High-class box wine! We review the Patelin de Tablas Rosé from Tablas Creek Vineyard.
A rosé blend of 68% Grenache, 28% Mourvedre, 3% Vermentino and 1% Counoise from vineyards across 6 Paso Robles sub-appellations (see below) in California.
We love the box wine format here at Reverse Wine Snob. However, our biggest complaint has always been the quality of wine being put INTO the box.
Many wineries/labels see this as an opportunity to use the cheapest wine possible in order to keep prices incredibly low. This has, unfortunately, given box wine a bad rap in this country.
Today we’re delighted to check out a box wine (sample submitted for review) from Tablas Creek Vineyard in Paso Robles. We’re big fans of their wines – but they can get pricey ($30 for a 750ml bottle for this rosé). As such, this 3L bag-in-a-box format is a welcome sight!
The cost savings (the 3L box, equivalent to four 750ml bottles, retails for $105) and all the other benefits of box wine are definitely a big plus. But also, it’s not possible to have too much of this rich, layered, deep and delicious wine, making it the perfect choice for a box!
We also love the transparency from Tablas Creek on how they make the Patelin de Tablas Rosé and where they source it from. Just check out all of info and vineyard sources below. This is definitely not a common sight on a boxed wine!
From the winery:
Grapes for the Patelin de Tablas Rosé are sourced from six Paso Robles sub-appellations. Four are rich in limestone: the warmer, higher-elevation Adelaida District near Tablas Creek, the cool, coastal-influenced Templeton Gap to our south, and the moderate, hilly Willow Creek to our south and El Pomar to our south-east. These regions provide structured, mineral-laced fruit and excellent acidity. The moderate-to-warm Geneseo and San Miguel Districts further east and north produce grapes with generous fruit and spice.
The 2024 vintage began with second consecutive wet winter, giving the vines good reserves for the growing season. After a normal budbreak and a cool first half of the summer, those reserves were tested by our warmest-ever July and above-average temperatures through October. That led to a compressed harvest that was largely done by the second week of October and yields roughly 20% below our long-term averages. The low yields and warm year combined to produce fruit with intense flavors and noteworthy vibrancy.
The bulk of the Patelin de Tablas Rosé is Grenache, supplemented with Mourvèdre, Counoise, and Vermentino to provide some deeper fruit tones and additional spice. 90% of the wine was picked and direct-pressed into stainless steel tanks with no skin contact beyond the time in the press. The remaining 10% was destemmed then soaked for 12 hours, pressed, and added to the direct-press lots to provide a hint of color and a redder fruit profile. Only native yeasts were used in the fermentation. After fermentation, the wines were blended, cold-stabilized, filtered, and bottled in January 2025.
Vineyard Sources:
• 29% Grenache from Whalerock (Templeton Gap District)
• 28% Mourvedre from Dry Creek (Geneseo District)
• 13% Grenache from San Miguel (San Miguel District)
• 8% Grenache from the Tablas Creek estate vineyard (Adelaida District)
• 7% Grenache from Templeton Preserve (El Pomar District)
• 6% Grenache from Compostella (Willow Creek District)
• 6% Grenache from Rails Nap (Geneseo District)
• 2% Vermentino from Duas Terras (Geneseo District)
• 1% Counoise from Red Door Ranch (Templeton Gap District)1,164 3L Boxes Produced
13.5% Alcohol
The 2024 Patelin de Tablas Rosé pours very light colored in the glass. It begins with an enticing, savory aroma of strawberry, flowers, sea salt and some zesty citrus notes.
The wine tastes rich, layered, deep and delicious and is smooth and round in the mouth. Full of flavor, it features similar notes to the nose with wonderful balance and harmony. This is super easy to drink and satisfying too.
It ends dry and very long with lasting juicy, tangy fruit and some wonderful sea salt minerality. I love it.
A perfect wine for a box, it’s not possible to have too much of this one. It’ll stay fresh for 6 weeks too but good luck making it last that long!
This is definitely a winner! And we’ll have more Tablas Creek box wine reviews coming up.
Find more of the Best Box Wines here!
This one also makes a great choice for our list of the best wedding wines!
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