Beauty from a Drought Year: a Horizontal Retrospective Tasting of the 2015 Vintage
January 13, 2025
One of the first things we do each year is take a comprehensive look at the wines we made ten years ago. One of the second things we do is share those highlights with our fans at a public tasting (which will this year be February 2nd). Why a decade? It's enough time that all the wines have become something that they weren't upon release, without it being such a long horizon that we're worried many will be over the hill. It's also a reasonable enough amount of time that Tablas Creek fans are likely to still have some of this vintage of wines in their cellars. Hopefully, our notes from this tasting will help people decide which wines they want to open, which they want to keep watching, and how they might want to think differently about what they lay down for aging in the first place. It also is an opportunity to revisit our vintage chart.
So, it's always exciting for us to do this annual check-in. It was particularly exciting because 2015 was a scarce vintage that we all loved but which we don't get to open very often. It came from the depths of our 2012-2016 drought, and was further reduced by a chilly, windy May. Crops declined nearly 28% from 2014, with every one of our major grapes coming in lighter than the year before. Roussanne and Mourvedre were down less than our other grapes, which is good for our flagship bottlings, but there were several wines that we just couldn't make, including varietal standbys like Grenache, Viognier, Marsanne, and Syrah. On the plus side, the wines we did make were lovely. In my Vintage Doppelgangers blog, here's how I described it:
A lovely, ethereal vintage that produced wines with intense flavors but no sense of weight. The summer alternated between warmer than normal (June, August, October) and cooler-than-normal (May, July, September) months, and resulted in a slow, extended harvest, with many of our late grapes coming in with tremendous expressiveness at low sugar levels. My dad called the vintage "athletic", which I thought was a nice way of getting at its weightless power. Similar vintages: none, really, though 2008 and 2013 have some traits they share.
My notes on the wines are below. I've noted their closures (SC=screwcap; C=cork) and, for the blends, their varietal breakdown. Each wine is also linked to its technical information on our website, if you'd like to see winemaking details, professional reviews, or our tasting notes at bottling. I was joined for the tasting by most of our production team (Neil Collins, Chelsea Franchi, Craig Hamm, Amanda Collins, Kaitlyn Glynn, Austin Collins, Erin Mason, and Gustavo Prieto) as well as by National Sales Manager Darren Delmore. The lineup:
- 2015 Vermentino (SC): We're often surprised with how well Vermentino -- a grape that most people drink young, and is all about freshness and vibrancy -- ages. This vintage was no exception. A vibrant nose of key lime, sea spray, and an almost Riesling-like petrol note. The palate was surprisingly luscious with flavors of pear, cumquat, and salty minerals, mouth-filling texture, bright acids and a long finish with more citrus and lemongrass notes. Youthful and beautiful.
- 2015 Clairette Blanche (SC): Our second-ever Clairette Blanche release and while it paled a little compared to the wines on either side, it was still in a nice place. Aromas of lychee and sweetgrass, mandarin blossom and preserved lemon. The mouth is clean with flavors of wet stone and citrus pith, waxy texture, and a burst of lemony acidity and sea salt on the finish.
- 2015 Grenache Blanc (SC): A richer Grenache Blanc nose than we are used to, showing vanilla custard and lemon drop, quince, peach, and chalk. The mouth showed flavors of salted grapefruit, citrus leaf, and sea spray. The long finish had the classic lightly tannic pithy Grenache Blanc note, with lingering salty minerality and rich texture.
- 2015 Roussanne (C): An elegant nose of eucalyptus, sarsaparilla, honeycomb, and a little cedary oak. The mouth was light on its feet for a 10-year-old Roussanne, with minty lift, flavors of spun sugar and chamomile, and just a tiny hint of oak-influenced sweet spice. This felt to me like it was still fleshing out and could use another few years in bottle.
- 2015 Patelin de Tablas Blanc (SC; 56% Grenache Blanc, 23% Viognier, 12% Roussanne, 9% Marsanne): Our highest-ever percentage of Grenache Blanc for Patelin Blanc, and it showed that character, with notes of lime, pears, wet rocks, and another light petrol note that reminded me of Riesling. On the palate, bright key lime acids with a mineral underpinning, flavors of fresh apricot and lemongrass, and outstanding tension. I'm guessing most of this is long drunk up at this point, but if not give it a try.
