Tasting the wines in the Spring 2026 VINsider Wine Club shipments

Each spring and fall, we send out a selection of six wines to the members of our VINsider Wine Club. In many cases, these are wines that only go out to our club. In other cases, these are small-production selections we're excited about that don't make it far from the winery, if at all. At least a month before the club shipments will be sent out, we open them all to write the tasting and production notes that will be included in the club shipments. In many cases, this tasting is our first post-bottling reintroduction (or our last pre-bottling check-in) on wines that we'll come to know intimately in coming months and years. I always think it's fun to give followers of the blog a first look at these notes. I was joined for this tasting by Director of Winemaking Chelsea Franchi:

The shipments that will be going out in March include wines from the 2023, 2024, and 2025 vintages. Tasting three vintages together is a great way to get a handle on their relative personalities, and this spring shipment is typically my first chance to do a personality assessment on the newest vintage, on which we haven't even started blending trials yet. My quick thoughts, after the tasting, are:

• The wines from the unusually cool, even 2023 season continue to demonstrate that this was an outstanding year across the board. The late-releasing reds we tasted today all showed deep colors, complexity, purity, and expressiveness, with depth but a lushness to their tannins that suggests that you'll be rewarded whether you want to open them young or stash them away. A lovely combination and a pleasure of a vintage.
• It seems like 2024 is being a little overshadowed by the excitement around 2023, but if what we've seen with the white wines is any indication, it's a rock star in its own right. The year saw a cool first half and a hot conclusion, and the wines show both faces: noteworthy lushness, but with bright acids to balance them. Slightly higher toned than 2023 but every bit as expressive.
• It's early to generalize about 2025, but the Vermentinos and Dianthus showed great purity and vibrancy combined with a mouth-filling intensity that makes me all the more excited to start blending.

I'll go through the six wines in the VINsider Classic (Mixed) Shipment and then move on to the additional wines we chose to include in the Red Wine Selection and White Wine Selection shipments. Our big news is that we've moving the Esprit de Tablas Blanc from the fall shipment to the spring. It's a wine that we bottle in December, so by March it already has four months of bottle age and is tasting great, and moving it earlier leaves us space to put the new (since 2024) Panoplie Blanc in the fall shipments. The Spring 2026 Classic Shipment includes six different wines:

2024 ESPRIT DE TABLAS BLANC

• Production Notes: The late heat of the 2024 vintage drove yields on our whites down by about 11%, and reduced the number of gallons we received per ton of grapes to the lowest levels we've ever measured. But the quality of what we got was outstanding, producing wines with lushness and vibrancy. Roussanne showed outstanding depth and charm, and we ended up using 40% as the wine's base. To that we added 26% Grenache Blanc (for sweet spice, acid, and texture), 17% Picpoul Blanc (for tropical fruit and vibrant acids), 11% Bourboulenc (for nutty, lemony depth), and 3% each of Picardan and Clairette Blanche (for minerality and freshness). As we have done since 2012, we returned the blend to foudre after it was assembled in May 2025 and aged it through the subsequent harvest before bottling it in December 2025.
• Tasting Notes: A nose of noteworthy complexity, both deep and lifted, powerful and fresh, with aromas of honeysuckle, pineapple, honeydew melon, warm straw, and petrichor. The palate lovely with flavors of cantaloupe and wildflower honey, marmalade and vanilla custard. The finish is clean and long with lingering notes melon, white flowers, and chalky minerals. Drink now to enjoy its freshness or let it age for up to two decades for deeper flavors of caramel and roasted nuts.
• Production: 1850 cases
• List Price: $75 VINsider Price: $60

2025 DIANTHUS

• Production Notes: Named after a family of flowering plants with deep pink blooms, Dianthus is always led by Mourvedre (42% this year), for rich texture and watermelon and plum fruit, with Grenache (40%) for bright strawberry fruit and refreshing acidity. Smaller additions of Counoise (13%) and Cinsaut (5%) bring brambly fruit and sweet spice to the blend. The fruit spent 24-48 hours on the skins, and then it completed its fermentation in stainless steel before bottling in January 2026.
• Tasting Notes: A gorgeous salmon-peach color with fuchsia undertones. On the nose, fruity notes of cherry and watermelon are deepened by savory green herbs like sage and chaparral. The palate is rich but taut, with flavors of Maraschino cherry, yellow plum, and wild strawberry, complete with the fruit and leaves. A hint of tannin focuses the long finish, leaving a lingering impression of plum skin and sweet spice. A rosé to convert people who don't think pink wines can be serious. Drink before the end of 2027.
• Production: 887 cases
• List Price: $40 VINsider Price: $32

