The Data

Country   USA

Appellation   Adelaida District

Varietal   Grenache

Retail Price   $35

ABV   14.1%

Score   5 Stars/97 points

In the Glass

Brilliant, deep ruby color.

The aromatics are very intense offering scents of wild strawberry and red cherry with supporting notes of fresh herbs, rare red meat, and violet.

The palate echoes the nose delivering a red fruit-driven core with flavors of red plum, raspberry, cigar box, and boysenberry. The finish is long and lingering with chewy tannins and hints of pepper.

Medium to full-bodied and perfectly balanced with a opulent texture.

Cool Factor

We at BevX are huge Grenache fans. Tablas Creek is certainly in a small, elite group of California wineries that have mastered Rhône varietals. What could be cooler?

Value Grade

Selling at $35 a bottle it's a steal considering the quality found within the bottle. A real stunner.

Analysis

The 2018 Tablas Creek Vineyard Grenache is Tablas Creek’s tenth varietal bottling of Grenache but the first vintage that we have reviewed. All we can say is — Wow! We are instant fans and consider this wine to be among America's very best Grenache wines. Tablas Creek uses a majority of their Grenache in their great Esprit de Tablas and Cotes de Tablas blends but luckily they reserve a bit for this single varietal bottling. In 2018 they experienced near ideal conditions albeit a mostly cool growing season. All of the grapes for this wine were grown in Tablas Creek's certified organic and biodynamic estate vineyard. The fruit was destemmed and fermented with native yeasts in large wooden vessels. The various Grenache lots were blended in June 2019 and then aged in neutral 1,200 gallon oak foudres before being bottled in May 2020.

How to Enjoy

Drink now or hold for a decade or more in the cellar. This nicely balanced and complex wine is great at the table pairing well with grilled beef ribeyes, game stews, and spicy sausages (both fresh and cured).