- 2015 Cotes de Tablas Blanc (SC; 26% Viognier, 25% Grenache Blanc, 25% Marsanne, 24% Roussanne): An anomalous Cotes Blanc for us, as all our Viognier and Marsanne only made 26% and 25% of this wine. The unusually high percentage of Roussanne definitely showed, with aromas of honeycomb and crystallized ginger and a touch of sweet oak. The palate was appealing, soft and luscious with honey and sweet baking spices. In order to maximize the character of the Viognier, we gave some of it time on the skins and I could taste the phenolic character that resulted. I loved this wine when it was young but it felt a little heavy-handed today. Erin described it as like "drinking an old library book."
- 2015 Esprit de Tablas Blanc (C; 55% Roussanne, 28% Grenache Blanc, 17% Picpoul Blanc): To help bring vibrancy to the relatively low-acid Roussanne we maxed out our Picpoul Blanc, and I felt you could taste it in this wine in a lovely way. A nose of crème brulée, lychee, and lemongrass. On the palate, I kept going back and forth between whether it tasted more like homemade apple pie or pineapple upside-down cake. But for all that this makes it sound sweet, it wasn't. The wine had nice acids, a little pithy bite, and remained light on its feet with a little lingering marzipan note.
- 2015 Patelin de Tablas Rosé (SC; 68% Grenache, 13% Counoise, 11% Mourvedre, 8% Syrah): Still a pretty youthful color. The nose showed dried fruits -- apricot and strawberry -- with some chalky minerality. The palate still had vibrant acids with flavors of salted watermelon and a pretty little pithy bite on the finish. It's not what it once was, but still holding on admirably.
- 2015 Dianthus (SC; 49% Mourvedre, 37% Grenache, 14% Counoise): More substantial than the Patelin Rosé, to the point that we almost included it in the public tasting, before deciding to focus on other wines that people were more likely to have chosen to age. But it was still really fun to taste. The color was still a pretty deep salmon, with a nose of potpourri, pomegranate, and Aperol. The mouth showed sweet cherry fruit, baking spices, and a cool blood orange note that played nicely off the wine's rich texture. The finish was long with a hint of tannin. Neil suggested pairing it with prosciutto-wrapped grilled shrimp, which sounded amazing.
- 2015 Full Circle (C): The Pinot Noir we make from the vineyard my dad planted in the cool-for-Paso Robles Templeton Gap. Despite the relatively cool vintage and the wine's modest 12.8% alcohol, we thought this was showing a little more age than we'd expected. The nose showed coffee grounds, black cherry, iron, and orange bitters. The palate had notes of mocha and minty spice, with some star anise coming out on the finish. The tannins were still substantial. The bottle might have been showing a touch of oxidation.
- 2015 Counoise (SC): Vibrant and fresh on the nose, with a purity to the fruit and bramble flavors that I loved. The mouth showed lively acids, cola and blueberry flavors, with just a little grip of tannin on the long finish over notes of clove spice and pure red fruit. A testament to the aging potential of lighter reds under screwcap.
- 2015 Terret Noir (SC): Our third-ever Terret Noir. A fascinating minty, herby nose of Aperol, licorice root, and dried leaves. The palate showed tart strawberry candy flavors with additional rhubarb and forest floor notes, significant tannic bite, and a long, brambly finish.
- 2015 Mourvedre (C): A nose of red plum, chocolate, sweet teriyaki and black pepper. The mouth was pretty and classic for Mourvedre, with bittersweet chocolate and red currant flavors, a little minty lift, and a finish of licorice, forest floor, and flourless chocolate cake. A little lurking meatiness hints at more to come with additional time in bottle.
- 2015 Tannat (C): An elegant nose for Tannat of dusty cocoa powder, black licorice, black cherry, menthol, and violets. The palate shows more of the same, with notes of charcuterie and black fruit, Tannat's characteristic and welcome bright acids and lovely balance between fruit, floral, tannin, and acid.
- 2015 Patelin de Tablas (SC; 51% Syrah, 31% Grenache, 14% Mourvedre, 4% Counoise): The nose was a little quiet, with notes of dried flowers and smoked meat. The mouth was pretty, with dark Syrah fruit, chocolate-covered blueberry, and a nice sandalwood note. The finish showed fig and a little tannic grip. This was likely at its peak a few years ago, but still, anyone who bought some of this at the $25/bottle this was on release had to have been pleased.
