And unlike most white wines, Roussanne ages very well due to its unusual combination of richness, minerality, and balancing acids

Tablas Creek Vineyard

My Wine of the Week is a cellar selection – the 2009 Tablas Creek Roussanne. It’s a wine that has been in my cellar for 10 years!

Typically, I wouldn’t keep a white wine that long, but, two factors gave me confidence, I could hold this wine longer than I typically would; 1) Tablas Creek is a high-quality producer with a stellar track record of producing wines built to age well, and 2) I knew that Roussanne is a white wine that will age well.

2009 Tablas Creek Roussanne

We ferment and age about one third of our Roussanne in one-to five-year-old small French oak barrels, half in large 1200-gallon French oak foudres, and the remainder in stainless steel. The oak provides a structured richness and enhances the rich texture of the grape, while the stainless steel emphasizes the minerality of the wine and heightens the floral aromatics explains Tablas Creek Vineyard.

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Tasting note: It pours a slightly hazy amber color with enticing aromas of dried apricot, honeysuckle, brioche, toasted almond, and a bit of chamomile. On the palate, it’s medium-full bodied with bright acidity and dried apricot, lemon zest, honey, poached pear and low key spice flavors. It has a very appealing subtlety oxidized character which lends a savory character to the wine. Medium-long finish. 13.2% abv

About Tablas Creek

Tablas Creek Vineyard (“TCV”) is arguably the best-known of all Paso Robles wineries specializing in Rhone style wines.  It is the realization of the combined efforts of two of the international wine community’s leading families: the Perrin family, proprietors of Château de Beaucastel, and the Haas family of Vineyard Brands. Equally owned and run by the two families, the partnership begun in 1987 remains today as ever, even as the next generation of Haases and Perrins have stepped into leadership roles over recent decades explains the TCV website.

After years of searching for a suitable vineyard location, the families chose to establish themselves in Paso Robles because of the similarities of the soil conditions and climate of Paso Robles to Chateauneuf du Pape.  They went as far as to import vines from Chateauneuf du Pape.  The vines were propagated and grafted in their on-site nursery and used to plant their 115 acre organic vineyard (which has been certified organic since 2003).

Since 2010 TCV has incorporated many biodynamic techniques in their estate vineyards, including their own sheep and alpacas. They received they biodynamic certification in 2017.

We believe in the potential for regenerative agriculture to make a meaningful contribution to solving the world’s most pressing climate and resource challenges. To that end we are proud to have become the United States’ first Regenerative Organic Certified™ vineyard in 2020, and the first Regenerative Organic Certified™ Gold vineyard in 2022 explains the TCV website.

Most recently, TCV received the  California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance Green Medal Award