Sign in Subscribe

Jason Haas

Tablas Creek on Fredric Koeppel's Bigger Than Your Head

One of the best things about being nominated for an American Wine Blog Award this spring was the opportunity to get to know some of the other finalists. Many of them I'd read, but others I was only vaguely aware of. The blog that was the biggest discovery

Wholesale wine sales in an uncertain economy

With the continuing deterioration of (at least certain sectors of) the economy, we are keeping a close watch on any indicators that might show this spilling over into our business. So far, we're relieved by what we see. Our median length of wine club membership is still 3.

An Independence Day look at progress in direct shipping since Granholm v Heald

On the day that Granholm v. Heald was announced in 2005, there were impromptu celebrations around the country, stories in the national media about how the Supreme Court had sided with wine lovers and struck down restrictions on interstate wine shipment, and general euphoria among small and medium-sized wineries who

Not an Easy Life...

When I was out the other day taking the photos of the strange smoky weather, I hiked up to the new block of vines to the extreme western edge of the property. We planted about 6 new acres here earlier this month, divided fairly equally between Grenache Blanc, Vermentino, and

An excellent beginning to the growing season, strange smoky weather notwithstanding

With two big fires burning to the north of us in Monterey County over the last few weeks, including the Indians Fire that has burned nearly 60,000 acres in three weeks and the Gallery Fire (just south of Big Sur) that has burned over 13,000 acres since Saturday,

A Library Wine Club?

For years, we've been struggling with how and whether to create a second wine club. Right now, we're one-size-fits-all. Each member of our VINsider Wine Club receives the same selection of wines in each shipment. We have at times toyed with the idea of creating certain

Wine Blogging Wednesday (WBW) #46 focuses on white Rhones!

For nearly four years, Lenn Thompson of the blog LENNDEVOURS has coordinated a once-a-month mid-week tasting called Wine Blogging Wednesday. The theme changes each month, and can be varietal, regional, or topical (numbers 41-45 were, respectively, Just Seven Words, Comfort Wines, French Cabernet Franc, and Old World Riesling). This month,

An update on corks, screwcaps and consumer preferences

In the late-March post Consumers choose... cork? I reported on the the results of the first six weeks since we'd offered on our online order form the option of choosing between cork-finished and screwcap-finished versions of our 2005 Cotes de Tablas. I was surprised that of the first

Tannat, Heart Health and Longevity

In the last year, we've seen a growing trickle of requests for our Tannat, often from people who are not our typical wine consumers. The most recent of these was a request from a gentleman in Mississippi (which is unfortunately not a state to which we can ship)

Wine Festival Etiquette

No, I'm not going to write another piece on how you're supposed to spit rather than drinking when you attend a wine festival (hint: you are). Nor am I going to rant about perfumes and colognes that are likely to overpower the wine for you and