Sandwiched between the powerful 2007 and 2005 vintages, Jason Haas described the 2006 Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc as a "Goldilocks" vintage, and it's evolving very gracefully. The wine opens in the glass with a lovely bouquet of beeswax, lemon oil, yellow plums and an exotic touch of petrol. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied and richly textural, with excellent balance and purity, chewy extract and wonderful integration. This is a superb white Rh?ne blend that's drinking at its peak.

The luscious, flowery, honeyed 2006 Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc (65% Roussanne, 30% Grenache Blanc, and 5% Picpoul) reveals a lovely floral-scented nose with hints of bees wax, honeysuckle, rose petals, marmalade, and tropical fruits. Medium to full-bodied with terrific acidity as well as a heady finish, it will provide pleasure over the next 2-3 years.Readers would be hard pressed to find more French-like wines in the Paso Robles corridor than those produced by Tablas Creek. This is a partnership between renowned importer Robert Haas (Vineyard Brands), one of the pioneers of estate-bottled French wines, and Francois Perrin, one of the owners of Chateau Beaucastel in Chateauneuf du Pape. Haas and Perrin run a serious vineyard operation with vines planted on the steep hillsides in pure limestone soils, not far from the Pacific Ocean. All of these cuvees possess distinctive personalities, good acids, and striking minerality. Even though they make very good single varietal wines, I still believe their strength lies in their sensational blends. That said, my two favorite dry whites, other than the blended wines, are their Chablis-like, unwooded Antithesis Chardonnay and the tank-fermented and aged, exquisite Vermentino. The 2005 red wines have all been bottled. I tasted a handful of 2007 reds, which appears to be a superb vintage for Tablas Creek. (Production was down 15% for the red wine varietals and 30% for the whites, thus giving everything an extra degree of concentration.)Tel. (805) 237-1231; Fax (805) 237-1314

Cotes de Tablas is Tablas Creek’s number two white, after their Esprit de Beaucastel. The ’06 is a blend of Viognier, Marsanne, Grenache Blanc and Roussanne. It’s a satisfying wine, somewhat sweet and simple in apricot, peach and pineapple flavors.——S.H.(12/31/2007)—— 86