WTN: In which Jenise actually loves a Paso Robles wine

[Jenise]

2019 Tablas Creek Patelin de Tablas Blanc Paso Robles White Rhone Blend
Ooh, this is excellent! Served very chilled; and hubby, tasting blind, immediately went to aligote which was spot-on for a first guess. That is, it was very fine, a little floral with brilliant, multi-faceted European kind of acidity and balance--not chardonnay but closer to it than things we frequently drink like Sauvignon or Chenin. Grenache Blanc, the workhorse in this Southern Rhone style blend, showed up only as it warmed. Can't believe I'm so impressed by a Paso wine.

2019 Tablas Creek Patelin de Tablas Blanc Paso Robles White Rhone Blend
Ooh, this is excellent! Served very chilled; and hubby, tasting blind, immediately went to aligote which was spot-on for a first guess. That is, it was very fine, a little floral with brilliant, multi-faceted European kind of acidity and balance--not chardonnay but closer to it than things we frequently drink like Sauvignon or Chenin. Grenache Blanc, the workhorse in this Southern Rhone style blend, showed up only as it warmed. Can't believe I'm so impressed by a Paso wine.

We bought a bunch of this when it was on a TCV Special....at a disgustingly cheap price. I always am overwhelmed
with shame when I take advantage of their Specials pricing for ripping off TCV.
But not enough to quit doing it. I am a bad person.
Tom

[Jenise]

LOL.

I bought this in Seattle; it was the only Paso wine in my cellar and I bought it in large part because of your and Pat G's adulations which have given me the impression that the wines are improved over what I recall from my own trip there back in 2009. I liked this so much I'm going to send for more.

Just this month, I bought a Cotes de Tablas Blanc, 2019, which seems to be one tier above the Patelin series. It was a month special which adds to the discount and speaks to the frugal one.

We've had a few of the Patelins and they seem to be a consistent good value. Sometimes I buy 2 bottles of the same wine, one as a gift for my SIL. She is a big fan. Her most recent rave review was for the Grenache Blanc, 2018.

Looking forward to your future reviews. FWIW I go for the most recent vintage of each white, but YMMV.

Cheers!

[Jenise]

Pat, I buy and hold a lot of whites--the more acidity, the more reward for holding IME. This was $26 on the shelf which from what you've said (oh frugal one) I would not guess to be what you'd consider a value wine. Either way, I loved it, but let's calibrate: for me, 'value' would be under $20.

Pat, I buy and hold a lot of whites--the more acidity, the more reward for holding IME. This was $26 on the shelf which from what you've said (oh frugal one) I would not guess to be what you'd consider a value wine. Either way, I loved it, but let's calibrate: for me, 'value' would be under $20.

Always a challenge to articulate. But:

$10 or less: a great value. Uncommon for domestic wines, easier to find for Italian, Chilean, Spanish, Portuguese vino. 2021 Examples: Giardino PG Della Venezie ($3 at TJs), Various Cava ($7-$9), Honoro Vera ($7-$8), Kirkland Signature PG Friuli, Various Panilonco ($4-$5). Sometimes results in a rapid return to the store to get more, especially if it's TJs as that juice has a tendency to disappear quickly. TJs also sometimes has Lindeman's from Australia at $3-$4; same drill.

> $10 to $15: value. 2021 Example: the Lot 189 Columbia Valley you suggested. Usually buy 2 to start and if we pop and pour may get a bit more, if the wine tastes like a $20+ wine to both of us.

> $15: more subjective here. If it compares favorably to wines we've had recently in the $20+ range, my QPR rating increases.

I clearly favor value and great value wines. My bias.

Another factor that I take into account is fully loaded cost/bottle. List price, tax, and shipping. So almost any domestic wine that I order will have $4-$6 per bottle in shipping. And vintners' shipping cost is increasing. I buy such wine by the half-case with a full case (free shipping) a rare exception. TC falls into the half-case and shipping is currently $25. So while the wines are consistently good, it's rare that they will drink above their price point.

Re: aging whites, if there is a vintage chart available I use that to guide me. Otherwise it's experience. We only made one mistake in aging a wine too long, in my early days of collecting. A NZ Sauv Blanc. We now drink within a year of purchase. Live and learn.

Does that help?

[Jenise]

Pat yes, this helps, and it confirms my surprise when you described a $26 wine as a good value. For many it is, but your bar's set lower. Any more, any wine I love that comes in at $30 or under is a great value, be it red or white. I'll admit it's taken me years to shed the idea that reds deserve to cost a lot more than whites. Even with some difference in the cost of acreage thrown in, it takes just as much manpower to produce one over the other, and the whites might demand even greater attention (a winemaker I once spoke to opined that this was so). It's a case-by-case thing to evaluate, no pun intended.

Agree on reds and whites, Jenise. It makes no difference because it seems that just as much care goes into white wine as into reds. FWIW the TC Patelin series is about $26-$28 with tax and shipping (half-case). The Cotes series is about $31 for the whites and $35-$36 for the reds. This is for the 6 bottles per year club. Your discounts and your mileage may vary. TC is a saavy marketer with those monthly specials.

Such a fun journey.

[Jenise]

Where it makes a bigger difference is for winemakers who purchase grapes and don't have their own vineyards. They have no control over prices and are going to pay more, most of the time, for red grapes especially from notable vineyards. Their cost IS higher. (Not that it has to be our fault.)