Tablas Creek uses mostly purchased fruit for this Rhône-style red, all sourced from Paso Robles vineyards. The blend is 43 percent Syrah, 28 percent Grenache, 23 percent Mourvèdre, and 6 percent Counoise, with 2 percent Grenache from the winery’s own estate. The grapes were vinified in upright wood tanks and stainless steel, and aged in oak tanks for six months prior to an August bottling. The 2021 vintage started cold and dry, with only one major rain event during winter, and in the summer the weather fluctuated between warm and cool. The conditions conspired to produce low yields but concentrated fruit with firm acidity, and the winery suggests the vintage is age worthy.
The wine is ruby red and scented with rosemary, pine, juniper berry, and red plums. The acidity is evident but well integrated with the papery tannins, the wine sluicing out in flavors of plummy red fruit with an earthy, licorice note, probably from the Syrah. There’s no distracting oak here. The wine can stand on its own as an aperitif, but it’s best at that stage of the meal paired with cured meats and well aged cheeses, black olives, or oily tinned fish. Serve it with a main course of roasted meats or poultry, or a rich pastry like pissaladière.
2021 Tablas Creek Vineyard Patelin de Tablas Rouge Paso Robles
12.5% ABV | $28 (sample)
