Veraison 2012
So far, this year's weather has been pretty much perfect. Lots of days in the 80's and low 90's, lots of nights in the 50's. Very few days where the highs were in the 70's, and only a few where
Jason Haas
In celebration of our "Best Winery Blog" nomination, eight favorite posts from the last year
I'm proud to announce that Tablas Creek has again been named a finalist for "Best Winery Blog" at the 2012 Wine Blog Awards. The world of winery blogs has never been stronger. The other finalists include two winery blogs I follow regularly (4488: A Ridge Blog
What a difference a week makes
I haven't been giving out blow-by-blow accounts of this summer's weather, for two reasons. First, you probably don't care much, and anyway the impacts of mid-summer weather on the quality of that year's harvest are minor. Second, it's been remarkably
An evening fit for a prince (or a Hearst)
I get to pour wine at lots of dinners, and even more tastings. Doing so is a key piece of how we have chosen to market ourselves: not just waiting for people to come and discover us, but going out to where they are and introducing ourselves. It's
Compost Tea: a Power Shake for the Vineyard
By Levi Glenn
A few years back we started to make and apply compost tea in the vineyard. It was an effort to try to improve our soil, a central theme in organic farming: improve the soil and the plant will follow. Compost tea contains two important soil improving components:
Reflecting on a decade of Esprit de Beaucastel
This week we're bottling the 2010 Esprit de Beaucastel. About 2000 cases are going into national distribution. Another 1000 will go out to our wine club. 1500 will be allocated to our tasting room. 500 will go into our long-term library for later release. Some of the cases,
Selecting the library wines for the 2012 Collector's Edition
One of the treats we get each summer is to choose which older vintage of the Esprit de Beaucastel and Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc we will include in the VINsider Wine Club Collector's Edition shipment in September. For those of you unfamiliar with the Collector's Edition,
The power of print
Last weekend I noticed a small flurry of online wine club signups, as well as a surge in online orders. We hadn't sent out a recent email (we do that at the very end of the month). We hadn't gotten any particularly noteworthy press. It wasn&
In defense of expensive rosé
A few years ago, I was out to dinner at Villa Creek with friends. Dining at Villa Creek is always a treat because not only is the food terrific, but owner Cris Cherry and GM Erick Cadena always put together a great and reasonably priced wine list that showcases not
An outstanding Outstanding in the Field dinner
In the last decade, the farm to table movement has gone from avant-garde to squarely in the mainstream. (Cue the spoof by Portlandia.) And of course, there are excesses that deserve to be pointed out, and pretense that deserves puncturing. But, at its heart, it's about wanting to