- 2015 Cotes de Tablas (C; 39% Grenache, 35% Syrah, 16% Counoise, 10%Mourvedre): A nose of milk chocolate and red fruit that we variously described as pomegranate, cherry and sugar plums. The mouth is lovely, with flavors of chocolate, red currant, sweet herbs, bay laurel, and lovely length and tannic structure. As is often the case with our 10-year retrospectives, this always seems to be right at the peak for Cotes red.
- 2015 En Gobelet (C; 39% Mourvedre, 29% Grenache, 18% Syrah, 11% Counoise, 3% Tannat): The nose wasn't my favorite in this showing, with a slight medicinal character to the cherry fruit above graham cracker, cedar, and coffee notes. The mouth was very nice, with currant fruit and pine forest notes, grippy tannins, and good acids. The finish is long with notes of grilled meat and Chinese five spice. We remarked on the power we saw in a wine that we usually value for its elegance. My sense is that this is still on its way up and will be better in another year or two.
- 2015 Esprit de Tablas (C; 49% Mourvedre, 25% Grenache, 21% Syrah, 5% Counoise): An absolutely classic Esprit nose of olive and black plum, soy marinade and herb-rubbed leg of lamb. The mouth is both pure and deep, with flavors of chocolate and currant, black licorice, and a lovely purity to the red and black fruit. The long finish had no hard edges, and left a lingering impression of sea salt and chocolate. Gorgeous with seemingly a long life ahead of it.
- 2015 Panoplie (C; 71% Mourvedre, 24% Grenache, 5% Syrah): Darker on the nose than the Esprit with notes of black pepper, baker's chocolate, sugarplum, sweet tobacco, and juniper forest. The mouth bursts with sweet raspberry fruit, then big tannins assert themselves. The long finish shows notes of black licorice, black currant, and flourless chocolate cake. Impressive, and still, I think, on its way up.
- 2015 Petit Manseng (C): Although we no longer grow this classic southwest French grape known for maintaining great acids as it reaches high sugar levels, it's fun to look back at an example. The 2015 was the apex of sweetness on this wine, and I tend to prefer it a little drier, where the electric acids take more center stage. This tasting showed a dusty nose of crystallized pineapple over a little nutty roundness, like gourmet trail mix. The mouth was quite sweet, with flavors of ripe pineapple and golden raisin, almost like a cream sherry. Good acids come out on the finish, but this is still basically a dessert wine.
A few concluding thoughts
I asked everyone to share what stayed with them about these wines, and the saltiness of the vintage was one of the most repeated observations. That's probably not surprising from a low-yielding vintage where the vines are doing everything they can to quest deep for water. But it's one of my favorite signatures from our limestone soils, and I have a vivid memory of Francois Perrin talking about searching for the "character of salt" in his favorite lots from a blending session in the early 2000s. If that's something you enjoy, search out a 2015.
We thought that the wines were overall more youthful than we had seen in the 2012-2014 stretch. There was plenty of tension along with good acids and tannic structure up and down the lineup. The 2015 vintage was cooler than the previous three years, which certainly helped. But I also think that I can taste the improvements we were making to our vineyard work. By 2015 we were farming our whole vineyard biodynamically, and had built up our flock of sheep enough that they could graze every block. There's a combination of purity and intensity I feel like I can taste from biodynamic vineyards, and this vintage showed me progress over the transitional vintages before. In that way it's one of our first vintages to show the character we expect now.
The quality of the screwcap-finished wines was noteworthy. People don't think of aging wines under screwcap, but our experience has been that as long as the wine isn't too tannic or too ripe to start, it's a great choice. I would recommend that anyone opening an older screwcapped white give it a quick decant. There's a clipped character that some older screwcapped wines have that dissipates with a few minutes of air. It happens anyway in the glass, but a decant speeds the process.
When I asked everyone around the table to pick five favorites, 13 of the 20 wines received at least one vote, with the Roussanne, the Terret Noir, and the Cotes de Tablas leading the way with six votes each. We ended up picking ten wines to share at our public retrospective tasting on February 2nd. If you'd like to join us, we'll be tasting Vermentino, Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Esprit de Tablas Blanc, Counoise, Terret Noir, Mourvedre, Cotes de Tablas, Esprit de Tablas, and Panoplie. There are still some spots left at the tasting, and we'd love you to join us.