2024 COTES DE TABLAS

• Production Notes: Grenache always plays lead in the Cotes de Tablas, and in 2024 we chose 47% Grenache for its core of red fruit and sweet spice and added 28% Syrah for darker fruit and minerality, while 13% Counoise (for vibrancy and spice) and 12% Mourvedre (for earth and complexity) complete the wine. The Cotes de Tablas was blended in June 2025 and aged in 1200-gallon neutral oak foudres until its bottling in March 2026.
• Tasting Notes: A lifted nose of cherry cola, red licorice, new leather, and sarsaparilla. The mouth is pretty with flavors of salted plum, tart cherries, and brambly sweet spice, while the finish shows a welcome bite of tannin, leaving an impression that is serious yet intriguing. Enjoy any time over the next decade.
• Production: 1500 cases
• List Price: $40 VINsider Price: $32

2023 SYRAH

• Production Notes: While Syrah is reliable in hot years, it truly sings in the cooler ones. 2023 was the coolest year we've seen since 2011, and the extra hang time that this granted Syrah produced the best showing for the grape in our memory, with lovely lovely dark color and a refinement to the tannins that can be harder to achieve in warm years. We ferment our Syrah in a range of tanks, from open-top fermenters punched down twice daily to wooden upright tanks mixed with compressed air. Once it's pressed, it's moved to barrels of various ages. For our varietal bottling we selected lots with natural balance and enough lushness to make the wine appealing when young but still with the backbone to age, about 90% from neutral oak and 10% from new barriques. The selected lots were blended in June 2024 and aged in neutral oak until bottling in April 2025.
• Tasting Notes: A deep but generous nose of black raspberry, cola, sweet leather, and teriyaki marinade, brightened by a little menthol lift. The mouth shows similar notes of tangy black fruit, vanilla bean, and umami notes of meat drippings and soy. The finish shows chalky minerality, lush tannins, and salted black licorice notes. A lovely Syrah that should drink well young and also age effortlessly for two decades.
• Production: 822 cases
• List Price: $55 VINsider Price: $44

2023 TANNAT

• Production Notes: Our varietal bottling of this traditional grape from southwest France, famous for its intense fruit, spice, and tannins that produce wines capable of long aging. Tannat is known principally in the Pyrenees foothills appellation of Madiran, but originally native to the Basque region. We ferment Tannat in open-top fermenters to keep it exposed to oxygen and start the softening process, then move it to neutral oak foudre where it ages for nearly 2 years. The wine was bottled in April 2025 and has been aging the last 10 months in bottle, waiting for its release.
• Tasting Notes: A powerful nose of black cherry, menthol, iron filings, and dark chocolate, with Tannat's characteristic violet florality providing welcome lift. The palate is more generous, with black raspberry and black licorice flavors, Tannat's signature refreshing acids, and chewy tannins on the long, plush finish. Should be delicious even young, paired with rich foods, and will surely age for up to two decades if you're looking for a more refined experience.
• Production: 989 cases
• List Price: $50 VINsider Price: $40

2023 PANOPLIE

• Production Notes: Panoplie is selected from the top 3% of the year's lots, chosen for their richness, concentration and balance. Mourvedre (61%) plays the starring role, bringing dark red fruit and its distinctive meaty, chocolatey richness. Roughly equal parts Syrah (23%, for black fruit, density, and tannic richness) and Grenache (16%, for sweet spice and vibrancy) complete the blend. Each lot was fermented individually before being selected, blended and moved to foudre to age in July 2024. The wine aged an additional year before bottling in July 2025.
• Tasting Notes: A nose poised between red and black: cassis and sarsaparilla, black cherry and red licorice, with additional luscious notes like a salted brownie. The mouth is generous with flavors of plum and new leather, forst floor and sweet baking spices. The long, luscious finish shows tangy fruit, salty minerals, and sweet spice. A baby, but already delicious. Enjoy over the next two decades or longer.
• Production: 708 cases
• List Price: $115 VINsider Price: $92

Four* additional wines (2025 Vermentino*, 2025 Lignée de Tablas The Bench Vermentino, 2024 Cotes de Tablas Blanc, and 2024 Roussanne) will join the 2024 Esprit Blanc and the 2025 Dianthus in the White Wine Selection shipment. Why is are there asterisks after the four and 2025 Vermentino? Because it's not done fermenting and there's a chance it won't make it in time. That's a risk of the native yeast fermentations that we do. In a cool year when the grapes are coming into the cellar late, it can take the fermentations a while to get going and to finish. If it doesn't make it, we'll add in a second bottle of the 2024 Esprit de Tablas Blanc. We can't imagine anyone will be disappointed to receive that. The notes on the extra wines:

