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Tablas Creek First Winery Featured at San Francisco 49ers Event

09/24/02

Tablas Creek First Winery Featured at San Francisco 49ers Event

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(San Francisco) - Wine and cheese, sure. But wine and football? On September 15th, the San Francisco Forty Niners began a new program to see if the enthusiasm in the Bay Area for California’s wine industry extends to the occupants of the luxury boxes at 3Com Park. For each home game, a featured winery will pour their wines for a VIP reception and for guests in the owner’s suite. Tablas Creek Vineyard, located in Paso Robles, was honored to be featured at the season’s home opener versus the Denver Broncos.

Tablas Creek Vineyard is an estate dedicated to producing world-class Rhone varietal blends in the hills of the Las Tablas district of west Paso Robles, in California’s Central Coast. It was co-founded by wine industry powerhouses Jean-Pierre and François Perrin (of Château de Beaucastel in Châteauneuf du Pape, France) and Robert Haas (founder of Vineyard Brands). The vines at Tablas Creek are cuttings of vines from Beaucastel, were imported and certified by a rigorous 3-year USDA program, and are farmed organically on the estate. The Tablas Creek property was purchased in 1989, and the first vintage was produced in their on-site winery in 1997.

The new Forty Niners program is designed to expose their luxury box clientele to wines from Napa, Sonoma, Paso Robles, and other fine wine regions in California. Forty Niner management is speculating that their VIPs will appreciate the opportunity to sample wines from around the state, and that there is significant overlap between wine lovers and football lovers (at least in San Francisco)!

The event provides an opportunity for wineries to increase their exposure to a receptive audience: the winery pours at a pre-game buffet luncheon and a post-game reception in 3Com Park’s VIP lounge, while the 49er catering staff pours throughout the game in the owners’ suite. In addition, winery representatives watch the football game as guests of the owner. When asked about the experience, Jason Haas, Director of Marketing for Tablas Creek, said, “this is a no-lose situation. We got to watch a great game, meet some former 49er stars, and show our wines to a few hundred new prospective customers. Our only disappointment was that the ’Niners didn’t win!”

The Forty Niners plan to continue this program throughout the season, and hope to extend it into upcoming seasons as a regular part of their pre- and post-game entertainment.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Jason Haas, Tablas Creek Vineyard
Phone: 805-237-1231
Fax: 805-237-1314