2007 Tablas Creek En Gobelet (91 Points)

DATE CONSUMED

Sunday, July 29, 2012

VINTAGE

2007

WINERY/PRODUCER

Tablas Creek Vineyard

WINE NAME

En Gobelet

TYPE OF WINE

Red blend

COMPOSITION

48% Mourvedre, 47% Grenache, 5% Tannat

SUBNAME/NICKNAME

N/A

VINEYARD DESIGNATION

Grown and bottled on the estate

REGION/A.V.A.

Paso Robles, California

ALCOHOL CONTENT

15.0%

PRICE PAID

$28.80

WHERE/WHEN BOUGHT AND/OR HOW PROCURED

Got this bottle from the winery’s wine club in October 2009.

BOUQUET

I woke-up this morning feeling a little flu-ish, so my nose is just slightly stuffed.  What I COULD detect were notes of red and black fruit (like raspberries), lots of spices, and a bit of oak and earth.

TASTING NOTES

Tablas Creek assembles this red blend with fruit from head-pruned, dry-farmed sections of their estate vineyard.  2007 was a drought year (what else would you expect from California?), resulting in small, intense berries.  Between dry-farmed fruit, small, concentrated berries from (another) dry year, and unfining and unfiltering, this is a rich, creamy, intense, delicious blend. 

There is the usual red and black fruits in the complex flavor profile (plums, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and sour cherries), along with plenty of savory herbs and spices like black pepper, sage, and rosemary.  There is a deft amount of oak, along with an earthy, tannic follow-though.

This is a young, vibrant, tannic, delicious blend.  According to Tablas Creek’s vintage chart, this wine is in an early maturity stage and they suggest decanting before drinking.  That’s exactly what we did.  Like practically all of Tablas Creek’s Southern Rhone wines (single varietal and blended bottles), this wine will age gorgeously for years to come.  This rich, creamy, tannic blend is drinking well now, but if you can’t help yourself, definitely decant for an hour or two before drinking. 

PAIRING SUGGESTIONS

We drank this wine with one of my very favorite homemade dishes that Arthur makes: curried lamb shanks.  This wine went pretty well with the lamb shanks but if I had to drink this bottle again, I would pair this wine with a very thick ribeye smothered in Kosher salt and about a ton of freshly-cracked black pepper.  This wine would also pair well with a wine-based beef stew (like beef bourguignon), and pretty much any kind of red beef dish.

AGING POTENTIAL

Though five years old, this wine is still VERY young and tannic.  I would imagine this wine would continue to age, mature, and mellow-out beautifully for another 20+ years.

SCORE

91

Q.P.R. (QUALITY-TO-PRICE RATIO) (POOR, FAIR, GOOD, EXCELLENT)

GOOD-EXCELLENT

WINERY WEBSITE

http://www.tablascreek.com/