2025 VERMENTINO

• Production Notes: Our varietal bottling of this traditional Mediterranean variety, known principally in Sardinia, Corsica, and Northern Italy. It is also grown in the Mediterranean parts of France (particularly Côtes de Provence) where it is known as Rolle. The Vermentino grape produces wines that are bright, clean, and crisp, with distinctive citrus character and refreshing acidity. To emphasize this freshness, we ferment and age Vermentino in stainless steel, and try to bottle it young under screwcap. Unfortunately, the cool 2025 vintage led to a later start to fermentation than usual, and the Vermentino was still sweet at the time it was supposed to be bottled in January. We're hoping that it finishes by our early-March bottling, but as you'll see from the notes below, it still has a way to go.
• Tasting Notes: A nose impacted by the CO2 from fermentation, with notes that seem likely to persist of lemon pith and briny minerality, and other notes that are likely a result of the residual sweetness like JuicyFruit gum and lemon-lime soda. On the palate still a bit sweet but less noticeable than on the nose, as it's balanced with vibrant acids. The flavors are of kiwi, lemon curd, and honeydew melon, and the finish cleans up and leaves a rocky minerality with faint sugarcane notes. We'll update the tasting notes when it's fully dry, but it's promising.
• Production: 900 cases
• List Price: $35 VINsider Price: $28

2025 LIGNÉE DE TABLAS THE BENCH VERMENTINO

• Production Notes: The Lignée de Tablas The Bench Vermentino is the fourth white wine released in the Lignée de Tablas collection. The Bench Vineyard site alongside the Mokelumne River in Lodi's Clements Hills AVA. A part of Vino Farms, a multi-generational farming operation owned and operated by the Ledbetter family since the 1970s, the vineyard was converted to Biodynamic farming in 2021 and to Regenerative Organic in 2024. The result is fruit with character and freshness that has attracted winemakers from Pax to Two Shepherds to Monte Rio Cellars. We brought the grapes down from Lodi in a refrigerated truck, and fermented them in stainless steel with native yeasts. The wine was bottled in January 2026.
• Tasting Notes: A clean, pretty nose of citrus leaf, lemon verbena, crushed rock, peppermint and a briny sweetness like saltwater taffy. The palate is vibrant with flavors of Meyer lemon, white flowers, sweetgrass, and key lime. The finish is refreshingly dry with citrus and sea spray minerality. Drink now and over the next few years.
• Production: 335 cases
• List Price: $32 VINsider Price: $25.60

2024 COTES DE TABLAS BLANC

• Production Notes: Viognier (41%) is always the lead grape in our Cotes Blanc, with Marsanne (26%) our first choice as Viognier's primary complement for its elegance and creamy softness. With plenty of lushness and texture from the two lead grapes, we deprioritized Grenache Blanc (12%) compared to most recent years and instead brought freshness and minerality from larger additions of Picardan (11%) and Clairette Blanche (10%). The selected lots were blended in May 2025, and the wine was bottled that June. Other than 2022, when we weren't able to make a Cotes Blanc at all, the low yields per acre and low gallons per ton of grapes in 2024 meant that this is the lowest production on this wine in its 23-year history.
• Tasting Notes: A lovely tropical nose of fresh apricot, mango, lemongrass, caramel apple, white pepper, and gingersnap. The palate is mouth-filling but still light on its feet, with notes of vanilla custard, fresh pear, and sweet hay, while its texture shines on the long, clean finish, leaving a lingering hint of rainwater minerality. Drink now and for at least the next five years.
• Production: 450 cases.
• List Price: $40 VINsider Price: $32

2024 ROUSSANNE

• Production Notes: Roussanne yields were driven down by 2024's late heat, but the impact on our winemaking was mitigated by some additional production from our new head-trained, dry-farmed plantings on Jewel Ridge. That meant that we were able to make a small amount of varietal Roussanne while still adding the Roussanne-dominant Panoplie Blanc to the lineup and using a healthy amount of Roussanne in our Esprit de Tablas Blanc. The selected lots for our varietal bottling (roughly 60% from 132-gallon puncheons and 40% from 60-gallon barriques, about 25% new) were blended in April 2025 then aged in one neutral 600-gallon foudre through the subsequent harvest before bottling this past December.
• Tasting Notes: An immediately recognizable Roussanne nose with notes of lanolin, beeswax, baked pear, tarragon, and warm oak leaves. The mouth is equally classic, with flavors of pear, salted caramel, cedar spice and white peach. And while all those descriptors might sound sweet, the wine is firmly dry with a lingering note of salty minerals and white flowers. Drink in the next 3 or 4 years for a pure expression of Roussanne's honey and pear flavors, or hold it for 8-15 years for a flavor profile of caramel, wet rocks, and hazelnut.
• Production: 264 cases
• List Price: $55 VINsider Price: $44

