Yes, those are our sheep illustrating a great new Washington Post article by Dave McIntyre about how wineries are using regenerative practices to improve the health of their vineyards while also sequestering carbon and fighting climate change. Check it out!
In her new feature 11 Outstanding New White Wines That Are Perfect for Drinking This Fall, Robb Report’s consulting wine and spirits editor Sara Schneider shares eleven of her favorite white wines for cooler weather. Her review of our 2019 Roussanne captures what we love about this fall- and winter-weight white:
Roussanne, a white Rhône variety, is an important grape for Rhône-expert Tablas Creek—as a varietal wine and in their lovely blends. This 2019 shows the purity of its character with honeyed pear notes on both the nose and the palate. Pretty minerality underscores melon and stone fruit aromas as well. Apricot and appealing salinity join in the mouth, with a profile that’s at once delicate and rich, fresh and mouth-filling.
In a recent article, Clare Tooley, MW offers 24 tasting notes and scores from 6 of Paso Robles' premium wineries. In her section on Tablas Creek, she tells a bit of our story:
The Haas and Perrin family partnership of Tablas Creek is a good example of personal and practical ambition. With an adamant belief that it was possible, they created something extraordinary
In addition, she reviews four of our wines, all receiving 90+ scores, including the 94-point 2018 Esprit de Tablas Blanc. Her tasting note captures its essence beautifully:
Compelling aromas of golden fruit, dairy cream, fresh vanilla and pastries. Palate is much less about cake and more about stone: both stone fruit (apricot, from the Roussanne) and pebbles. Has a lovely riverine freshness. Green apple acidity and phenolics ‘spark’ the mid-palate and really refresh the finish which then becomes cleansing. A savoury, food-demanding white wine. Upright and singular in spite of its medley of components.
Followers of Tablas Creek will know that we've used sheep for more than a decade, to graze our cover crop, fertilize naturally, and minimize what we need to bring in from outside the property.
In a new article for Wine Enthusiast, writer Kathleen Willcox puts the use of sheep in vineyards in context, speaking to our Shepherd Dane Jensen as well as proponents of their benefits on soil health and expression of terroir from Chene Bleu, Benziger, Bonterra, and Antiquum Farms.
In a new article for Business Insider, Amber Gibson dives into how wineries are changing their planting and viticulture to a warmer, dryer future. Our use of sheep for fire mitigation gets a nice mention.
We were excited to see five new reviews from the Wine Enthusiast of new Tablas Creek releases, which scored from 92 to 94 points. These included the 2019 Roussanne (92 points), the 2019 Patelin de Tablas and 2020 Patelin de Tablas Rose (both 93 points), and the 2019 Cotes de Tablas and 2020 Vermentino (both 94 points). The Patelin Rose, Cotes de Tablas, and Vermentino also received their coveted "Editors' Choice" designation.
In the latest New York Times article by Eric Asimov, he focused on two wineries in Paso Robles that use dry-farming to mitigate climate change: AmByth Estate and Tablas Creek Vineyard. From the article:
Why is dry farming important? “For two reasons,” said Neil Collins, the executive winemaker and vineyard manager. “First, the fewer the inputs, the better to make wines of place, which is our goal. Second, because it’s more responsible.”
Each week, New York Times Wine Editor Eric Asimov chooses a wine category and three suggested bottles that illustrate that category. Readers source the wines or similar ones and share their impressions in the comments. He then incorporates those comments and his own observations in an upcoming column.
We're excited that he chose "white blends" as the category this week... and that he picked our Patelin de Tablas Blanc as an example of the white Rhone-style blends we love so much.