Their 2007 syrah is pretty damn good, for a syrah that is.
The Panoplie is actually Esprit, Panoplie and is often only available to club members. I had a bottle last night, and bought my allocation today. It was my first try of this wine although I have older vintages.
Tablas Creek produces outstanding wines across the board. I have never been disappointed with their wines, and they are good people to boot.
Thought I should add my note here as well.
The 2007 Tablas Creek Panoplie certainly lives up to its reputation. First me say what it is not. It is not Saxum, l’Aventure or some other rich full bodied wine.
Wine was decanted into a flat bottom decanter and cooled a tad by the restaurant before serving.
It is a very thoughtful wine that delivers an incredibly smooth velvety mouthfeel. The aromas are funky mourvedre, with kirch and framboise supporting. Under there some minerality is lurking, that comes out more obviously on the palate. Starts spicy with each new glass only to become softer rounder and fruiter as it airs. Very minimal oak. Probably one of the best balanced wines I’ve had in a long long time.
I had an '03 Panoplie this New Years and loved it. A couple months later, the club shipment showed up with an '07. Against better judgement, I opened it within minute of it being delivered, and was firing up the computer a few minutes later to reorder. It’s very, very good. The “regular” '07 Esprit is also very good, and probably the better value. But the Panoplie has a little extra in terms of both depth and complexity. A great wine.
Jim, I too ordered my 4 bottles asap after trying it. But I agree that the regular Esprit is not far behind and wins in QPR.
Thanks Peter. I’ve not had Saxum nor this but do drink the regular Esprit. How is this different than Saxum ? Sounds like not as full throttle ??
Right! This wine is more elegant, I mean sleekly elegant. Can’t say that I have ever tried a Rhone Ranger that is both great and medium bodied. In that sense it is really much more like a French wine.
I really like Tablas Creek - both the wine and the people there. In the past, I thought their whites were more on the mark than their reds. Their Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc is always a winner and if you can get your grubby hands on some, try the Picpoul! However, in recent vintages, I think the reds have caught up and are stunners in their own right. I haven’t opened a Panoplie lately as I want to try them with some age, but this is tempting me…
As others have said, these are really beautiful wines - and quite atypical for the area. Definitely more subdued and less ‘flashy’ than others in the area, these wines seem to shine with a few years bottle age on them.
Cheers!
Had the '12 of this over the weekend… Holy moly, such a delicious wine. It had a crystalline pure vivid fruit that I haven’t had from a GSM wine in a few years. WA dings it for lacking concentration of other vintages but I think it’s all the better for that. Great wine.
This is another in a long list of producers that I rarely drink, but I always tend to have good experiences when I do. It’s just a matter of “too much wine, not enough time,” or I’d be tempted to be in their wine program.
One part of the TC wine club that I like is the VINdependent option. Instead of an auto shipment of wine you just agree to purchase 6 bottles throughout a calendar year. You don’t get quite as big a discount, but you get to choose. We really enjoy their Dianthus rosé so I already know we will be purchasing 3 to 4 bottles of that so hitting 6 bottles makes it a no-brainer. Have not yet purchased any Panoplie, but have considered it. Most of my reds that I currently have are various vintages of En Gobelet.
Futures pricing is about 67 dollars and you can purchase a very large amount.
Haven’t had the 07, but prior vintages were awesome. Not sure I would put it over the best Saxum’s for best Paso wine ever.
Future tasting and ordering is Dec of this year for the 2014.
Up to a dozen 750s and and 1/2 dozen 1.5s per membership.
Seeing this again makes me want to pull one of my two bottles from storage … but I will resist! … possibly.
BTW,
They no longer produce a wine called exprit de beaucastel.
They never made a wine called exprit. They rebranded with the 2011 vintage. You can see that here.
https://www.cellartracker.com/pickproducer.asp?szSearch=tablas+beau&PickWine=on&Sort=vintage
2007 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Panoplie - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles (11/3/2020)
– decanted shortly before initial taste –
– tasted non-blind over a few hours –
– 60% Mourvedre, 30% Grenache, 10% Syrah –
NOSE: expressive; raspberry lambic; ripe, red fruits; hints of mineral and cotton candy; presents as moderately aged; very nice.
BODY: garnet with slight bricking throughout; color is of deep depth; medium-full bodied.
TASTE: still some drying tannins; good acidity; a bit funky (brett); ripe red fruits; a touch earthy; excellent, if not quite as exciting as the bottle I had ten years ago; Drink Now through 2030. Gut impression score: low to mid 90s.