Three additional reds (the 2023 Vaccarese, the 2023 Lignée de Tablas Shake Ridge Syrah, and the 2023 Le Complice) join the 2023 Syrah, 2023 Tannat, and 2023 Panoplie in the Red Wine Selection shipment:

2023 VACCARESE

• Production Notes: Vaccarèse is a little-known blending grape from the south of France; at less than 30 acres planted in France in 2016 it is one of Chateauneuf du Pape's rarest, and the two-thirds of an acre that we planted here in Paso Robles is California's first. But it's already shown tremendous potential, earning a spot in our Esprit de Tablas the last four vintages. It is the only grape in the Rhone pantheon that is black fruited with high acids, and as such is also fun to show as a varietal wine. We ferment Vaccarese in small open-top fermenters and age it in neutral barrels to bring roundness to its structure. The lots for this varietal bottling were chosen in July 2024 and then aged until bottling in April 2025. This is the first time we've had enough to send out to wine club members!
• Tasting Notes: A spicy nose pine forest, blackberry, menthol, iodine, and black licorice. The mouth is more open than the nose suggests, with flavors of boysenberry, cranberry, and chocolate truffle. The finish is tangy and spicy with lingering notes of blackberry, tobacco leaf, and chalky minerality. We don't really know how this will age but it seems to us to have the structure to go out a decade, easily.
• Production: 246 cases
• List Price: $40 VINsider Price: $32

2023 LIGNÉE DE TABLAS SHAKE RIDGE SYRAH

• Production Notes: The Lignée de Tablas Shake Ridge Syrah is the third red wine released in the Lignée de Tablas collection. Shake Ridge Ranch sits between 1650 and 1850 feet on steep hills near Sutter Creek, in Amador County, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Farmed organically by the legendary Ann Kraemer, on well-drained loamy soils over a base that ranges from quartz and soapstone to shale and granite, Shake Ridge produces some of the most coveted grapes in the Sierra Foothills. We brought these grapes down to Tablas Creek in a refrigerated truck, then fermented them in two open puncheons and one upright wooden fermenter with native yeasts before moving the wine to barrel. The wine was bottled in April 2025, and has been aging in bottle since then.
• Tasting Notes: A savory nose, very Syrah, of black pepper, pancetta, wood smoke, slate, and black olive. The palate is lovely with black cherry, fig, and baker's chocolate flavors, sweet baking spice lift, and a firm finish with graphite-like mineral notes and mouth-filling texture. A bit more savory and cooler-toned than our estate Syrah, in a fascinating way, perhaps reflecting the vineyard's altitude. Drink over the next two decades.
• Production: 356 cases
• List Price: $50 VINsider Price: $40

2023 LE COMPLICE

• Production Notes: The eighth vintage of our blend that celebrates the kinship between Syrah (62%) and the pale, floral Terret Noir (10%). Le Complice means, roughly, "partner in crime". Although Syrah is dark and Terret light, they both share wild herby black spice, with the higher acids of Terret leavening Syrah's tendency toward monolithic darkness. For this blend, we favor lots of Syrah that are fermented with stems or whole cluster, as the herby lift that provides fits seamlessly with Terret. As usual, we added Grenache (28%) for friendliness and mid-palate generosity. The wine was blended in June of 2024, aged in foudre until its bottling in April 2025, and aged in bottle since then.
• Tasting Notes: A nose both spicy and pure, with notes of cranberry and teriyaki beef jerky, leather, green peppercorn, and cigar box. The mouth is comparatively generous with flavors of black licorice, olive tapenade, green herbs, and sweet nutmeg spice. The finish has lingering luscious tannins and notes like a flourless chocolate cake with a black raspberry coulis. Drink over the next two decades.
• Production: 368 cases
• List Price: $65 VINsider Price: $52

If you're a wine club member, we've got a few different ways you can try these wines. We are hosting an in-person pickup party here at the winery on Sunday, March 29th. Neil, Chelsea, and I are also planning to host another virtual pickup party, though we haven't fully settled on the date. And we'll again be offering club members who visit between March 20th and April 12th the opportunity to choose their shipment wines as their tasting flight.

If you're not a wine club member, and you've read all this way, we'd love to have you join while there's still a chance to get this spring shipment. Details and how to join are at tablascreek.com/wine_club/vinsider_club.