bodied, savoury wine. Spicy, warm, raspberry nose. Baked dark berry fruit, black pepper and herbaceous character.
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WSET Level 4 Course - WSET School; 9/6/2014-5/23/2015 (WSET School, Bermondsey): Appearance: The wine is Clear with a Medium ruby colour. Nose: The nose is Clean and Developing, showing Medium(+) intensity primary aromas of strawberry, raspberry, red plum, hint of black fruit, secondary aromas of smoke, cloves and tertiary aromas of earth, farmyard. Palate: The wine is Dry in the mouth with a Medium level of acidity. It has Medium(+) Fine Grained tannins and a High Level of alcohol (14.50%). It has Full body and Medium(+) intensity primary flavours of strawberry, raspberry, red plum, hint of black fruit, secondary flavours of smoke, cloves and tertiary flavours of earth, farmyard. The finish is Medium(+). Jammy fruit, smooth fine tannins, hint of black fruit Overall: Complex, intense and long. Good balance between all components although the fruit is a bit jammy. Conclusion: It is a Very Good quality wine. Can Drink Now but has Potential for Ageing Has structure and concentration for ageing; Premium priced (£39.99)
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Wines At My Table; Week of February 1, 2015; 1/23/2015-2/1/2015: Dark ruby color with complex dark fruits, spice, licorice, bramble, wet stone and pepper aromas. On the palate, it's medium-bodied and dry and round with a lush texture, dusty tannins and black cherry, plum, red currant flavors with a persistent minerality. Long finish. Pnp. Opened up nicely over the course of 90 minutes. Will continue to favorably evolve. Blend of 40% Mourvèdre, 28% Syrah, 27% Grenache, 5% Counoise 14.5% alcohol
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Certainly not a wine one would sit and ponder over, but a solid food-friendly effort. Color from the Syrah, depth from the Mourvedre, and spice and floral notes from the Grenache and Counoise. This wine needs to be drunk over the next couple of years. I'd bet those holding it until the second half of this decade will likely be disappointed.
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PNP served at cellar temp (56F) . Beautiful ruby red in color, Dark berry and blueberry with a touch of earthiness on the finish. Well balanced with a short to medium finish but may have lacked complexity. A little thin with very little tannins. The wine handled it's 14.5 ABV very well, with almost no sense of alcohol while drinking. Paired with a NY strip and green beans made for a very nice meal. I doubt this well improve much farther, time to drink.
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Seems to have improved since the last bottle. What tasted like a closed down period, at least based on the intervening reviews and on this bottle may have ended, since this is drinking very well right now. This was markedly better after at least 1/2-hour decant. It remains one of our favorites.
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Wonderful. Didn't wait long, pretty much PnP and drank before, during, and after a meal over 2-3 hours. Spicebox and red fruits started things along with some earth, then picked up mineral, iron, rust and granite notes, some meaty notes and and maybe black cherry, then it added weight showing more dark, ripe fruits and tea leaf (indicating tannins popping back up, which means it probably could stand several more years aging).
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A very good blend of typically Rhine varietals. Fruity with a mellowed balance that gives complexity and leaves structure for further aging. A little time to breathe will help the flavors come into their own. All in all a very good wine.
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After being disappointed with two Napa cabs 9-10 years old, I opened this one and it was perfect! With grilled bison flank steak, grilled corn on cob, and grilled peppers, it was perfect.
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Ruby red to purple on the eye, spice and sweet vanilla on the nose. Red fruit and limestone on the palate with a short but pleasant finish. Maybe not at its best, but drinkable now. A couple of days later, it makes a flower garden on the nose; wow, nice!
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Nice nose of dark fruits & cherries. Well balanced tastes of dark fruits & cherries. Consistent vivid tastes & finish throughout the bottle. A delightful bottle.
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Ruby red on the eye, red fruit and a trace of limestone on the nose and the palate. Soft tannins remain for a not-too-lasting finish. Pleasant now and a bit more time would not hurt either.
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Still evolving and getting better. I agree with others that this may be entering a closed period. Quite enchanting and enjoyable nonetheless. This was different than the last two bottles and remains a real favorite.
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Color: medium/deep purple core -> medium ruby rim. Moderately complex bouquet showing plums, cherries, prairie dust, rosemary and a little anisette. Medium weight palate showing some admirable CdP-like austerity. Licorice, black fruit, spice and some earthiness along with semi-sweet fruit (more so than CdP). This is really quite nice; good tannin and acid structure -- I can see this aging gracefully. Reminiscent of the '06, just (obviously) younger.
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Dark reddish purple on the eye. Red fruit on the nose-hinting of grape jelly maybe. On the palate it suggests that it is developing a barnyard characteristic in the future, but right now it is tannic enough to balance the fruitiness. Pleasant mouthfeel and persistant finish.
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Good young colour, bright glossy. Fresh and full of red fruits at this stage, felt less ripe than last time, and definitely less sweet, Probably now hitting a good stride in its life and albeit on the young side still showed very well. In all fairness it is less ripe and oaky than many CdPs these days. Give it a few years more and this will be just the number. Good to see the restrain in the use of oak. 90-91
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Initially nothing....slowly some flavours emerge, but the taste is escaping. During the evening it changes again and again, but it is never really impressive. Anyway, down there there is something. Mourvedra is a stange grape, and I think it is about to close down. Be patient!
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I really wanted to like this, having liked previous vintages. I decanted 15 minutes and drank out of the decanter over a couple hours. Smooth blend, pleasant enough, but unexciting and not special in terms of complexity or length. Not even a flash near the end of the bottle.
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Nice ripe black fruit on the nose with some black pepper and chocolate. The palate matched and had little depth, just primary fruit. The finish was short and extremely sharp. Even after decanting over 2 hours and drinking with a steak this did not round out. The finish ruins and otherwise good wine.
Dark red core that is set with a watery rim. Viscosity is high leaving long falling legs... Aromas of ripe plum, cherry, boysenberry, cream, spice, mocha and wood with light hints of forest floor. on the palate full bodied, but the moderate acidity keeps it from being heavy, flavors of of purple fruits up front, with flavors of cream, cooked strawberry, cedar, flowers, tobacco, chocolate, spice and finishes with fine, chewy, leathery tannins with moderate intensity
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40% Mourvedre, 28% Syrah, 27% Grenache and 5% Counoise. Dark ruby, rich with cherry, stewed meat, lamb gravy, mixed with some high notes of spice, maybe clove. Still seems young. Good to hold for several more years.
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Even more wound up than the 2006 we had alongside it. The profile was a bit riper and fleshier than the 2006, so my guess is that this should be held for quite a while. Gotta let that nice Mourvedre fruit come out and play...
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Nose: This is showing a riper side to it with dark red fruits, dark red cherries, licorice, spices, dark berries, and some earth tones. There is very good balance here with nice depth.
Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium acidity and chewy tannins. The structure is on the big side with dark red fruits, licorice, spices, and black fruits.
Overall: This was showing much more young than the 06. This will need several years to start to come around and show what is really there.
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Took to a restaurant, and didn't have a chance to decant or allow it to open up. Still, very nice. Great depth and balance. Solid finish, solid all around. Ought to age nicely.
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I don't know maybe I got a bad bottle. It was very hot and harsh with the fruit barely coming through. At $46 one of the worst values ever. I actually ended up dumping half a bottle rather than serve it to my family it was that bad. I have been to the winery a number of times and was never impressed with any of the wine I tasted there, highly over hyped IMHO.
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Popped and poured from split. Color is a dark red, with slight lightening at the rim. On the nose, this has sweetish licorice, prunes, and raisins, all of which tapers down a bit with time. On the mouth, this is chunky and chewy, with a nice acid backbone. This finish carries some burn, with lingering licorice and cinnamon, all of which strip mines the mouth and leaves things puckered and taunt. Overall, this wine feels out of whack at the moment; it leaves one with a rumbus tumbus feel flowing from a stacked and packed beverage. This needs (and hopefully will improve with) time. 90 points (for now).
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Blind tasted as part of the BBR Wine Game. Needs decanting. The wine is a next dimension of a Chateauneuf du Pape. It is a CdP with a California side to it. Riper fruit, a touch burned fruit, more alc and although his say 14.5% on it is prob closer to a 15%. Good wine still and expresses the area with no need of oak here. Syrah dominates but there is also the early roundness of Grenache. Spice, earthy notes at time a lots of dark ripe fruit. Big wine but does not feel overdone. 90-91 and with good life ahead of it.
