Tannat: the Perfect Grape for Paso Robles?

[Editor's Note May 2021: With the announcement of the 2017 Tannat as our featured wine for the second half of the month, we have updated this blog to include information about this wine.] Although we specialize in Rhône varietals, we continue to experiment with other grapes that we

Mapping out the future of Tablas Creek

It's been a busy couple of years for us.  We built an expansion to our winery that increased our square footage by 70%.  We launched two new wines (the Patelin de Tablas and Patelin de Tablas Blanc) that have been a success both here at the winery and

A Closer Look at Paso Robles' Microclimates

This morning, I had the pleasure of sitting on a panel with Adelaida Cellars' Terry Culton, Eberle Winery's Ben Mayo, and Victor Hugo Winery's Vic Roberts for an audience of fifteen or so visiting Canadian journalists and members of the Wine Institute.  Our topic was

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

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