Sign in Subscribe

Topic

Winery & Winemaking

A collection of 221 issues

The man behind the beard: Q&A with Winemaker, Neil Collins

Editor's Note: This interview begins a series that we hope will help readers get to know the key people at Tablas Creek a little better. We're starting, appropriately, with Winemaker Neil Collins, who has made every vintage of Tablas Creek except 1997, when he was working

2015 International Grenache Day - The Cellar Crew Harvests Grenache

By Lauren Phelps Today is International Grenache Day and enthusiasts are connecting all over the world and coming together to celebrate this unique grape. (For a fun overview, check out the #GrenacheDay hashtag on Twitter.) We celebrated by harvesting a half-acre block of our vineyard that was originally planted by

Mid-September Harvest Update: Why harvest started earlier than we predicted... and why our frighteningly low early yields may soon improve

Harvest, pushed by the last week of hot weather, has started to move fast. We've brought in nearly 80% of the grapes for our Patelin de Tablas wines, and nearly finished our early white grapes (Viognier, Vermentino, Marsanne) here off the estate. Tuesday, we picked our first estate

Harvest 2015 update: just over 15% completed & yields are looking low

By: Lauren Phelps In the cellar, things are in full-gear! According to veteran Assistant Winemaker Chelsea Franchi harvest is already over 15% completed. As of August 29th, we have worked with 65.82 tons of fruit. The 1700 gallon French oak upright fermenters are all full fermenting Syrah for the

Harvest 2015 begins and sounds alarm bells about yields

Today we welcomed into the cellar the first fruit of 2015: eight bins of Viognier from Fralich Vineyard, for our Patelin de Tablas Blanc. And with that, the 2015 harvest is underway: Things look like they're moving pretty fast now, particularly after this past weekend saw temperatures soar

Coming (soon) to Fruition

By Chelsea Franchi Anticipation of harvest is a primal feeling. It's a dichotomous sensation made up of a humming excitement, a nervousness that simmers just below the surface, and a light touch of hysteria. We're anxious for the first fruit of harvest to come in, while

Notes from the Cellar: Blending the 2014 Vintage

By Chelsea Franchi Here at Tablas Creek, when we sit down to decide on blends for the year, it's a big event. At this point, a lot of work has been put into these wines and it's critical we bring our best to the blending table

A first look at the 2014 white blends, and a vintage assessment

This week, we put together our white blends for 2014: Typically, our blending weeks follow a consistent pattern. We start by tasting each lot, variety by variety, and giving them grades. [For an overview of our grading system, see this post by my dad from 2012.] This initial phase gives

Harvest 2014 Recap: Yields up 5.2% (though still below average); Quality excellent

On Wednesday, October 15th we picked the last batch of Roussanne off of our estate. And just like that, we're done picking for the year. It doesn't feel like we're finished, as we're still pressing off bins of reds, the cellar still

Near-End-of-Harvest Assessment: A Furious September, Moderate Yields, Quality High

In the vineyard, things are starting to look genuinely fall-like: And in keeping with the visuals of the season, we're on the tail end of our harvest craziness, something like 85% done. As of the beginning of this week, we'd harvested 386 tons: 237 from our