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May be a bit early, but we very much enjoyed this. It did need some room to breath and tasted best about an hour after first opening. The flavor range was a bit narrower than I'd remembered from before. But, the quality was immediately present and the tannins and tastes well balanced. Probably still improving with more time. This may well be the closed phase that is remarked on below, and that had made me hesitate to open this one. I'm still pleased that we did, but we'll hold off on opening more for another year or more.
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Popped and poured from split. Color was a nice, bright, median ruby. The nose initially had some sulfur, which blew off a bit with time. There was some sweet fruit, but it was underneath a rough, musky smell. The mouth and finish never took off. Likely corked or otherwise flawed, and certainly disappointing. NR
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Incredibly dark ripe blackberry from the start that carries through the mid palate with almost impenetrable depth. Rather brooding really. There's a vibrancy and youthfulness to the fruit but its clear almost immediately that the wine is in an awkward stage based on the lack of expressiveness of the midpalate. There's focus here but the wine is mute in critical places.
With aeration the wine picks up notes of violets, black licorice, cedar, iron and notes of herbs de provence. There are charred wood notes in places as well but the wine never comes together in a harmonious way. Over time the tannins come into the forefront and become fairly assertive while the fruit subsides. Overall, a very well constructed wine that simply needs more time. Like other wines around this age they're heading towards a closed phased. Despite the muted notes there's a precision to the acids and tannin which suggest the wine can continue to age without any fatigue.
Quality is very evident but the wine is in an in between stage. 92+ points in time and seems like a promising vintage. Would be a disservice to risk opening another bottle. Hold for another two to three years at least. Could be special when it wakes back up. If you must open a bottle consider a 2-3 hour decant.
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Aerated twice and would have benefited from more time in the glass. Nose was closed but intense, tart cherries and other red fruit and minerals on the palate. Very good acid. Paired well with meat dish but also delicious on its own. Will taste even better in 5-10 years as it develops body.
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Consistent with prior reviews - Intense dark red fruit, violet and spice aromas. Medium-full bodied, smooth, and well-balanced with vibrant dark red cherry, spice, and mineral flavors. Blend of Mourvèdre (40%), Syrah(28%),Grenache (27%), and Counoise (5%)
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Nearly saturated ruby red. This wine changed over the 4 days it was open (yes, I know it's pathetic that it took me that long to finish a 1/2 bottle...), but it never seemed oxidized. Bodes well for long life, I think. Nose of raspberry, plum skin, leather, and a faint whiff of herbs. More floral with more days open. Impressive for its depth and balance; there is more in reserve in this wine. Ripe and firm tannins. Long finish, with a dense core of fruit. Went back for two more.
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What a difference a year of bottle age can do for California wines...this tasted very light, crisp, and with high acidity about a year ago at the winery, almost burgundian. Tonight it acted more like the Southern Rhone (Ctx Beaucastel) inspired heavyweight that it should. This was a restaurant PnP so it was more or less served at room temp, which was to the benefit of the aroma as it showed a complex nose of barnyard, soil, and perfumed fruit all in good balance. The palate really put on some weight since my last tasting, showing the red fruits you'd expect of the syrah and grenache, but somewhat muted by the brooding Mourvedre (40%), which appeared to add substance, weight, and a subtle complexity to the wine. Overall there appears to be good balance, as the wine was very drinkable even near room temp and paired with lamb chops, however the finish was not the high point but it concluded a logical progression, highlighting a good spice component. Would like to see this at a cooler temp and perhaps in another year, but would recommend this Paso wine in the $40-45 range. 90-92+ points.
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Rustic red and black berry fruit with smoke and pepper with dried Provencal herbs and a nice, floral quality on the nose. On the palate, a great, elegant feel. Good weight and structure. Nicely balanced. Great red and black fruit flavors. Very nice!
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Dark. Deep dark fruit, hint of dried herbs. Very silky smooth, plums boysenberry black spice and hint of cherry. Very fine tannin. A lovely blend but too fruit driven sweet for real cndp. Great drinking anyway.
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The brightest fruited of the Cotes / Patelin set, with the most backbone and structure (which I assume is the mourvedre). At $60? Whew. I guess it is worth it!
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Not really sure what to make of this glass. Certainly complex. Bold, powerful, fruity, floral, animal nose. Youthfully tight on the palate yet with sweet, ripe, fleshy fruit. Dark earthy fruits, violets, licorice, and leather, with some old world charm, but the fruit is clearly Cali in ripeness. Sweaty (in a good way) and meaty... feral might be more accurate. A bit sweeter than I remember and thicker in texture as well... not as clean as I expected. Firm sturcture. Great length and power. This is an XL Esprit from TC. Not sure how long this had been open but it seemed in a weird spot. The fruit was on the verge of overwhelming the structure, like a buxum lady in a ridiculously tight brassiere. (Both show) Great material though. Patience required.
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Rhone Rangers Experience (Paso Robles): Delicious blueberry/blackberry compote with red raspberries, licorice, and a touch of tar. Very well balanced med+ body with a glassy texture and a firm but giving tannic frame. Great depth and length. This is really starting to show well already though with a few years in the cellar this will shine. 92+
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Initially, bright focused laser of tart raspberry. Over 2-3 hours lots of tannin showed up, fine at first and gradually more and more drying. More evidence that I definitely prefer these with 5-6 years on them.
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Lots of chocolate on the nose. At first was a little tight. After decanting and letting it sit for two hours became a really good wine. Pleasant mouthfeel and pleasant and full follow. Would be great with pork tenderloin.
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Delicious med/med+ body effort with lots of dark black and red fruits, licorice, and spices. Silky texture with no undue richness but still under the grip of fine grained tannins. Very persistent with good length. A smart, good looking teenager with lots of potential but a bit unruly now. Needs some disciplining and maturing.
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Ruby, garnet with medium viscosity in the glass. Hide, black cherry and bacon on the nose. Secondary tobacco and chocolate. Medium body with modest fruit. Young and grippy. Medium finish.
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Tasting at Tablas Creek with Lyn and Hannah. Big bruiser of a wine right now with hefty tannins. Difficult to discern different aromas and flavors. But the potential is there. Wait five years?
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Tasting room pour. Tasted side by side with the '08. Perfumed nose with dark red fruits, licorice, and spices. Dark red and black fruits on palate with licorice, spices, and minerals. Very big and tannic at this point though shows excellent concentration and very good acidity. This one is big and burly compared to the more elegant '08. Excellent potential though I'd give this a few years. 91-94
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From the winemaker: A deep, spicy nose of crushed rock, tobacco and dark fruit (particularly currants). The palate shows great balance between savory and sweet notes, with milk chocolate, herbes de provence, an iron-like mineral note and massive structure that, combined with the power of the ripe but substantial tannins suggest that it will benefit from short- to mid-term cellaring, and drink well for two decades or more.
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Nose is pepper and spice; Taste is pepper from the start with a sense of melon and ginger; finish reminds of caramel; probably drinking this too early, since this was good, improved with 2nd night, and has strong potential for further growth with aging
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This Chateauneuf du Pape blend offers a nose filled with jammy black fruit, earth and pepper scents. There is some heat in the spicy, black raspberry and strawberry jam finish.
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Barrel sample/not released. This was really excellent. Big and brawny at this point, but well balanced as well. A bit different than the great 07, but still great.
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3/17/2024 - no leashes wrote: 91 Points
I'll echo previous comments that this wine is in a very nice place. Opens to a hint of barnyard and meat, then smooth dark fruit (plum). Drinking very well.
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2/6/2024 - wjochim Likes this wine: 93 Points
I rarely write tasting notes anymore, but felt I needed to with this bottle of Tablas Creek. I've had good, bad and in-between experiences with this blend from TC over the years, and to their credit if you have a bad bottle they will send you a new one. So, when I opened this bottle (one of 2 '09s left) I was hopeful but prepared for a wine on the decline. What a pleasant surprise to pour a glass and find the color still bright red and the nose still bright with red and dark fruit! If it wasn't for the tannins being mellowed out I would have guessed this to be no more than 5-7 years old. It's absolutely beautiful. Fingers crossed that my last bottle will be just as good when I open it...sooner than later!
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1/4/2024 - bobbylion Likes this wine: 92 Points
TN trajectory here seems to indicate it’s getting better now in 15th year of age. My feeling too. More round, more full, some balsam and super gentle. As good as most C9Ps I drank. Good stuff and probably on its peak plateau now. Were I a dedicated southern Rhone drinker, I would give it a 93, but I am not. Still, respect.
