CWD: '05 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Rouge

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drssouth

Stephen South
2005 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Rouge, alc 14.5%, 44% Mouvedre, 26% Grenache, 25% Syrah and 5% Counoise...made from vines imported from Beaucastel to Paso Robles...nice dark meaty nose...the fruit is solid and well represented...the structure/texture are excellent.. the balance is good... this is clearly in the spirit of the "mother wine"...not as good but quite good in it's own right... this effort just keeps getting better and better...
No over-manipulation, no over-ripeness, no excess wood...just well made wine
 
The vines didn't actually come from Beaucastel; they had to use nursery stock, which was then quarantined in Geneva, NY for several years before being propagated here. Whatever. They ARE doing quite a good job, and it's been a pleasure to watch things evolve there.
 
Are these wines still peculiarly overpriced?

I always thought they were interesting, but at one point they were more expensive than actual Beaucastel.
 
The Esprit runs from the mid-$20s to the mid-$30s, depending on the vintage, while the Beaucastel CdP appears to be well into the $70s, and climbing.

Are you perhaps thinking of a different wine, like the Panoplie? But no...that hasn't been around long enough.
 
$70s! The last time I bought Beaucastel it was around $30, and the Esprit was like $32. I guess I'm out of touch. Of course, I stopped buying Chateauneuf around the turn of the century, the prices got so crazy.
 
originally posted by Chris Coad:
$70s! The last time I bought Beaucastel it was around $30, and the Esprit was like $32. I guess I'm out of touch. Of course, I stopped buying Chateauneuf around the turn of the century, the prices got so crazy.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the price escalation in CdP has been crazy in the past decade. When I discovered the stuff, it was selling for under $20 apart from Beaucastel (a hefty $25 at the time). By the '98 vintage, they had climbed to $30-50; by '05, they were selling for $50-100. At those prices, I'd rather buy an '88 GC Burg at auction.

Mark Lipton
 
I saw Esprit de Beaucastel Rouge at Costco today and it was about $33...not bad, but they also had Qupe Bien Nacido Syrah for
 
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