After years of searching, Robert Haas (Vineyard Brands) and the Perrins (Château de Beaucastel) found the perfect
site for their new estate in the steep and stony hills west of Paso Robles. Tablas Creek Vineyard was conceived
with similar vine
selections to the Beaucastel Domaine. Organic farming techniques in the vineyard allow our grapes to be the purest
expression of the warm climate and the calcareous clay soils in which they grow. Fermenting with native yeasts and
selective blending of the varietals, as practiced by Beaucastel for 150 years, allow the wine to best express its
rich and
elegant esthetic qualities. We have left no stone unturned in our effort to make Tablas Creek Vineyard Antithesis a
forceful statement of its outstanding terroir.
TECHNICAL NOTES
100% Chardonnay
14.2% alcohol by volume
250 cases produced
Tablas Creek Vineyard was founded with the specific idea of producing red and white wines in the
image of the southern Rhône Valley and Châteauneuf-du-Pape. We imported our own vine
material to produce those wines. At the same time, we also imported the most highly regarded
French chardonnay clone to fill a special request from a Sonoma winery. We planted 2.5 acres
of the low vigor “La Vineuse” in 1997 to produce the requested quantity of bud wood. Of
course, when you plant vines to produce cuttings, you also get grapes. In 2000 we had our
first small crop from the terraced vineyard block in our chalky-clay soil in the west Paso Robles
highlands. It is deliciously and intensely chardonnay. We thought it so classy that we decided
to estate-bottle our non-Rhône "Antithesis" under our Tablas Creek Vineyard label. Antithesis
is estate bottled from vines grown on the Tablas Creek Vineyard Estate, cultivated without the
use of herbicides or systemic pesticides. Only hand hoeing, cover crops, mulch, scorching and
mowing are used for weed control. Natural predatory insects, "Bordeaux Mixture" and sulfur
control pests and fungi.
