Tablas Creek Vineyard

By / Paso Robles, Wine

Rhône varietals are this Paso pioneer’s specialty.

The visionary founders of Paso Robles’ 120-acre Tablas Creek Vineyard focused their attention on varietals native to southern France, particularly the southern Rhône Valley. After extensive research in the late 1980s, the U.S.-based Haas family and the Perrin family of France’s Château de Beaucastel selected for their vineyards a limestone-bespeckled site in a section west of U.S. 101 now called the Adelaida District. The appellation’s terrain and climate of warm days and cool nights closely mirror conditions in the French original.

The U.S.-based Haas family and the owners of France’s Château de Beaucastel founded Tablas Creek Vineyard in 1989.

Pivotal Role

Hosts at tastings highlight Tablas Creek’s organic, biodynamic, and sustainable farming philosophy and the winery’s pivotal role in the ascendance of Paso Robles as a hub of Rhône-style production. The number of grape types produced as single bottlings or in blends is impressive, with lower-profile (in the U.S.) white grapes such as Picpoul Blanc and Picardan gracing a lineup that also includes Viognier, Roussanne, and several others. On the red side are single-varietal Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre bottlings and “GSM” blends incorporating all three. Two favorites of wine critics are the Esprit de Tablas GSM blend of those three red grapes plus small amounts of Counoise, Vaccarese, and Cinsaut, and En Gobelet, which contains the first four and Tannat.

The grapes for En Gobelet, a Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre blend accented with Counoise and Tannat, come from the best sections of Tablas Creek’s estate vineyard.

Food-Friendly Wines

At tastings, by appointment only (reserve a week or more ahead on weekends), you can choose mixed flights or an all-white or all-red one. With any of them you’ll find out why restaurant sommeliers admire Tablas Creek wines for their balanced, food-friendly composition.

Why go: pivotal role in Paso’s Rhône ascendance; lower-profile varietals; balanced, food-friendly wines.

The Rhône-style wines produced by Tablas Creek Vineyard receive high marks from major critics.

Itinerary

Tablas Creek Vineyard appears in 12 Foolproof Paso Robles Wine Tasting Experiences.

Info

9339 Adelaida Rd., Paso Robles 93446

See Also

8 Reasons to Visit Paso Robles Now
Paso Robles Restaurants Cheat Sheet
Paso Robles Wine Facts

This story first appeared online in 2017; it was updated in 2023. In lead photo (courtesy of the winery), from left: César Perrin, Jason Haas, and François Perrin at Tablas Creek Vineyard.

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