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Jason Haas

Proprietor at Tablas Creek Vineyard

Investigating an Attempted Wine Scam

I got the following scam email over the weekend: From: Tim Ferrone [mailto:timferrone1@copper.net] Sent: Saturday, May 28, 2011 2:44 PM To: timferrone@me.com Subject: wine order I don't know if you got my last e-mail but am resending it again due to

The Remarkable Rise of Paso Robles

In the course of my work with Tablas Creek, I work closely with winery associations like Rhone Rangers and Family Winemakers of California that bring me into contact with winemakers and winery principals from other American wine producing regions. One refrain I've been hearing for the last few

Grapes of the Rhone Valley (sort of): Vermentino

Vermentino, with its bright acidity, aromas of citrus leaf and mineral, and refreshing finish, has become a favorite of Tablas Creek VINsiders and restauranteurs alike. Its story, however, does not originate in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and unlike most of Tablas Creek’s white varietals, it is a grape that is

What's that in my wine: tartrate crystals

A few weeks ago, we received the following email from a customer (edited to protect identity): Not the most pleasant of emails to receive. And I'm sure that to the customer who wrote, the surprise at the end of the bottle colored his experience of the wine he&

A first look at the 2010 reds: Wow.

Neil, Ryan, Chelsea, my dad and I spent the last two days tasting through our 2010 reds. 55 lots later, we have a much clearer sense of what the vintage is like. I'll get into details below, but overall, it was a very impressive tasting. The Grenaches were

Tablas Creek is in Vogue!

No, literally. We're in Vogue Magazine, at least the online version Vogue Daily, in an Earth Day-themed article called The Green List. Somewhat more affordable than the $100 repairative moisturizer from an organic farm in Vermont, the vacation in a sustainably-sourced villa in Vietnam, or the

Frost Damage and Recovery

We're two weeks removed from the frosts of April 7-9, which look like they'll play a major role in defining the 2011 vintage. With temperatures down to 24 degrees on consecutive nights, we sustained near 100% damage in the Grenache, Grenache Blanc, Viognier and Marsanne

Foudres, Demi Muids, Puncheons, and Wood Fermenters: The Appeal of Large Oak

Foudre- (Food’r)- French term for a large cask of indefinite size1 At Tablas Creek we follow the Châteauneuf-du-Pape tradition of maturing our red wines in 1200 gallon (4500 liter) French oak foudres rather than in the more familiar 60 gallon (225 liter) oak barrels. These smaller barrels

Crazy April Weather: Ice, Thunder, Hail and Snow in Paso Robles

The warm, sunny weather of last week seems like a distant memory. In the last 24 hours we've had two hailstorms (the second with peals of thunder), a hard freeze, with temperatures down as low as 24 degrees in our coldest spots and even the tops of the

Blending, blending, blending... and an eventual look at the 2010 whites!

Over the last month, we've been narrowing down our options for what we'll make for estate white wines in the 2010 vintage. This isn't really practical before March, as too many lots are still finishing up their fermentations, but beginning in mid-March most