2016 Tablas Creek En Gobelet
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Tasting notes
The slightly darker colored 2016 En Gobelet comes all from old, head trained vines and is a complex blend of 39% Mourvèdre, 30% Grenache, 20% Syrah, and the rest Counoise and Tannat. It was brought up all in foudre and offers terrific notes of ground herbs, cured meats, spice, and smoked darker fruits. It has good density, medium to full body, and terrific purity. Drink it over the coming 8-10 years. This was another terrific tasting with Jason Haas, and he and his team at Tablas Creek continue to make elegant, classic, balanced wines from their estate in the northwestern part of Paso Robles. It’s worth noting that since 2008 they’ve favored cooler temperatures during fermentation and this shows in their wines’ purity and freshness. However, in my opinion, the wines today lack some of the depth and intensity found in previous vintages. Nevertheless, these are beautiful wine that age incredibly well.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Josh Raynolds
More reviews and scores
Lurid ruby. Sexy, highly perfumed raspberry liqueur, spicecake and floral pastille aromas display excellent clarity and hints of smoky minerals and licorice. Broad, supple and appealingly sweet, showing impressive depth and intensity to the red and blue fruit, exotic spice and candied lavender flavors. Finishes very long, sappy and energetic, with smooth tannins lending shape and gentle grip.
A blend of 39% Mourvèdre, 30% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 8% Counoise and 3% Tannat, the 2016 En Gobelet derives from head-trained vines. Haas notes that this method looks both back to the past, as head-trained vines are the heritage of old California and Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and forward to the future, as this is how all of Tablas Creek's new plantings are being pruned. Wafting from the glass with notes of dried flowers, red cherry, rosemary and orange rind, it's a medium to full-bodied, vibrant wine with lovely purity and a fine-grained, tautly chalky finish. This is one of the most mineral, racy reds in the portfolio, and while the first meaningful year of production was 2009, I can readily imagine this aging very gracefully.
Opaque ruby. Powerful, expansive boysenberry, incense, Indian spice and violet aromas show outstanding clarity and pick up a dusty mineral nuance with air. Sweet, seamless and lively on the palate, offering sappy red and blue fruit and spicecake flavors that are enlivened by a late jolt of juicy acidity. Displays impressive depth but shows no excess fat. Lingers with serious persistence on the finish, which leaves behind notes of black cardamom and candied dark berries.