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12/9/2023 - Martin Redmond Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dark ruby color with complex dark fruits, spice, licorice, bramble, wet stone and pepper aromas. On the palate, it's medium-bodied and dry and round with a lush texture, dusty tannins and black cherry, plum, red currant flavors with a persistent minerality. Long finish. Blend of 40% Mourvèdre, 28% Syrah, 27% Grenache, 5% Counoise 14.5% alcohol
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11/4/2023 - SLOFred Likes this wine: 93 Points
Crazy good wine. I think this wine is at its peak as I can't imagine any wine getting too much better.
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7/24/2023 - Hamersly wrote: 94 Points
This was just beautiful after an hour decant. Elegant, luscious and balanced, i would buy another case of this.
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5/13/2023 - SLOFred Likes this wine: 95 Points
Perfect example of why "there are no truly great wines, just great bottles of wine". I have had over 12 of these bottles, this is my last 750, and I have 2 1.5L. This was the richest, most powerful and most balanced GSM I have ever had and none of the prior 11 or so came close. What a spectacular wine!
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5/6/2023 - sastewart wrote: 80 Points
Stored at 55 degrees since purchase. Very strange bottle. Overripe nose kind of stewed. Not sure what happened here but this is not representative of Tablas Creek at all. 80 points
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4/27/2023 - SLOFred Likes this wine: 91 Points
Classic TCV Esprit. Always consistently clean, tasty and without flaws.
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4/24/2023 - jonahfactor wrote:
Our last bottle. Decanted for 90 minutes. This vintage never found its sweet spot for us over the years, ranging from reticent to big bruiser. At this stage it’s pretty much just raspberries on the palate with tannins in the finish. Cellar stored since release. Pass.
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3/26/2023 - andtheodor wrote: 85 Points
Took to a neighbor's house and just had a taste. Seemed like a hot mess though.
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1/29/2023 - SLOFred Likes this wine: 92 Points
Great Rhone blend drinking beautifully right now.
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12/31/2022 - mtaczak Likes this wine: 94 Points
My guest put it best: holy crap, this is good. He wasn't there for the first two hours while it decanted and went through a weird volatile window (which blew off, thankfully), a grainy bitter tannin window (totally subsided), but he did experience the perfectly polished, deep, smooth,.and impeccably balanced product at the end. I don't see how this could improve from where it is now. Drink drink drink!
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10/10/2022 - tb_baltimore Likes this wine: 95 Points
Agree with the other reviews -- this is in an excellent drinking window right now!
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10/4/2022 - TheFoodieTraveler Likes this wine: 92 Points
Not as good as the 07 we had side by side, but still quite enjoyable
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9/13/2022 - AlphaMikeFoxtrot Likes this wine: 93 Points
Ripe strawberries, blueberries, dirt and milk chocolate collide with a pronounced spice note (cumin and crushed red chili flakes). Full bodied with soft supple tannins that linger on the palate. Still nice medium + acid here at age 13. A beautifully balanced and rounded GSM that drinks well now; but could go for a couple more years too.
Great with braised lamb
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9/6/2022 - SLOFred Likes this wine: 93 Points
A perfect GSM drinking really well right now.
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8/2/2022 - SLOFred Likes this wine: 92 Points
Drinking perfectly right now. Blueberry finish, some I have not gotten out of a TCV in the past.
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7/29/2022 - SLOFred Likes this wine: 92 Points
Great, perfectly balanced GSM. This is why I am a TCV club member. Nice fruit and lovely blueberry finish. A real keepper.
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5/19/2022 - SLOFred Likes this wine: 92 Points
This wine is drinking beautifully right now. Great complexity with none of the ingredients dominating. A perfectly blending wine. TCV just keeps making better and better wines, regardless of the vintage.
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4/9/2022 - brianofthevine Likes this wine: 92 Points
40% Mourvedre/28% Syrah/27% Grenache/5% Counoise. Nice old school Paso and very reminiscent of older Beaucastel. Red cherry, cranberry, raspberry, and dark plum fruit. Notes of earth, stewed tomatoes, prunes, baking spice, raspberry liqueur, and savory herbs. Nice acidity, smooth tannins, and gool long finish. Great drinking window right now.
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3/30/2022 - SLOFred Likes this wine: 93 Points
Just a beautiful, beautiful, complex wine drinking perfectly righ now.
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3/12/2022 - SLOFred wrote: 93 Points
Really, really good!
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3/6/2022 - RichEB1 wrote: 88 Points
This was for sure better than my bottle in 2018, but I still found it to be 'just ok'. Restrained red and plummy fruit with ample acidity, but with a short finish and just kind of boring. No wow factor at all. Enjoyable enough but not a repeat purchase and definitley not worth the cellar space/time (cellared since release).
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2/26/2022 - SLOFred Likes this wine: 92 Points
Same comments. Drinking beautifully now.
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2/20/2022 - SLOFred Likes this wine: 92 Points
This is as good as a GSM can get. Wow. Just a beautifully crafted and aged wine drinking perfectly now.
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2/7/2022 - SLOFred Likes this wine: 93 Points
A truly exceptional bottle of wine! Everything is there but nothing is there, if you know what I mean. One of the most balanced red wines I have ever had. Just a complete wine from start to finish with no element being out of balance. Kudos to the blending team. Hard to believe this will get better with time, but who knows.
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10/2/2021 - tward Likes this wine: 97 Points
Stunning from PnP and over a couple of hours. Deep, layered and nuanced. Powerful, supple, and warming with just the right about of structure to support it. Though it was beautiful out of the gates, it kept subtly evolving with air.
My TN scores on this wine were:
2014 92 (Excellent+)
2016 87 (Very Good)
2018 90 (Excellent)
It must have been in a closed / awkward phase in 2016. It is into maturity now and Outstanding+. I loved it.
Pine forest floor, turned earth, baked earth, baker's chocolate, mint, raspberry liquor, Christmas spice cake, cooked plum, some bay leaf, sometimes some fine tannins would sneak on on the finish, but these eventually melted, as it opened with air, soy, umami generally, fennel seed and an increasingly long, long finish.
Great pairing with a grilled grassfed ribeye.
14.5% abv
They don't make 'em like this anymore? Seriously, this is unapologetically deep, dark, and even a touch rustic and points to the initial Esprit designation de Beaucastel which was still the label in the 2009 vintage. And clearly it needed time in the bottle to really shine IMO.
Note: I'm not sure if I bought this bottle six, eight, or ten years ago, but since then it's been stored in good, but not perfect conditions - dark with seasonal temperature fluctuations from the mid-50s to mid-upper-60s. So if you've got bottles stored in ideal conditions, this bottle may represent an approximation of what you'll find in roughly 2027.
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9/9/2021 - bdhanna wrote: flawed
Perfect cork easily removed. Unfortunately, serious TCA put a damper on the meal. I was really looking forward to to sharing this bottle with friends based on my past experiences. Oh well, my last bottle of this vintage in my cellar. Too bad !!
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8/19/2021 - SLOFred Likes this wine: 91 Points
I agree with the TCV vintage chart. This wine still needs some aging. Still very well crafted but the tannins are not as softened as I have gotten from other aged Esprit. This was with a 2 hour decant.
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5/20/2021 - jonahfactor Likes this wine:
Drinking beautifully right now, although, strangely, not completely integrated yet. Still fruit driven with a bowl of black and blue fruits in the palate, finishing with some tar and redwood bark notes. A bit hot. Drink 2025 to 2031. Worth Seeking Out.
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4/24/2021 - Winedude10 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Drinking well now. Must decant, has a lot of sediment in the bottle and I had to use a coffee filter. Very, very good.
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1/30/2021 - jaumealaska Likes this wine: 95 Points
Same notes as last except this time the balance in the body was even longer. Love this wine and in a great place.
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11/7/2020 - Bob in NC Likes this wine: 93 Points
This was drinking superbly. Layers of flavors and so smooth.
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7/2/2020 - kerv22 Likes this wine: 95 Points
I’ve had many Tablas Espirits over the years and I’ve drank them all fairly young. This however takes the prize. It’s entering a mature phase and drinking perfectly. I get a nose of ripe blueberries blended with stewed figs and raisins; I think you could even throw some herbs in there. It’s fresh but starting to show age. On the palate it’s medium to full bodied, medium plus tannins, medium alcohol and a long finish. This paired well with lamb chops (it’s certainly a food wine). I’d say the wine has recently entered its perfect drinking window. Perhaps 2020-2026.
