Tablas Creek Esprit de Tablas Blanc Adelaida District 2024

Item: Tablas Creek Esprit de Tablas Blanc Adelaida District 2024
Rating: 97
Author: Sean Ludford

The Data

Country USA

Appellation Adelaida District

Varietal White Blend

Retail Price $75

ABV 12.5%

Score 5 Stars/97 points

In the Glass

Appearance

Brilliant, medium golden color.

Aromatics

The aromatics are intense, offering scents of poached Asian pear, honeysuckle, and lychee with supporting notes of chamomile, citrus zest, and mineral.

Flavor

The palate is in full agreement with the nose, delivering a ripe orchard fruit-driven core with flavors of white peach, lemon curd, star fruit, wet stones, bees wax, and hints of orange peel. The finish is long and lingering.

Intensity & Texture

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

Cool Factor

Tablas Creek is a unique winery in California that seamlessly marries Old World and New World winemaking. This wine is one of the best Rhône-style white blends made in the USA. What could be cooler?

Value Grade

At $75 a bottle, it's certainly beyond many wine drinkers' weeknight budgets, but given its pedigree and the fact that this wine will age very gracefully, we recommend it.

Analysis

The Esprit de Tablas is Tablas Creek's flagship white Rhône-style blend and an annual favorite at BevX. The varietals used in this unique blend were all propagated from budwood cuttings from the famed Château de Beaucastel in France’s Southern Rhône. The 2024 vintage is comprised of 40% Roussanne,26% Grenache Blanc, 17% Picpoul Blanc, 11% Bourboulenc, 3% Picardan, and 3% Clairette Blanche. The 2024 vintage began with their second consecutive wet winter. The growing season started cool but soon gave way to a hot July, followed by continued warm temperatures through October. The yields were roughly 20%, but this contributed to the intense flavors and superb vibrancy. The grapes for this wine were grown in their certified organic and biodynamic estate vineyard. The six varietals were fermented separately in a variety of vessels, ranging from neutral oak barrels to foudres and stainless steel tanks. The best lots are blended in April 2025 and then rested in a foudre for an additional eight months before being bottled in December 2025. This is an incredible wine with a bright future from an expressive vintage.

How to Enjoy

If you choose to drink Esprit de Tablas Blanc in its youth, please decant it, as this will allow the aromatics to fully bloom. Serve chilled with grilled lobster, cold-smoked salmon, or a complex and spicy stir-fry.