The Data

Country   USA

Appellation   Adelaida District

Varietal   White Blend

Retail Price   $40

ABV   12.5%

Score   4.5 Stars/95 points

In the Glass

Brilliant, medium green/gold color.

The aromatics are intense, offering scents of spring flowers, chamomile, and custard with supporting notes of brioche, green tea, pear, and honeysuckle.

The palate confirms the nose delivering a ripe orchard fruits-driven core with flavors of green melon, citrus zest, quince, slate, and lemon grass. The finish is long and lingering.

Medium-bodied and perfectly balanced with a vibrant texture.

Cool Factor

Tablas Creek is a unique winery in California seamlessly marrying Old World and New World winemaking and setting the standard for Rhône varietals in California. What could be cooler?

Value Grade

This beautiful Viognier-forward white is wonderfully complex and absolutely unique delivering Paso Robles fruit with a Rhône winemaking sensibility.

Analysis

This complex and substantial white is made of a blend of 34% Viognier, 31% Marsanne, 20% Grenache Blanc, 13% Roussanne, and 2% Clairette Blanche. This wine has always (in our 10 vintages of analysis) had Viognier in the lead, but at 34%, this is the smallest portion of Viognier to date. Tablas Creek chose their Viognier for the lead position due to its lushness, supported by Marsanne and Grenache Blanc, who swapped the second spot yearly, depending on the growing season. The five varietals utilized in this wine were grown in their certified organic and bio-dynamic estate vineyard. All the varietals for the Côtes de Tablas were whole-cluster pressed and fermented in a mix of stainless steel and large, neutral foudres with native yeasts. The wines were racked and blended in May 2023 and bottled weeks later. The Côtes de Tablas is drinking beautifully now, but it will evolve in the cellar over the next three to five years.

How to Enjoy

As always, all this wine needs is a glass. While we like a bit of bottle age with this wine we love the fresh, vibrant flavors offered today. Pair with steamed mussels, seared scallops, ceviche, or an old-school shrimp cocktail.