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5/7/2020 - jaumealaska Likes this wine: 94 Points
Ruby to garnet color. Medium clarity. Nose of smoke and tobacco wrapped in dark fruits. Body has structured tannins dark fruits with good acid backbone. long finish loved it and justvenering it’s mature phase.
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3/13/2020 - JohnnyandtheNors Likes this wine: 89 Points
Very nice bottle that has very little space left to grow. Everything seems developed and delivers a well aged rendition of this Tablas. Drank this on my 41st birthday!
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2/2/2020 - mtaczak Likes this wine: 92 Points
Yum. Held up well after 8 hours open, tannins got a little coarse toward the end but this is in a great place and could go another few years easy.
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1/24/2020 - bbcc66 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Decanted 1/2 hr. Consistent tastes of darker fruits & cherry. Nice mouthfeel.
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12/7/2019 - drrobvino wrote: 91 Points
Bottle #3 of 4, last tasted 1.5 yrs ago. Consumed this bottle over 2 days.
40% Mourvèdre, 28% Syrah, 27% Grenache and 5% Counoise.
Black cherry compote, charred wood, anise, and bitter dark chocolate.
Silky smooth at this point, with significant extraction and glycerol, making it a bit "hi octane" for my liking, but it is still quite delicious, keeping me coming back for another sip.
Tannins are finely grained and well integrated, with good acidity and a mouth staining finish of fruit and spice.
Drink now through 2021.
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9/22/2019 - CADomer Likes this wine: 91 Points
I should have read my previous note before opening. This NEEDED 3 hours before enjoying. Dark and unyielding until our last glass, about 3 hours after being opened... That last glass was great though.
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9/14/2019 - tb_baltimore Likes this wine: 94 Points
Continues to be outstanding -- an excellent wine --
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3/16/2019 - stayhappy21 wrote: 90 Points
Brought this to Venue by Sebastian to share with my wine buddies over dinner. We had tomato bread, romanesco, burrata, cold pasta with truffle oil, angel hair pasta with sakura ebi, chermoula chicken, braised lamb foreshank,chilean seabass, duck confit, poached foie gras, pan seared foie gras, grilled octopus and grilled spice pork collar.
Decanted for an hour before pouring. Dark purple in colour with notes of blackcurrants, lacquer, some chocolate, coffee, and black spices.
Made up of 40% Mourvedre, 28% Syrah, 27% Grenache and 5% Counoise, this wine is wonderfull integrated with all the elements in a wonderful harmony.
Wholesome, delicious and likable. Will get more of this wine the next time it is on promotion.
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2/4/2019 - wilypod Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dark crimson but with the clarity that goes with ten years. Concentrated and muscular black and red fruits with a huge dose of dark chocolate. The grippy tannins were fierce on opening but after an hour lost harshness and added punch to the spicy palate. The nose is CdP like with dark chocolate, and mouth has more of a sour cherry Nebbiolo accent than a raspberry liqueur ganache character. Flavors are complex and integrated. The medium long cherried-dark chocolate and leather finish invites dipping into this glorious rendition again and again. Wish the Magnum format were available. 5+12+19+8
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1/27/2019 - CADomer Likes this wine: 93 Points
After a 3 hour decant this wine started to unwind a bit and show it's beauty. Luscious and perfumed boysenberries, black cherries, and licorice. I really enjoyed this wine and look forward to my next.
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12/25/2018 - Drankthewholebottle Likes this wine: 94 Points
Open for about 5 hours now and finally getting a second taste. Really wish I’d had this with the salad. Deep and fresh and lovely.
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11/11/2018 - MichielV wrote: 90 Points
W cassoulet at 540MH. We had this after the 2010, which at this time was the better wine. Both 5 hour decant. This one really needs it as upon opening it had nothing. Color was a bit darker than the 2010, nose much more subdued or thinner but still good fruit and spice. Really enjoyable next to each other. This will live a few more years, probably not as long as the 2010. Great combo with the food.
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9/9/2018 - RichEB1 wrote: 86 Points
Man, I had high Hopes for this one.....but unfortunately it was pretty boring. Not giving up much on the nose (even on day 2) and really basic on the palate with some darker fruits and even a bit of heat. Drinkable for sure....just not that great. I've got a bottle left so I'll hope its just in an awkward phase or something and keep my fingers crossed....but definitely no fireworks with this one.
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9/1/2018 - lgomberg Likes this wine:
Notes after 2 hours decant at 56 degrees with lamb. This needed time to unfurl
Upon uncorking and after 45 mins this seemed reticent and tired but awakened gracefully to reveal aromatics of dark cherries and garrigue at 1-1/2 hours Thankfully. Flavors of cherries, earth, florals with a mid palate that wants a bit more intensity, medium acidity, medium bodied and length in the finish leaving haunting floral aromas. Almost old world in its lack of oak presence. Thankfully. Tannins are pretty well integrated and slightly drying and ethanol seems generally well masked. 91+
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8/30/2018 - acidqueen wrote: 90 Points
Tasted this for first time last summer, along side the 2008 and 2011. All were good, but the rank was 2011, then 2008, and then this 2009. The 2011 showed best due to the higher acid profile. I have revisited all three this summer, and the 2011 is showing even better. The 2009 has gotten less interesting as the ripeness shows more. The funny thing is that I think all three are at 14.5 abv, but the 2011 doesn’t show it at all, while the 2009 does. That being said, this has some nice fruit forward blackberry, earth, anise. Good flavors but just a bit of slight overripe feel to it. Drink now and enjoy it with sausages and such. I won’t expect this to last a long time.
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8/24/2018 - tward Likes this wine: 90 Points
I decided to pop this open after a recent Tablas Creek blog post on this wine, though mine are stored in the low-mid 60's F, so should see a different and accelerated aging vs. ideal cellar conditions. Had this nearly a week ago with no written notes, unfortunately - the *intent* is usually there to write down or note immediately in CT, but it doesn't always happen. The good news is that this really has settled in as the blog post suggested. Though still showing a very ripe, fruit-driven profile, I only got hints of the previous "cough syrup" notes towards the middle-end of the bottle. It really came across like a warm+ southern Rhone vintage and now complete with secondary notes. So upfront black fruits and balsamic notes were joined with dusty earth, leather, cool eucalyptus, and dried herbs along with exotic spices. Still a burly wine that I don't think will achieve excellence - it just lacks the finesse and structure, I think, but highly enjoyable and a very nice bottle.
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7/3/2018 - drrobvino wrote: 89 Points
Tasty Paso red blend, at $45 USD. The blend is 40% Mourvèdre, 28% Syrah, 27% Grenache and 5% Counoise.
Black cherry, plum, charcoal, licorice, and cooking spices.
Mouth coating tannins with med acidity and a long and fruit-laden finish.
Drink now through 2022.
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5/26/2018 - bdhanna wrote: 93 Points
Amazing !! Consumed over three days and it just kept getting better each day.
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3/6/2018 - PinotPaul Likes this wine: 91 Points
Lovely wine. Smooth, well balanced.
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1/28/2018 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 89 Points
This was opened last night. Opaque black-ruby. Thick legs. Nose very reminiscent of a CdP, with olive and garrigue. While somewhat restrained on the nose, the wine is more expressive in the mouth, though still a little tight. I'm inclined to think this has more upside with a little more bottle age. 5-11-16-7: 89/100.
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1/5/2018 - wiscgrad wrote: 87 Points
Must be some bottle variation. Nose was quite good, but a bit thin on the palate. Decent amount red fruit. Well made but drinks like a cote du Rhone rather than a CDP
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12/10/2017 - Neras Likes this wine: 93 Points
Very happy with this one. Fresh nose out of the bottle with plenty of fruit. Still youthful on the palate with dark and red berries, nice acidity and restrained tannins. A very nice bottle with lots of milage age (disclaimer: It was my last bottle)
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11/18/2017 - azscot wrote: 93 Points
Took to a restaurant for a birthday celebration. Decanted for an hour. Excellent example of a GSM and as good as a similar vintages CdP.
Lots of black fruit with a hint of vanilla. Long finish. One of the best wines I’ve tasted this year.
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11/12/2017 - MichielV wrote: 88 Points
W grilled lambchops at Rudy & Jenny. Fun evening. This wine “did not speak to me” and Helen thought it was somewhat boring. Upon opening (2 hour decant) the nose was pretty good, color pretty red fruit. But on palate this was fruit but one dimensional, looked like second bottle tried to do better, but it wasnt. I guess drink now. Nit sure how come i have another 4.
