T ABLAS CREEK VINEYARD CRÔTESoussanne DE TABLAS 2009 2005 The Tablas Creek Vineyard Côtes de Tablas is a blend of four estate-grown Rhône : , , Counoise The 2009 Tablas Creek Vineyard is Tablas and Mourvedre. Like most wines of the Southern Rhône, it is Creek’s bottling of our most important white a blend of varietals, featuring the fruitiness of Grenache bal- grape. The wine is exuberantly and elegantly in character anced by the spice and structure of Syrah, with meaty, earthy of the Roussanne grape, with honey, honeysuckle, and notes from Mourvedre and Counoise. pear aromatics, a rich, viscous mouthfeel with just a hint The 2005 vintageof oak, was and one a long, of nature’s lingering lucky finish. breaks, with excel- lent quality and higher-than-normal yields. The summer was uniformly sunnyWe usebut relatively most of cool, our Roussanneand harvest inbegan our Esprit(rela- de tively late forBeaucastel us) in the 3rd Blanc week each of September. year. However, The grapes we often spent nearlyhave a month some longerRoussanne than normallots in the on thecellar vine, that and are so the resultingpowerfully wines were characteristic intensely mineral, of the varietal with good that struc- we feel it ture and powerfulwould aromatics.be a shame Our to losefi rst lotsthem of inSyrah a blend. came In inthese on Septembercases, 29th, we followed reserve bya small Grenache quantity on of October this Roussanne 5th, Mourvedre onfor Octobera single-varietal 11th, and bottling. (unusually for us, our last varietal harvested) Counoise on October 28th. As with all our wines, our Roussanne grapes were All varietals grown were fermented on our 120-acre in stainless certified steel with organic the use estate of native yeasts:vineyard. the Syrah in open-top fermenters, punched down manually, and the other varietals in closed fermen- ters with pump-overThe 2009 aeration. vintage Afterwas ourpressing, third consecutive the wines were drought racked, blended,year, withaged yields for a further year in reduced 1200-gallon by April French frosts. oak Berries foudres, andand then clusters bottled were in April small, 2007. with The excellent wines underwentconcentration. only a light fiRipening ltration before over thebottling. summer was gradual and our white harvest complete except for a few Roussanne lots at TECHNICAL NOTES The 2005 Côtesthe time de Tablasof a major has rainstorman intensely on GrenacheOctober 13th. nose Crop of rare steak,sizes pepper were and 10% blueberry. smaller than It is 2008 juicy andand 30% rich lowerin the than 43% Grenache mouth, with usual.ripe tannins The low and yields a fi nish and laced gradual with ripening licorice. resulted in 24% Mourvèdre wines with an appealing lushness, rich texture and 18% Syrah gentle minerality. Roussanne was harvested between 15% Counoise September 18th and November 2nd. 14.8% Alcohol by Volume The Roussanne grapes were whole cluster pressed, and fermented using native yeasts half in stainless 3500 Cases Produced TECHNICAL NOTES steel and half in small French oak barrels. The wine was left on its lees for 6 months, and allowed to FOOD PAIRINGS100% Roussanne complete malolactic fermentation. After fermentation Grilled Steaks13.2% Alcohol by Volume the wines were blended, and bottled in August 2010. The wines underwent only a light cold stabilization Pasta with520 Meat Cases Sauces Produced Rich Beef Stews before bottling. Spicy Sausages FOOD PAIRINGS The 2009 Roussanne has an expressive nose of Rich shellfish (lobster and crab) beeswax, lacquered wood, and white flowers, with a Sea Bass powerful spiciness emerging with air. The mouth is Mildly spicy foods (curries, gumbo) juicy yet still restrained, with flavors of peaches and Stir-fries in garlic and olive oil cream. The finish is more mineral, very clean, with Salmon almond, pear, honey and chamomile notes.

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