The Data

Country   USA

Appellation   Adelaida District

Varietal   Red Blend

Retail Price   $40

ABV   13.5%

Score   5 Stars/97 points

In the Glass

Brilliant, medium ruby color.

The aromatics are intense, offering scents of red cherry, forest floor, and five spice with supporting notes of truffle, slate, black tea, and sweet tamari.

The palate confirms the nose delivering a red and black fruits-driven core with flavors of black plum, raspberry, baking spices, cocoa nibs, and iron. The finish is long and lingering with firm but accessible tannins.

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

Cool Factor

Tablas Creek is a unique winery in California, seamlessly marrying Old World and New World winemaking and setting the standard for Rhone varietals in California. This is America's Châteauneuf-du-Pape — What could be cooler?

Value Grade

We find this to be an incredible value. Try to find a Châteauneuf-du-Pape that's better for less money — spoiler alert, you won't.

Analysis

Côtes de Tablas is a blend of four, estate-grown Rhône Varietals: 66% Grenache, 18% Syrah, 8% Counoise, and 8% Mourvedre. Like many of the great wines of the Southern Rhône, the Côtes de Tablas is Grenache-forward, showcasing their extraordinary mastery of this varietal in the vineyard and the winery. The 2023 vintage began with their wettest ever winter. The growing season was the coolest in more than a decade, resulting in a harvest that came roughly a month later than recent vintages. All varieties were fermented in a combination of stainless steel tanks and large, upright oak fermenters, utilizing native yeasts. After fermentation, the wine was blended and then aged in large oak foudres (1,200-gallon oak vats commonly used in France's Rhône Valley) from June 2024 until it was bottled — unfined and unfiltered — in February 2025. The resulting wine is structured and complex with a rich, meaty texture and lush fruit — a great aging wine. While this wine is an annual hit at BevX, this 2023 vintage of the Côtes de Tablas is our favorite.

How to Enjoy

This complex and beautiful wine truly benefits from decanting to be fully appreciated. It drinks wonderfully now, but it will only get better and has at least a decade of aging potential in the cellar. Pair with rich, layered stews, braised dishes, and grilled steaks.