News & Press

The Drinks Business: Winemakers think outside the box to protect their flock

We were happy to see ourselves included in Kathleen Willcox’s piece, which explores how vintners are using animals to reduce their carbon footprint and protect their regenerative flocks. The article highlights how sheep are replacing herbicides in vineyards and the creative ways wineries are keeping them safe from predators. From the article:

At Tablas Creek in Paso Robles, where regenerative agriculture has long been the name of the game, a combination of sheep and guardian dogs is deployed. ‘Our team of dogs protects our flock of around 250 sheep year-round,’ [Winemaker Neil] Collins says. ‘We used to have a llama, but the dogs are better suited to handle the real dangers from coyotes and mountain lions.’

A New Era of Wine Clubs: Introducing a First-of-Its-Kind Nationwide Wine Club Benefit “Wine Atlas Collective”

Wine Industry Advisor announced the creation of a new collective we are excited to introduce: The Wine Atlas Collective!

Tablas Creek is joining forces with seven other family-owned and sustainably-minded wineries from great regions around the country to bring even more value to our club memberships. Starting July 1st, if you're a member at Tablas Creek (or any of the wineries in the collective), you'll be treated as a member at all of them. Think of this as your passport to the best of American wine, from Napa Valley to Virginia, Washington State to New York’s Finger Lakes, and in between. When you visit, you’ll get free or discounted tastings, member-exclusive wines, and special hospitality.

With this, we hope to make your membership with Tablas Creek even more valuable, and your experience exploring the wines of America that much more seamless.

The Wine Atlas Collective is:

• Blenheim Vineyards – Virginia
• Brooks – Oregon
• Frog’s Leap – Napa Valley
• L’Ecole № 41 – Washington
• Red Tail Ridge – New York (Finger Lakes)
• Ridge Vineyards – Sonoma & Santa Cruz Mountains
• William Chris Vineyards – Texas Hill Country
• Tablas Creek Vineyard – Paso Robles

New Release: 2024 Grenache Blanc

Dave McIntyre's WineLine: Small wineries unite!

We're proud to be a part of Dave McIntyre's excellent article announcing the Wine Atlas Collective! His explanation of the collective is one of the best we've seen:

This collaboration can help small wineries squeezed by increasing consolidation among wholesalers, a drop in winery tourism and a broader market downturn. They will help increase awareness of their wines and give members of other participating wineries an incentive to visit when traveling in their own regions.

As of July 1, any member of one of these wineries’ clubs who visits another participating winery will be treated as if they were members there.

The Press Democrat: Picpoul Blanc Is a Rare White Variety That Meets the Moment

We were happy to see ourselves included in this spotlight on Picpoul Blanc, a grape that’s quietly winning fans across California for its vibrant acidity, drought tolerance, and versatility. The article traces the variety’s rise from obscurity to cult favorite and notes Tablas Creek’s foundational role in bringing it to the U.S. From the article

As California winemakers look for grape varieties more tolerant to drought and heat, plantings of a rare French grape native to the Languedoc region of southern France are likely to rise. Picpoul Blanc, with only 48 acres bearing fruit in the state, has great growing potential.

Decanter: Tablas Creek "makes history with ‘Châteauneuf-du-Pape grapes’"

In a new article, Decanter's Chris Mercer celebrates our release of Muscardin and our completion of the Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape collection. From his article:

From the start, Tablas Creek has imported and propagated grape varieties grown at Beaucastel. Its first plantings, in 1994, included Mourvèdre, Grenache and Grenache Blanc, Syrah, Counoise and Roussanne.

Next came Picpoul Blanc in 2000, followed by Terret Noir and Clairette Blanche (2010), Picardan (2013), Vaccarèse, Cinsault and Bourboulenc (2016), and, finally, Muscardin in 2019.

Its 14-strong, single-varietal range covers each of these.

Press Release: Tablas Creek Vineyard Becomes First U.S. Winery to Bottle All 14 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Grapes as Single-Varietal Wines

Tablas Creek Vineyard has announced the completion of a decades-long project: bottling all 14 traditional Châteauneuf-du-Pape grape varieties from the Château de Beaucastel collection as single-varietal wines. The final piece came this year with the debut of a varietal Muscardin, an extremely limited 25-case bottling that marks a first for any American winery.

This is an important milestone in the journey that began with the founding of Tablas Creek in 1989 as a partnership between the Perrin family of Château de Beaucastel and American importer Robert Haas. Over the next three decades, Tablas Creek imported, propagated, and planted the grapes grown at Beaucastel, including nine new to the United States. The grapes, and the year in which they were first planted, are: Mourvedre (1994), Grenache (1994), Syrah (1994), Counoise (1994), Grenache Blanc (1994), Roussanne (1994), Picpoul Blanc (2000), Terret Noir (2010), Clairette Blanche (2010), Picardan (2013), Vaccarese (2016), Cinsaut (2016), Bourboulenc (2016) and Muscardin (2019).

In celebration of the community that made this achievement possible, Tablas Creek will debut the Muscardin at an industry event for wine and hospitality professionals from across San Luis Obispo County. Attendees will have the opportunity to taste all 14 single-varietal wines side by side in a first-of-its-kind experience designed to highlight the diversity and potential of Rhône varieties in California.

Tablas Creek's second-generation Proprietor, Jason Haas, had this to say about the accomplishment, "I can feel my dad smiling down at this landmark. People so often think of the Rhone grape varieties as ‘just blending grapes.’ But tasting them on their own, it’s clear that they’re more than that. Each one has its own distinctive personality. We are proud to have introduced so many of them to California viticulture, and to see millions of cuttings from those original mother vines in hundreds of vineyards up and down the West Coast."

New Release: 2024 Lignée de Tablas Fenaughty Blanc

We are so excited to share the newest release from Tablas Creek. Our 2024 Lignée de Tablas Fenaughty Vineyard Blanc is now available! This wine is the newest white wine released in the Lignée de Tablas collection. The Fenaughty Vineyard is a former pear orchard in the El Dorado AVA of the Sierra Foothills, which the Mansfield family has farmed since the 1970s and where they have planted a wide selection of Tablas Creek clones. The grapes are farmed organically and harvested by hand.

From our tasting notes: A nose of honey and brioche, herbal tea, spicecake, gardenia, and sweet cream butter. On the palate, mouth-filling with flavors of honeydew, guava, and preserved melon, medium body, and a wet rock minerality coming out on the finish. The wine ($40 list) is $32 per bottle for VINsiders. Limit 6.

Purchase yours in our online shop. Questions? Contact the orders team at orders@tablascreek.com or by calling 805.237.1231 x 236.