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Jason Haas

Anticipating a Long-Awaited Change to Wetter Weather

After what seems like an endless stretch of cold, clear nights and sunny, mild days we're on track for something a little more wintery. Nearly two months after our last real rain, the forecast predicts a decisive change in the weather pattern later this week. Three storm systems

How (and Why) to Decant a Wine

One question we get fairly often is whether to decant one of our wines. My typical answer is that most of our wines will benefit from some air when young, though it's more important for some wines than others. And a few of our older red wines have

Animal Farm: The Benefits of Biodiversity in the Vineyard

By Levi Glenn "Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend." It has probably been some time since most of you have read the metaphorical novella Animal Farm by George Orwell. At the moment, Orwell's line seems quite fitting for Tablas Creek Vineyard.

A Dry (but Picturesque) Beginning to the 2011-2012 Winter

In the post The unwelcome implications of another la nina winter for Paso Robles vineyards from early December, I worried that our winter would be cold and perhaps dry, neither of which are desirable for the 2012 vintage. It appears that, at least so far, it has been even drier,

A Tale of Two Grenaches

About a week ago, I got back from our annual pilgrimage to the Yosemite Vintners' Holidays event held at the beautiful Ahwahnee Hotel each fall. At this event – which I wrote about a few years ago and which I highly recommend – each winery is expected to present a seminar

The unwelcome implications of another la nina winter for Paso Robles vineyards

One of the benefits of being a member of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance is their commissioned agricultural forecast, which we receive each day. Normally this covers the recent weather and then looks forward both short and medium-term, and it's one of the tools we use to

Getting to know the newly-finalized 2010 red varietals and blends

This week, Francois Perrin made one of his semi-annual visits to Tablas Creek. We always like to see Francois after harvest; it gives us our first outside perspective on the most recent vintage, and gives us a chance to bounce the ideas we had during crush off of someone whose

A Winter Dinner and a Beautiful 1985 California Cabernet

By Robert Haas As our late Indian summer in Paso Robles turns toward winter our appetites turn toward winter dishes. This last Sunday we had friends over for dinner and we served a Moroccan tagine, a savory slow cooked mixture of sweet and savory from a recipe in The Heart

Photo Essay - Autumn in the Vineyards

November is a beautiful time of year in Paso Robles wine country. The grapevines erupt into fall colors, each variety different in its timing and its shade. We've usually received our first rainfall, which means that the cover crops start to grow and the hillsides slowly turn from

Harvest 2011 Recap and Assessment: Yields Down 15% vs. Normal and Quality High

Harvest 2011 finished on November 9th with a flurry of activity, including at one point 62 different bins of grapes scattered around the winery and on the crushpad, waiting to be destemmed. My favorite part of the photo (blow it up to see it) is the bemused look on Ryan&