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7/4/2017 - Djfermentation Likes this wine: 92 Points
Much better than the last bottle we opened. I think I will keep my last bottle at least 5 years as this has a great future ahead. Still robust and somewhat medicinal (in an appreciable way).
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6/11/2017 - acidqueen wrote: 93 Points
Rich, lush with cherry and pepper. Still quite firm, and needs more time, but still good to drink now. The larger than usual percentage of Syrah is evident. Excellent.
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6/4/2017 - marilynt7 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Complex, notes of cherry, blueberries. Excellent after decanting for 45-60 minutes. Consumed with seafood and was an excellent complement to the food.
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5/5/2017 - BobMilton Likes this wine: 94 Points
Drinking really well right now. Palate is black cherries - neither sweet nor sour but just right.
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2/19/2017 - whitmanlholt wrote: 90 Points
Popped and poured from split. This is a medium-red wine with some modest sediment at the end of the bottle and teeth-staining capacity throughout. On the nose, this has cherry, herbs, and some beef jerky. In the mouth, this has flavors of red fruit and some stones, all leaving a chewy finish. Overall, this is good; everything is in step now and the wine is perfectly pleasant with or without food. 90 points.
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1/1/2017 - wine247365 Likes this wine:
A 90 minute decant let this show well and I loved it! It's so well balanced, a medium body, smooth on the palate with integrated acids, resolved tannins in the background adding complexity along with an off-dry level of sweetness that had all parts singing in perfect harmony! Way to go TC!
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1/1/2017 - Djfermentation wrote: 85 Points
I probably should not have even rated this wine as I really could not appreciate it at all. I have had a lot of Tablas Creek wines in the past several years and loved just about all of them but this wine just was not doing it for us. I totally noticed the cough syrup thing too. I decanted on night one but could not get it going. Tried again on the second day with slightly better results but still not there for me. I have another bottle and will hold it for 3 or 4 years to see if it evolves through what is maybe a phase.
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12/10/2016 - Foodchik Likes this wine: 92 Points
Beautiful dark cherry fruit in a nicely balanced wine that has the structure to last considerably longer.
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11/22/2016 - tward wrote: 87 Points
Certainly not drinking as well as my Oct. 2014 notes indicate. On PnP I was shocked to find DRROBVINO's description "this is some tasty cough syrup" totally correct. Really, very much like cough syrup. Fortunately this subsided rather quickly with air.
I decided to decant and vigorously aerate for several minutes and it helped. But it continued to come across as too hot and had a "Parker-grasping" profile with some soy and roasted chocolate making it heavy. Still, nice underlying fruit with some dusty earth, touch of cocoa powder, cherry, and brush.
Since I've got a couple other bottles I can only hope it will pass through an awkward phase and drink well as an aged, mature wine. The TCV vintage chart does not show it in the "closed" phase, but this bottle spent several years stored at ~65, which accelerates (and changes) aging. Time will tell. Hopefully, it will again deserve its price tag.
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11/12/2016 - drrobvino wrote: 87 Points
If I catch a cold, this is some tasty cough syrup.
If I want to enjoy a food-friendly, tasty wine with medium acidity, this ain't it.
When your fruit grows in Paso, I am sure the 90+ degree days make it hard to keep your wine from getting too sugary.
That being said, this is a really well-made wine.
I would not buy this wine again at $50/bottle (not even at $25).
Drink this tasty California cough syrup now through 2020.
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11/7/2016 - Vietty wrote:
Nose is aromatic, color starting to show some of the age. Some mild sediment was removed with decanting. Tastes like a solid and dense core of medium red fruit. There is some earth and dry leaves but to me the fruit is still front and center. I have the perception of sweetness, but it seems to come from the fruit itself. The wine finishes dry and in good balance, not hot. I did not get stewed fruit or prunes as others have mentioned in previous notes.
This wine has evolved considerably compared to the tasting that I had upon release (improved to my palate). Fruit is still in the forefront (enough to pair with a luxardo cherry and balsamic gastrique) but more integrated into the rest of the wine. The tannin has been tamed but still enough to cut the fat from the rack of lamb we had. We've had a few different glasses of Chataneuf du Pape lately, and my wife guessed CdP blind which was a really good call to me (unblind). The wine improved with the 1 hour decant/aeration prior to dinner. If I had any bottles left I would drink within the next 3-5 years.
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10/11/2016 - nectar14 Likes this wine:
Tasty and balanced, with ripe red fruit and a dusting of earthy characteristics. I wouldn't say this has improved since last taste, but it's still very nice.
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9/18/2016 - rmalloy wrote: 85 Points
Tasted blind. Purple-tinged ruby color. Tastes young and ripe. Fruit forward and simple, but pretty good weight. Ripe black cherry. Cinnamon, pepper, and slight hints of game. Drying tannins on at the finish are somewhat rough but useful in that they provide a modicum of seriousness to this wine.
I think this wine is full of grenache. My guess is that this is a young GSM wine from a not-very-prestigious region. I will guess Cotes du Rhone or something similar like Languedoc or a Spanish garnacha. I know there is a bottle of Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel among the 18 wines in the blind sample set, and I really hope, for the sake of California and the good Beaucastel name, that this is something different.
Rating: 85
Non-blind p.s.: Oh no! I’ve been skeptical of Tablas Creek, so this isn’t a complete shocker. But this wine certainly tastes way more like a basic Cotes du Rhone than a good Chateauneuf du Pape. I found this inferior to every bottle of Chateau Beaucastel I've ever tasted.
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9/4/2016 - yatchisin Likes this wine: 92 Points
A big hit at a Labor Day weekend party. Only wish I had more of it. Very good with grilled tri-tip.
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7/27/2016 - DaveZack Likes this wine: 92 Points
We’ve been Tablas Creek (T.C.) wine club members for years; their wines are ALWAYS good-to-awesome. We received this bottle in September 2011. For years, I waited to open their wines only if/when they were in a “peak” maturity stage according to their vintage chart. But since their Esprit de Beaucastel/Tablas red blends evolve and change every nanosecond, they usually go through a “closed” phase around five years post-harvest for 2-to-5 years. According to T.C.’s vintage chart and wine blog, this wine recently “exited” its closed phase, so here we go……
The bouquet is dark fruited, herbaceous, earthy (a bit flinty and chalky), and typical for a Chateauneuf-du-Pape-styled red blend. The wine pours quite dark, not surprising considering this blend consists of 40% Mourvedre, 28% Syrah, 27% Grenache, and 5% Counoise.
Sure enough, this red blend is fabulous, exhibiting a fruit profile of 90% dark fruits and 10% red fruits, such as plums, blackberries, black cherries, figs, raspberries, sour cherries, and currants. Next “up to the plate” after those delicious fruits are dried herbs found in a typical Herbs de Provence spice blend, as well as a significant element of black pepper. The wine is nicely rich, creamy, and medium-bodied (perhaps thanks to the oak used in the wine-making process, even though I’m not detecting any oak elements in the flavor profile, such as baking spices) and has significant food-friendly structural elements as well, such as zippy tannins and palate-cleansing acidity, that would probably allow this wine to continue to age/mature/develop gracefully and beautifully for another five-to-twenty-five years. All of this beauty’s elements (fruits, spices, structure) are gorgeously and harmoniously integrated, which results in a fabulously-well-balanced and food-friendly red blend that would pair well with any red meat/protein dish. I paired this beauty with my “usual” quality-red-wine-and-red-meat-dish: a rib eye steak spiced with Kosher salt, black pepper, and Herbs de Provence. This ALWAYS good-to-awesome red blend would pair well with just about any red meat protein/dish, such as lamb chops/shanks/racks, prime rib, Beef Wellington, and/or any quality steak. The tannins and acidity beautifully and elegantly cleanse the palate which leads to a long, lingering finish. As usual, this red blend is/was fabulous and I can’t wait for the 2007 and 2008 bottles we have in our wine coolers to exit their “closed” phases. We’ll probably pop-open the four bottles of this 2012 red blend before they go into a “closed” phase since I don’t want to “sit on them” for five years (or so).
