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Winemaking
At Tablas Creek, our winemaking is designed to maximize the expression of place we've begun in our vineyard practices. Our goal is to bring the wine through the fermentation process while preserving the wine’s links to its grape varieties, its vintage and most importantly its terroir.
Our winemaking begins with our selective harvesting. Most vineyard blocks are picked by hand two, three or even four times to ensure that the grapes that come into the cellar are at ideal ripeness.
Because we believe that the particular collection of yeasts that exists at our vineyard is unique, we use only native yeasts in fermentation. Native yeast fermentation gives a diversity of flavors, and a character more specific to the site.
Each varietal fermented separately. White grapes are whole-cluster pressed, and the juice is fermented in aged French oak barrels (for about half the Roussanne) and stainless steel (Marsanne, Viognier, Grenache Blanc, and the other half of the Roussanne). This balance gives a hint of the richness from oak fermentation, without heavy oak flavors that overwhelm the fruit or mask the character of place.
Red grapes (Mourvèdre, Syrah, Grenache Noir, and Counoise) are sorted and destemmed after harvest, and the juice and whole berries moved to a mix of open-top stainless steel, closed stainless steel, and 1600-gallon oak upright fermenters. During fermentation, the must is pumped over or punched down, or the cap submerged into the fermenting juice, twice a day. About 10 days after fermentation begins, the red wines are pressed, then moved to barrel to complete their primary and secondary fermentaitons.
Finally, the spring after harvest, both red and white wines are blended. White wines are generally returned to stainless steel to settle and integrate briefly, while red wines are moved to 1200-gallon French oak foudres and aged for an additional year.
Key in our winemaking is our dedication to the art of blending. As is traditional in Châteauneuf du Pape, we blend our Rhône varietals in an effort to produce wines that are more complex, better balanced, and richer than their components. We believe that having a multitude of flavors allows our wines to pair happily with a wide range of food, and to show appealing character at different ages.
Our Wines
We make three principal tiers of wines. Our signature red and white Rhône blends are the Esprit de Beaucastel, based on Mourvèdre, and the Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc, based on Roussanne. These wines are rich, balanced, and ageable, and should reward time in bottle to mature.
Our Côtes de Tablas, based on Grenache, and Côtes de Tablas Blanc, based on Viognier, are blended to be lushly fruity and appealing, approachable sooner than our Esprit de Beaucastel wines.
Our Patelin de Tablas Blanc, based on Grenache Blanc, and Patelin de Tablas, based on Syrah, include fruit from some of Paso Robles’ top Rhône vineyards in addition to Tablas Creek, and are blended to be bright, fresh and clean, and to offer exceptional value.
In addition to our red and white Rhône blends, we produce a dry Rosé, small quantities of single varietal wines, as well as occasional special blends and dessert wines. More about our wines »
Winemaker Neil Collins
Neil Collins, Winemaker and Vineyard Manager at Tablas Creek, was born and raised in Bristol, England. Trained as a chef, he moved into winemaking with stints with John Munch at Adelaida Cellars and Ken Volk at Wild Horse. At Adelaida, Neil met Robert Haas and the Perrins when Tablas Creek was in its infancy. Neil was so intrigued by the project that he offered his services, and spent a year working and learning at Château de Beaucastel.
Before the year was finished, Neil was offered the winemaker position at Tablas Creek, and he has overseen both the organic vineyard and the winery since 1998.
His philosophy is that great wines can only come from great grapes, and that the art of winemaking is founded on starting out with the very best grapes and bringing their juice through fermentation as naturally as possible.
Winemaking on the Tablas Creek Blog
You can read our updates and musings on winemaking on the Tablas Creek blog.
Upcoming Events
Celebrate Paso Robles Wine Festival with Tablas Creek
Join us for the Paso Robles Wine Community's biggest celebration! We'll pour Esprit de Beaucastel at Friday's Reserve Event and a range of new releases at Saturday's Grand Tasting. And all weekend we'll have special wines open at the winery and will be taking tours to visit our herd of sheep, alpacas and donkeys. Sunday 11am to 1:30pm enjoy Chef Jacob Lovejoy's small plates, free with a tasting. Details & more events »
Tablas Creek News
Featured Wine for May: 2011 Cotes de Tablas Blanc
In May, we're featuring our 2011 Cotes de Tablas Blanc at a 10% discount. In 2011, our Viognier crop was cut by 80% due to spring frost, leaving a tiny, intense yield of less than one-half a ton per acre. The resulting wine is rich and tropical, with stone fruits and honey, but at the same time firmly dry, with a very long, saline & mineral finish. Details »
On the Blog: When Terroir Was a Dirty Word
May 15, 2013
Take a look at the seven-line entry of Frank Schoonmaker, America’s foremost wine expert and author in 1964, about terroir. His association, rather than the "somewhereness" the wine exhibits, is more of a taste of dirt, neither elegant nor elevated: "somewhat unpleasant, common, persistent”. My, how things have changed. More »