Re-Imagining the Tablas Creek Technical Sheets: Lessons from a Summer Marketing Internship

This summer, marketing intern Samantha Naylor reimagined our tech sheet format. After surveying wine professionals, she built a reusable InDesign template balancing aesthetic appeal with deep technical details, proving that great design always serves its audience.

Harvest 2026 at the quarter-pole: even better quality (and even lower yields) than we were anticipating

What do we know so far? Grenache is going to be light, and likely early. What we've harvested so far looks outstanding in terms of quality. And we're likely in for some long days the next two weeks, after which we might get a little break.

A Plea to Wineries about Your Websites

Most winery websites are like the acquaintance at the party who can't stop talking about themselves. They're great at telling you what the winery does. And not so good at connecting visitors with the information they came there to find.⁠

Harvest 2026 begins: How our earliest-ever start also comes with longer-than-average hang time

Our August 7th beginning of our harvest was a week earlier than our earliest-ever previous start, way back in 1997. At the same time, there are still vineyard blocks just starting veraison. Buckle up. It's going to be a long ride.

Tasting the Wines in the Fall 2026 VINsider Wine Club Shipment

This fall, we have 12 new wines going out to VINsider Wine Club members, including the newest vintage of our Esprit de Tablas and our first-ever Panoplie Blanc. Blog subscribers get a first look!

Veraison 2026 suggests that our earliest-ever harvest is coming, maybe as soon as two weeks

We found veraison (color change) in our Syrah on July 9th. That's tied with 2014 for our earliest date ever. But while July 2014 was relatively cool, this year has seen such good ripening conditions that we're expecting to break records.

Our original nursery block, source of most of California's Rhone Cuttings, still teaching us lessons at age 32

When we planted our original nursery block, we planted the vines on their own roots to save ourselves a year in getting more vines propagated. Is this why the block has remained healthy and productive into its fourth decade?

The Fall 2026 VINsider "Collector's Edition" Shipment: Now with More Library

Each summer, we taste through library vintages of our Esprit and Esprit Blanc to choose the wines for the upcoming VINsider Wine Club Collector's Edition shipment. This year, we have added a third wine to the library selections for the first time!

A Taste of Châteauneuf-du-Pape in Mexico's Valle de Guadalupe

South of the border, a Châteauneuf-du-Pape devotee is growing Tablas Creek clones. Marketing Director Ian Consoli visits Clos Benoit in Mexico's Valle de Guadalupe and shares what he found.