Robert and Jason Haas (founder and son/current General Manager), you’ve been warned: if I ever win one of those MASSIVE lotteries (PowerBall, MegaMillions, etc.), I’ll be showing-up at your winery with one, two, or three “big rigs” to empty-out your cellar/inventory, as well as going to several other good-to-great Paso Robles wineries that I’ve liked/loved for years to buy hundreds (if not thousands) of cases of high-quality wines. As usual, this red blend was indeed wonderful (like ALL of your wines ALWAYS are)!!!!!!!!!!
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6/12/2016 - wrmccall wrote: 92 Points
Decant to realize true flavors!
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6/7/2016 - DodgerDave wrote: 89 Points
Very nice wine. Paired well with poem loin. Smoky berry hints. Held up even on second day
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4/30/2016 - bobbylion Likes this wine: 92 Points
After 3 hrs of decanting - very soft and approachable wine with nice balance. Don't really feel the alcohol. Relation to C9P is unmistakeable. Not sure this is for Summer, though. More of a Winter fireplace wine. Happy to still have 15 Bt of this and 2 of 2007
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4/16/2016 - Mdmiller wrote: 92 Points
This wine is drinking beautifully now. Excellent balance, powerful but not overpowering. Dark fruits on the nose & throughout the palette.
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4/10/2016 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 93 Points
2010 Two Hands Garden Series plus a lot more (Colonial Beverage, Chesterland Ohio): Wow, this is really good. Needs some air, but really nice. Purple/ruby in color. The nose has cherries, roasted herbs, spice and some vanilla. Great texture. Good balance. On the palate, nice cherries with spice. Good balance. Long finish. Outstanding wine.
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3/27/2016 - Blue Shorts Likes this wine: 91 Points
Popped and poured. In a good place but could still use more ageing. Nose of black fruits, leather, earth and cigar. Taste of blackberries, plum, and a touch of raisin. Nice tannins and acid level. Medium finish.
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2/26/2016 - 520tiger wrote: 88 Points
Honestly, this was just ok. Not bad, but very average nose, and weak on the finish.
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12/4/2015 - treesritter wrote: 77 Points
Another disappointing showing from Tablas Creek. This wine was like drinking prune juice.
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11/11/2015 - Double D wrote: 90 Points
Well it got better, or at least this bottle was better than the last.
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9/22/2015 - Whistler Whino Likes this wine: 94 Points
A beautiful garnet colored, full bodied red blend of 40% Mourvedre, 28% Syrah, 27% Grenache and 5% Counoise.
There is light sediment in the bottle. Aromas of strawberry, blueberry, cassis, chocolate and tobacco in which almost all of that finds its way to the palate. The wine finishes long with strong tannins and medium plus acidity. A great wine now and probably better in 5 years.
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9/20/2015 - Michael Davidson wrote:
From 375, this was too port-like to drink.
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8/23/2015 - budh wrote: 91 Points
PNP. Plum, blackberry, clove, smoke, earth, tar, anise. Medium+ body and acidity; high alcohol; high chalky tannins. Fairly long finish, but a bit hot. Nice complexity, but surprisingly high tannins for a rhone blend and too hot. After an hour of air, this was much smoother, softer, better balanced. Also better with food. Decant next one.
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8/7/2015 - PT insurgent wrote:
Nose is pronounced, Very dense, lots of prune, cooked fruits, jammy strawberry, plum. Spice oak, meat.
Palate is dry, med+ acid, med+ tannin, pronounced intensity. Notes of chocolate, jammy fruits, strawberry, cherry. Lots of prune, fig. Cooked, stewed fruits.
Really dried fruit driven, lots of prune, cooked fruits, jam.
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7/18/2015 - RogerO wrote: 82 Points
Started out fine, but turned prunish over course of 2 hours.
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5/14/2015 - Double D wrote: 88 Points
This never got better...to my taste it's a bit unbalanced and tannic...probably not enough Grenache to suit me...but at this price point why not buy a nice CdP???
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4/10/2015 - jamieirving Likes this wine: 90 Points
Mourvèdre, Syrah, Grenache and Counoise combine to make a full bodied, savoury wine. Spicy, warm, raspberry nose. Baked dark berry fruit, black pepper and herbaceous character.
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3/30/2015 - tb_baltimore Likes this wine: 94 Points
Continues to be outstanding. This improved over about 1/2-hour from the initial opening. Seems to be drinking well right now!
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2/28/2015 - HStaal wrote: 90 Points
WSET Level 4 Course - WSET School; 9/6/2014-5/23/2015 (WSET School, Bermondsey): Appearance: The wine is Clear with a Medium ruby colour.
Nose: The nose is Clean and Developing, showing Medium(+) intensity primary aromas of strawberry, raspberry, red plum, hint of black fruit, secondary aromas of smoke, cloves and tertiary aromas of earth, farmyard.
Palate: The wine is Dry in the mouth with a Medium level of acidity. It has Medium(+) Fine Grained tannins and a High Level of alcohol (14.50%). It has Full body and Medium(+) intensity primary flavours of strawberry, raspberry, red plum, hint of black fruit, secondary flavours of smoke, cloves and tertiary flavours of earth, farmyard. The finish is Medium(+). Jammy fruit, smooth fine tannins, hint of black fruit
Overall: Complex, intense and long. Good balance between all components although the fruit is a bit jammy.
Conclusion: It is a Very Good quality wine. Can Drink Now but has Potential for Ageing Has structure and concentration for ageing; Premium priced (£39.99)
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1/25/2015 - Martin Redmond Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wines At My Table; Week of February 1, 2015; 1/23/2015-2/1/2015: Dark ruby color with complex dark fruits, spice, licorice, bramble, wet stone and pepper aromas. On the palate, it's medium-bodied and dry and round with a lush texture, dusty tannins and black cherry, plum, red currant flavors with a persistent minerality. Long finish. Pnp. Opened up nicely over the course of 90 minutes. Will continue to favorably evolve. Blend of 40% Mourvèdre, 28% Syrah, 27% Grenache, 5% Counoise 14.5% alcohol
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1/15/2015 - andtheodor wrote: 91 Points
Drunk last year and all I remember is this was solid. No booziness or excessive ripeness, just soulful and slightly funky in a charming way.
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12/27/2014 - Cantina Hill's wrote: 92 Points
American CDP.long finish.
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12/19/2014 - EvanJB wrote: 92 Points
Purchased at Riviera in Calabasas. PNP. Was very nice immediately. Opened up nicely over course of dinner. Well done blend. Very nice balance.
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12/9/2014 - White Mountain Winos Likes this wine: 88 Points
Certainly not a wine one would sit and ponder over, but a solid food-friendly effort. Color from the Syrah, depth from the Mourvedre, and spice and floral notes from the Grenache and Counoise. This wine needs to be drunk over the next couple of years. I'd bet those holding it until the second half of this decade will likely be disappointed.
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11/26/2014 - RLP805 wrote: 92 Points
PNP served at cellar temp (56F) . Beautiful ruby red in color, Dark berry and blueberry with a touch of earthiness on the finish. Well balanced with a short to medium finish but may have lacked complexity. A little thin with very little tannins. The wine handled it's 14.5 ABV very well, with almost no sense of alcohol while drinking. Paired with a NY strip and green beans made for a very nice meal. I doubt this well improve much farther, time to drink.
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11/19/2014 - ettalovesgoodwine wrote: 90 Points
A little thin. Not my favorite bottle but better with food than without.
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11/15/2014 - tb_baltimore Likes this wine: 93 Points
Seems to have improved since the last bottle. What tasted like a closed down period, at least based on the intervening reviews and on this bottle may have ended, since this is drinking very well right now. This was markedly better after at least 1/2-hour decant. It remains one of our favorites.
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10/4/2014 - tward Likes this wine: 92 Points
Wonderful. Didn't wait long, pretty much PnP and drank before, during, and after a meal over 2-3 hours. Spicebox and red fruits started things along with some earth, then picked up mineral, iron, rust and granite notes, some meaty notes and and maybe black cherry, then it added weight showing more dark, ripe fruits and tea leaf (indicating tannins popping back up, which means it probably could stand several more years aging).
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9/26/2014 - Bottledrainer Likes this wine: 92 Points
A very good blend of typically Rhine varietals. Fruity with a mellowed balance that gives complexity and leaves structure for further aging. A little time to breathe will help the flavors come into their own. All in all a very good wine.
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8/27/2014 - handymom wrote: 91 Points
Nice fruit and balance.
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8/22/2014 - 4wdave wrote: 92 Points
After being disappointed with two Napa cabs 9-10 years old, I opened this one and it was perfect! With grilled bison flank steak, grilled corn on cob, and grilled peppers, it was perfect.
