Tablas Creek Côtes de Tablas Adelaida District 2020

The Data

Country USA

Appellation Adelaida District

Varietal Red Blend

Retail Price $40

ABV 13.5%

Score 4.5 Stars/95 points

In the Glass

Appearance

Brilliant, medium ruby color.

Aromatics

The aromatics are intense, offering scents of forest floor, bramble, and black tea with supporting notes of baking spices, laurel leaf, dried fruits, slate, graphite, and black plum.

Flavor

The palate is in substantial agreement with the nose delivering a red and black fruits-driven core with flavors of boysenberry, black currant, mocha, wet stones, and raspberry. The finish is long and lingering with chalky tannins.

Intensity & Texture

Medium to full-bodied and perfectly balanced with a meaty 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: 43% Grenache, 33% Syrah, 19% Counoise, and 5% Mourvedre. Like many of the great wines of the Southern Rhône this wine is Grenache forward with a firm backbone given by the supporting varietals. The 2020 vintage began with a cool spring and below-normal temperatures continued through July. Come August the weather became hot accelerating ripening and concentrating flavors. All varieties were fermented in a combination of stainless steel tanks and large upright oak fermenters using 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 2021 until bottling in February 2022. The resulting wine is structured and complex with a rich, meaty texture and lush fruit — a great aging wine.

How to Enjoy

This complex and beautiful wine really needs to be decanted to be fully enjoyed. It does drink wonderfully now but it will only get better and has at least of decade in the cellar. Pair with rich, layered stews, braised dishes, and grilled steaks.