2014 Tablas Creek "Esprit de Tablas" Paso Robles Rhône Blend

SKU #1278486 94 points Vinous

Vivid ruby-red. Expansive, spice-accented aromas of red and blue fruit liqueur, Asian spices and candied flowers are lifted by a minerally nuance. Silky, broad and alluringly sweet in the mouth, offering sappy black raspberry, boysenberry and lavender pastille flavors that become more energetic with air. In a seamless, elegant style. A refreshing jolt of minerality adds focus and cut to the impressively long, youthfully tannic finish. (JR) (11/2017)

93 points Wine & Spirits

The 2014 vintage was the third drought year in a row at Tablas Creek, but this top selection of estate fruit doesn’t seem to suffer—quite the opposite. Based on Mourvedre and Grenache, with some Syrah and a bit of Counoise, it’s fresh and lively, with a strawberry-red fruit tone that’s immediately delicious. The wine’s structure feels as if it were made of balsa wood, the tannins firm yet light, dancing on the tongue with flower-petal spice. It wouldn’t be a stretch to connect this lightness of tone directly to the pale, fragile limestone bedrock underneath the vines that allowed them to access moisture through California’s long dry spell. (8/2017)

92 points Jeb Dunnuck

The 2014 Esprit de Tablas checks in as a blend of 40% Mourvèdre, 35% Grenache, 20% Syrah and the rest Counoise. I actually like this almost as much as the more expensive Panoplie and it reminds me of a Châteauneuf du Pape from Vieux Télégraphe. Offering lots of minerality and hints of salinity, with ripe black raspberries, currants, pepper and olive aromas and flavors, it has medium to full-bodied richness, good acidity and ripe tannin. (8/2017)

92 points Wine Enthusiast

An elegantly integrated dark-red-cherry component distinguishes the nose of this blend of 40% Mourvèdre, 35% Grenache, 20% Syrah and 5% Counoise, with hints of sagebrush and baking spice. The food-friendly palate combines dark-berry flavors with dried herbs, graphite and light sarsaparilla, with well-integrated acidity and a silky yet firm texture. (MK) (9/2017)

90 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

A blend of 40% Mourvèdre, 35% Grenache, 20% Syrah and 5% Counoise, the 2014 Esprit de Tablas has a medium garnet-purple color and opens with fragrant dried roses, Ceylon tea and tobacco leaf notes over a core of black cherries, anise and black earth, plus a touch of underbrush. Medium to full-bodied with a firm frame of chewy tannins and lively acid, it offers a solid, muscular core of earthy flavors and a long finish with some pepper notes coming through. (LPB) (9/2017)

90 points Wine Spectator

Densely built but zesty, with dried cherry and smoky beef aromas and a firm backbone of dark plum, cracked pepper and tar notes, finishing with snappy tannins. (TF, Web-2017)