The Data

Country   USA

Appellation   Paso Robles

Varietal   Red Blend

Retail Price   $28

ABV   13%

Score   4.5 Stars/95 points

In the Glass

Brilliant, deep ruby color.

The aromatics are intense, offering scents of dense blackberry, dark soy, and five spice with supporting notes of black tea, forest floor, and tapenade.

The palate confirms the nose delivering a red and black fruits-driven core with flavors of boysenberry, mulberry, cocoa, black plum, and graphite. The finish is long and lingering with chewy tannins.

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

Cool Factor

We have yet to find a Tablas Creek wine that is not very "cool." Their blends are always flavor-driven and influenced by the conditions that the respective vintage delivers.

Value Grade

Selling at $25 a bottle this California-made and Rhône-inspired red checks all of the boxes for accessibility, complexity, and pure hedonistic pleasure. It's a bargain in our book.

Analysis

The great Patelin de Tablas Rouge is made with a unique blend of 36% Syrah, 34% Grenache, 19% Mourvèdre, 8% Tannat, and 3% Counoise. We have watched the makeup of this wine change through the years (this is our seventh vintage reviewed) from wines with over 50% Syrah to a blend with Grenache having near parity with Syrah. For the first time, the 2020 Patelin de Tablas includes Tannat. The grapes are sourced from multiple vineyard sources including Tablas Creek’s organic estate vineyard, four vineyards in the Templeton Gap, and vineyards in El Pomar and Geneseo District. The 2020 vintage began with a cool spring and continued below-normal temperatures through July. Come August the weather turned hot, accelerating ripening and concentrating flavors. The wine was fermented in a combination of stainless steel tanks and large, upright oak fermenters. After fermentation the wine was blended and then aged in large oak foudres (1500-gallon oak vats commonly used in France's Rhône Valley) for a period of six months prior to bottling. The resulting wine is meaty while ideally balanced and it’s our favorite Patelin de Tablas Rouge yet.

How to Enjoy

Serve at cellar temperature, ideally decanted to allow the aromatics and flavors to fully bloom. Pair with braised beef short ribs, grilled meats, and pastas with rich meat sauces.