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8/18/2014 - charliesea Likes this wine: 94 Points
Ruby red to purple on the eye, spice and sweet vanilla on the nose. Red fruit and limestone on the palate with a short but pleasant finish. Maybe not at its best, but drinkable now. A couple of days later, it makes a flower garden on the nose; wow, nice!
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8/8/2014 - bbcc66 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Nice nose of dark fruits & cherries. Well balanced tastes of dark fruits & cherries. Consistent vivid tastes & finish throughout the bottle. A delightful bottle.
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6/26/2014 - charliesea Likes this wine:
Ruby red on the eye, red fruit and a trace of limestone on the nose and the palate. Soft tannins remain for a not-too-lasting finish. Pleasant now and a bit more time would not hurt either.
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6/24/2014 - tb_baltimore Likes this wine: 92 Points
Still evolving and getting better. I agree with others that this may be entering a closed period. Quite enchanting and enjoyable nonetheless. This was different than the last two bottles and remains a real favorite.
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6/20/2014 - BVal wrote: 91 Points
40% Mourvedre, 28% Syrah, 27% Grenache, 5% Counoise. 14.5% alcohol.
Color: medium/deep purple core -> medium ruby rim. Moderately complex bouquet showing plums, cherries, prairie dust, rosemary and a little anisette. Medium weight palate showing some admirable CdP-like austerity. Licorice, black fruit, spice and some earthiness along with semi-sweet fruit (more so than CdP). This is really quite nice; good tannin and acid structure -- I can see this aging gracefully. Reminiscent of the '06, just (obviously) younger.
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6/9/2014 - charliesea Likes this wine: 91 Points
Dark reddish purple on the eye. Red fruit on the nose-hinting of grape jelly maybe. On the palate it suggests that it is developing a barnyard characteristic in the future, but right now it is tannic enough to balance the fruitiness. Pleasant mouthfeel and persistant finish.
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5/18/2014 - Papies wrote: 90 Points
Good young colour, bright glossy. Fresh and full of red fruits at this stage, felt less ripe than last time, and definitely less sweet, Probably now hitting a good stride in its life and albeit on the young side still showed very well. In all fairness it is less ripe and oaky than many CdPs these days. Give it a few years more and this will be just the number. Good to see the restrain in the use of oak. 90-91
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5/3/2014 - Neras Likes this wine: 92 Points
Initially nothing....slowly some flavours emerge, but the taste is escaping. During the evening it changes again and again, but it is never really impressive. Anyway, down there there is something. Mourvedra is a stange grape, and I think it is about to close down. Be patient!
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3/29/2014 - pickhardt wrote: 87 Points
I really wanted to like this, having liked previous vintages. I decanted 15 minutes and drank out of the decanter over a couple hours. Smooth blend, pleasant enough, but unexciting and not special in terms of complexity or length. Not even a flash near the end of the bottle.
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3/20/2014 - jhieb Likes this wine: 92 Points
Still tight, but this starts to sing after a decent decant. Dark cherry, mocha, cola coat the mouth, with fine grained tannin. Wish I had more.
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12/24/2013 - johnh1001 wrote: 86 Points
Nice ripe black fruit on the nose with some black pepper and chocolate. The palate matched and had little depth, just primary fruit. The finish was short and extremely sharp. Even after decanting over 2 hours and drinking with a steak this did not round out. The finish ruins and otherwise good wine.
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12/21/2013 - bjamesclark wrote: 91 Points
Dark red core that is set with a watery rim. Viscosity is high leaving long falling legs...
Aromas of ripe plum, cherry, boysenberry, cream, spice, mocha and wood with light hints of forest floor.
on the palate full bodied, but the moderate acidity keeps it from being heavy, flavors of of purple fruits up front, with flavors of cream, cooked strawberry, cedar, flowers, tobacco, chocolate, spice and finishes with fine, chewy, leathery tannins with moderate intensity
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11/28/2013 - smphelps wrote: 90 Points
40% Mourvedre, 28% Syrah, 27% Grenache and 5% Counoise. Dark ruby, rich with cherry, stewed meat, lamb gravy, mixed with some high notes of spice, maybe clove. Still seems young. Good to hold for several more years.
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10/4/2013 - tooch wrote:
Even more wound up than the 2006 we had alongside it. The profile was a bit riper and fleshier than the 2006, so my guess is that this should be held for quite a while. Gotta let that nice Mourvedre fruit come out and play...
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10/4/2013 - KeithAkers wrote: 90 Points
Nose: This is showing a riper side to it with dark red fruits, dark red cherries, licorice, spices, dark berries, and some earth tones. There is very good balance here with nice depth.
Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium acidity and chewy tannins. The structure is on the big side with dark red fruits, licorice, spices, and black fruits.
Overall: This was showing much more young than the 06. This will need several years to start to come around and show what is really there.
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9/25/2013 - nectar14 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Took to a restaurant, and didn't have a chance to decant or allow it to open up. Still, very nice. Great depth and balance. Solid finish, solid all around. Ought to age nicely.
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8/23/2013 - DeLuz Does not like this wine: 80 Points
I don't know maybe I got a bad bottle. It was very hot and harsh with the fruit barely coming through. At $46 one of the worst values ever. I actually ended up dumping half a bottle rather than serve it to my family it was that bad. I have been to the winery a number of times and was never impressed with any of the wine I tasted there, highly over hyped IMHO.
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7/7/2013 - whitmanlholt wrote: 90 Points
Popped and poured from split. Color is a dark red, with slight lightening at the rim. On the nose, this has sweetish licorice, prunes, and raisins, all of which tapers down a bit with time. On the mouth, this is chunky and chewy, with a nice acid backbone. This finish carries some burn, with lingering licorice and cinnamon, all of which strip mines the mouth and leaves things puckered and taunt. Overall, this wine feels out of whack at the moment; it leaves one with a rumbus tumbus feel flowing from a stacked and packed beverage. This needs (and hopefully will improve with) time. 90 points (for now).
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6/20/2013 - Papies wrote: 90 Points
Blind tasted as part of the BBR Wine Game. Needs decanting.
The wine is a next dimension of a Chateauneuf du Pape. It is a CdP with a California side to it. Riper fruit, a touch burned fruit, more alc and although his say 14.5% on it is prob closer to a 15%. Good wine still and expresses the area with no need of oak here. Syrah dominates but there is also the early roundness of Grenache. Spice, earthy notes at time a lots of dark ripe fruit. Big wine but does not feel overdone. 90-91 and with good life ahead of it.
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6/9/2013 - Michael Davidson wrote:
It may be because I drank this after a week of drinking burgs, but this was just too ripe for me.
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6/5/2013 - tb_baltimore Likes this wine: 92 Points
May be a bit early, but we very much enjoyed this. It did need some room to breath and tasted best about an hour after first opening. The flavor range was a bit narrower than I'd remembered from before. But, the quality was immediately present and the tannins and tastes well balanced. Probably still improving with more time. This may well be the closed phase that is remarked on below, and that had made me hesitate to open this one. I'm still pleased that we did, but we'll hold off on opening more for another year or more.
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3/21/2013 - whitmanlholt wrote:
Popped and poured from split. Color was a nice, bright, median ruby. The nose initially had some sulfur, which blew off a bit with time. There was some sweet fruit, but it was underneath a rough, musky smell. The mouth and finish never took off. Likely corked or otherwise flawed, and certainly disappointing. NR
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1/12/2013 - TSBWine wrote:
Incredibly dark ripe blackberry from the start that carries through the mid palate with almost impenetrable depth. Rather brooding really. There's a vibrancy and youthfulness to the fruit but its clear almost immediately that the wine is in an awkward stage based on the lack of expressiveness of the midpalate. There's focus here but the wine is mute in critical places.
With aeration the wine picks up notes of violets, black licorice, cedar, iron and notes of herbs de provence. There are charred wood notes in places as well but the wine never comes together in a harmonious way. Over time the tannins come into the forefront and become fairly assertive while the fruit subsides. Overall, a very well constructed wine that simply needs more time. Like other wines around this age they're heading towards a closed phased. Despite the muted notes there's a precision to the acids and tannin which suggest the wine can continue to age without any fatigue.
Quality is very evident but the wine is in an in between stage. 92+ points in time and seems like a promising vintage. Would be a disservice to risk opening another bottle. Hold for another two to three years at least. Could be special when it wakes back up. If you must open a bottle consider a 2-3 hour decant.
