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Jason Haas

Back from the Rhone River Cruise

I am in Vermont, relaxing for a short time after a wonderful cruise up the Rhone River. And what an experience it was. We (Meghan and I, as well as our winemaker Neil Collins and his wife Marci) led a group of 62 up the Rhone, from Avignon in the

Grapes of the Rhone Valley: Clairette Blanche

Terret Noir isn't the only new grape that we're getting to explore right now. In that same batch of imports, we brought in a white that is fairly widely planted in the Rhone Valley but new to California. Clairette Blanche (pronounced Kleh-RHEHT BLAHNSH) is a grape

Bringing Sustainable Eating and Drinking Full Circle; Grilled Spareribs and Full Circle Pinot Noir

By Suphada Rom What is the best thing about summer? Some may say it's basking in the heat of the sun's glow. Another may say it's about exploring nature in it's prime, with trees and flowers in full bloom. Here at the

Tasting the Wines for the 2017 VINsider Wine Club "Collector's Edition" Shipment

Each June, I have the pleasure of tasting through library vintages of our Esprit de Beaucastel and Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc to choose the wines for the upcoming VINsider Wine Club Collector's Edition shipment. We created the Collector's Edition version of our VINsider Wine Club back

A Vertical Tasting of Every Vintage of Esprit de Beaucastel and Esprit de Tablas, 2000-2015

Some of the best days at the winery are the days when we open up back vintages of a specific wine, for the dual purposes of better understanding how it ages over time and better advising our fans which vintages to open if they're looking for peak drinking1.

43" Of Rain: The Good, The Bad, and What It Means for the 2017 Vintage

By Jordan Lonborg As of now I am sure you are all aware of the phenomenal winter we experienced in California. The snow pack in the Sierras is record setting. Lakes and reservoirs are at capacity in the northern two-thirds of the state. Mammoth Mountain is expecting to be open

Tasting the newly-bottled 2016 whites

This is an exciting time of year. The vineyard is growing (enthusiastically, this year). The grape clusters are forming on the vines. The long days mean more evenings spent outside, and more cookouts. It's also the time of year when most of our wines are being bottled. Bottling

Should a Vermentino ever get 98 points?

Yesterday, we posted to our Twitter feed a great review that our 2016 Vermentino received from the trade publication BevX: Definitely the best score we've ever seen for Vermentino: 98 points. Thank you, @Sean_BevX. On feature this month! https://t.co/3Y4nJoReZw pic.twitter.com/DPRDqbiPn5 — Tablas

Grapes of the Rhone Valley: Terret Noir

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one here at Tablas Creek who thinks that one of the most fun things I get to do is to work with new grapes. In some cases, these grapes are ones that are pretty well known in France, but

If you build it they will come: Owl boxes, owls, and gopher management

By Jordan Lonborg For those of you who garden, have fruit trees, a few grapevines, or even a vineyard, pocket gophers can be your nemesis. They will burrow in your garden, sometimes taking entire plants underground with them. The will feast on feeder roots of young trees and/or vines,