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12/16/2012 - topher2411 wrote: 93 Points
Fantastic. Aromatic and rich.
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10/29/2012 - Pipcelot wrote: 93 Points
Aerated twice and would have benefited from more time in the glass. Nose was closed but intense, tart cherries and other red fruit and minerals on the palate. Very good acid. Paired well with meat dish but also delicious on its own. Will taste even better in 5-10 years as it develops body.
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10/28/2012 - Martin Redmond Likes this wine: 92 Points
Consistent with prior reviews - Intense dark red fruit, violet and spice aromas. Medium-full bodied, smooth, and well-balanced with vibrant dark red cherry, spice, and mineral flavors. Blend of Mourvèdre (40%), Syrah(28%),Grenache (27%), and Counoise (5%)
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10/14/2012 - nectar14 wrote: 95 Points
Nearly saturated ruby red. This wine changed over the 4 days it was open (yes, I know it's pathetic that it took me that long to finish a 1/2 bottle...), but it never seemed oxidized. Bodes well for long life, I think. Nose of raspberry, plum skin, leather, and a faint whiff of herbs. More floral with more days open. Impressive for its depth and balance; there is more in reserve in this wine. Ripe and firm tannins. Long finish, with a dense core of fruit. Went back for two more.
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10/11/2012 - Robert Pavlovich wrote: 91 Points
What a difference a year of bottle age can do for California wines...this tasted very light, crisp, and with high acidity about a year ago at the winery, almost burgundian. Tonight it acted more like the Southern Rhone (Ctx Beaucastel) inspired heavyweight that it should. This was a restaurant PnP so it was more or less served at room temp, which was to the benefit of the aroma as it showed a complex nose of barnyard, soil, and perfumed fruit all in good balance. The palate really put on some weight since my last tasting, showing the red fruits you'd expect of the syrah and grenache, but somewhat muted by the brooding Mourvedre (40%), which appeared to add substance, weight, and a subtle complexity to the wine. Overall there appears to be good balance, as the wine was very drinkable even near room temp and paired with lamb chops, however the finish was not the high point but it concluded a logical progression, highlighting a good spice component. Would like to see this at a cooler temp and perhaps in another year, but would recommend this Paso wine in the $40-45 range. 90-92+ points.
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9/1/2012 - vegasoenophile wrote: 94 Points
Rustic red and black berry fruit with smoke and pepper with dried Provencal herbs and a nice, floral quality on the nose. On the palate, a great, elegant feel. Good weight and structure. Nicely balanced. Great red and black fruit flavors. Very nice!
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8/24/2012 - Vini Ciclismo Likes this wine: 89 Points
Dark. Deep dark fruit, hint of dried herbs. Very silky smooth, plums boysenberry black spice and hint of cherry. Very fine tannin. A lovely blend but too fruit driven sweet for real cndp. Great drinking anyway.
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8/20/2012 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
The brightest fruited of the Cotes / Patelin set, with the most backbone and structure (which I assume is the mourvedre). At $60? Whew. I guess it is worth it!
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8/17/2012 - Vince92673 wrote: 90 Points
Nice balanced earthy wine, medium tannins, dark fruit-cassis?, very drinkable.
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7/24/2012 - Redguy wrote:
Not really sure what to make of this glass. Certainly complex. Bold, powerful, fruity, floral, animal nose. Youthfully tight on the palate yet with sweet, ripe, fleshy fruit. Dark earthy fruits, violets, licorice, and leather, with some old world charm, but the fruit is clearly Cali in ripeness. Sweaty (in a good way) and meaty... feral might be more accurate. A bit sweeter than I remember and thicker in texture as well... not as clean as I expected. Firm sturcture. Great length and power. This is an XL Esprit from TC. Not sure how long this had been open but it seemed in a weird spot. The fruit was on the verge of overwhelming the structure, like a buxum lady in a ridiculously tight brassiere. (Both show) Great material though. Patience required.
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7/19/2012 - kenhoeve wrote:
No notes, but much better on day two. Good length.
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6/20/2012 - bbeissler wrote: 92 Points
Bouquet is licorice, raspberry, blueberry, and hints of oak. The palate is smokey, berry, and chocolate. Great wine with marinated flank steak.
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5/10/2012 - JCarella wrote: 90 Points
Good but lay it down another 1-2 years
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4/13/2012 - Weston3220 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Visiting Tablas Creek (Paso Robles Winery): Nice 'Sweetness' of fruit, cola, spice richness but not over the top
Conc: Def California in Profile but balanced
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3/25/2012 - Martin Redmond wrote: 92 Points
2012 Rhone Rangers Grand Tasting (San Francisco, Fort Mason Festival Pavillion): Intense dark red fruit, violet and spice aromas. Medium-full bodied, and well-balanced with vibrant dark red cherry, spice, and mineral flavors. Blend of Mourvèdre (40%), Syrah(28%),Grenache (27%), and Counoise (5%)
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3/2/2012 - wineduggery wrote: 92 Points
I enjoyed the complexity of this blend, but I drank this too early. I think it will be better over a few years.
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2/19/2012 - Redguy wrote: 92 Points
Rhone Rangers Experience (Paso Robles): Delicious blueberry/blackberry compote with red raspberries, licorice, and a touch of tar. Very well balanced med+ body with a glassy texture and a firm but giving tannic frame. Great depth and length. This is really starting to show well already though with a few years in the cellar this will shine. 92+
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2/6/2012 - mtaczak wrote: 89 Points
Initially, bright focused laser of tart raspberry. Over 2-3 hours lots of tannin showed up, fine at first and gradually more and more drying. More evidence that I definitely prefer these with 5-6 years on them.
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2/4/2012 - RobertTassi Likes this wine: 90 Points
Lots of chocolate on the nose. At first was a little tight. After decanting and letting it sit for two hours became a really good wine. Pleasant mouthfeel and pleasant and full follow. Would be great with pork tenderloin.
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1/29/2012 - Redguy wrote: 91 Points
Delicious med/med+ body effort with lots of dark black and red fruits, licorice, and spices. Silky texture with no undue richness but still under the grip of fine grained tannins. Very persistent with good length. A smart, good looking teenager with lots of potential but a bit unruly now. Needs some disciplining and maturing.
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11/12/2011 - christophee wrote: 86 Points
Ruby, garnet with medium viscosity in the glass. Hide, black cherry and bacon on the nose. Secondary tobacco and chocolate. Medium body with modest fruit. Young and grippy. Medium finish.
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11/5/2011 - jonahfactor wrote: 91 Points
Tasting at Tablas Creek with Lyn and Hannah. Big bruiser of a wine right now with hefty tannins. Difficult to discern different aromas and flavors. But the potential is there. Wait five years?
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10/8/2011 - Redguy wrote:
Tasting room pour. Tasted side by side with the '08. Perfumed nose with dark red fruits, licorice, and spices. Dark red and black fruits on palate with licorice, spices, and minerals. Very big and tannic at this point though shows excellent concentration and very good acidity. This one is big and burly compared to the more elegant '08. Excellent potential though I'd give this a few years. 91-94
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10/5/2011 - ichhina wrote:
From the winemaker: A deep, spicy nose of crushed rock, tobacco and dark fruit (particularly currants). The palate shows great balance between savory and sweet notes, with milk chocolate, herbes de provence, an iron-like mineral note and massive structure that, combined with the power of the ripe but substantial tannins suggest that it will benefit from short- to mid-term cellaring, and drink well for two decades or more.
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9/25/2011 - tb_baltimore Likes this wine: 92 Points
Nose is pepper and spice; Taste is pepper from the start with a sense of melon and ginger; finish reminds of caramel; probably drinking this too early, since this was good, improved with 2nd night, and has strong potential for further growth with aging
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8/21/2011 - Martin Redmond wrote: 92 Points
Recap of 2011 Family Winemakers of California Tasting - San Francisco (Fort Mason Center - Festival Pavilion): Intense dark red fruit, violet and spice aromas with intense dark red cherry, spice, and mineral flavors. Balanced, and well structured with a medium long finish. Grenache, Syrah, Mourvédre, and Counoise
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8/8/2011 - Jeff Leve wrote: 90 Points
This Chateauneuf du Pape blend offers a nose filled with jammy black fruit, earth and pepper scents. There is some heat in the spicy, black raspberry and strawberry jam finish.
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4/3/2011 - winegr wrote:
Barrel sample/not released. This was really excellent. Big and brawny at this point, but well balanced as well. A bit different than the great 07, but still great.
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