Wine & Spirits - Fall 2022 - 48

Top 100 Wineries
CALIFORNIA | PASO ROBLES
Tablas Creek
A French-American partnership committed to Rhône varieties, Tablas
Creek has taken the lead in the US on regenerative organic farming.
it seems appropriate that taBlas creek's
NEIL COLLINS
top three wines are white, pink and red, and
that all are blends. Their component varieties,
grown in the Adelaida District of Paso
Robles, come by way of Château de Beaucastel
in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It's an area
where blends rule, melding varieties with
weight and body with those with less sugar
and more acidity. Venturing out of France,
the Perrin family of Beaucastel joined the
Haas family (then their US importer) to
found Tablas Creek in 1989. They set out not
only to make wine but also to import and
propagate selections of plant material from
the Rhône Valley-their goal to bolster the
Rhône Movement in the US, a project which
has resulted in the successful dissemination
of 16 French varieties now in general circulation.
Jason Haas runs the winery; his longtime
winemaker, Neil Collins, makes eight
blends for the main lineup, whites organized
around roussanne, grenache blanc and viognier,
reds built from mourvedre, grenache
and syrah. Collins usually makes two rosés:
Patelin is grenache-dominant, styled after
Southern Rhône rosés, while Dianthus is
driven by mourvedre and resembles a dark
version of Bandol. All of this is at an estate
with vines now more than thirty years old,
the nation's first Regenerative Organic vineyard,
certified in 2020. -P.J.C.
FOUNDED:
1989
WINEMAKER:
Neil Collins
VITICULTURIST:
Jordan Lonborg
OWNER:
The Haas and
Perrin Families
ACRES OWNED:
270; 135 planted
ANNUAL PRODUCTION:
25,000-30,000 cases
ESTATE GROWN:
100%
CERTIFIED FARMING
PRACTICES:
Regenerative
Organic (2020);
Organic (2002; CCOF
2019); Biodynamic
(Demeter 2016)
2020 Adelaida District Côtes de Tablas
Blanc ($30, 93 points) The lemon, salt and celery
notes of grenache blanc (32 percent of this
blend) offset the peachy viognier scents (38 percent)
and create a dramatic tension, with flavors
of apricot and ginger. Its texture is bright and
emollient at once, with a firm phenolic grip to
the finish-the contribution, perhaps, of the marsanne
and roussanne in the blend.
2021 Paso Robles Patelin de Tablas Rosé
($28, 92 points) This is Tablas's grenache-dominant
blend, in a nod to Provence. It's floral, with
a scent of fruit blossom and red cherry, a touch
dusty, with a sneaky intensity that's bracing and
refreshing. This has the stuff to pair with a good
savory dish like tonkatsu ramen.
2019 Adelaida District Esprit de Tablas ($60,
92 points) A blend of about 40 percent mourvedre,
the balance grenache, syrah and counoise,
this is plush and lively, plainly in the red spectrum
of fruit, with a zin-like directness and an
earthy, mildly leathery grip of tannins.
4 8 WINE & SPIR IT S
BUYING GUIDE 2021
FOUNDED:
1985
WINEMAKER/
VITICULTURIST:
Bill Easton
OWNERS:
Bill and Jane Easton
ACRES OWNED:
35
ANNUAL PRODUCTION:
20,000 cases
ESTATE GROWN:
33%
FARMING PRACTICES:
Organic Permaculture
CALIFORNIA | SIERRA FOOTHILLS
Terre Rouge & Easton
Bill Easton has pursued Rhône varieties for his entire winemaking career,
but his old-vine zinfandels reflect his past like few wines can.
BILL EASTON
Born and raised in sacramento, Bill
Easton spent his childhood camping and
fishing in the Sierra Foothills, trips which
often led his family to the region's momand-pop
restaurants and artisanal wineries.
When he started making his own wine, his
Easton portfolio focused on local Amador
County varieties, with many of the same
sources that once filled jugs on those family
excursions. He now has contracts with
old-vine parcels like Rinaldi in Fiddletown,
making expressive, balanced and delicious
zinfandels. Easton describes the regional
character he hopes to capture as " that
cedary, tobacco component, that Amador
granitic minerality. " As for his exploration
of Rhône varieties, his collection of Terre
Rouge wines is more attuned to terroir than
ever. His Ascent and High Slopes syrahs
express mountain soils and diurnal shifts
in their firm structure. These wines aren't
flashy, but they end up acceding to the highaltitude
drama of the Sierras, rugged, full of
mineral tension and a burly energy. -P.J.C.
Terre Rouge 2018 Syrah Sierra Foothills
Ascent ($100, 95 points) In Ascent, Bill Easton
draws from as many as 15 blocks, varying them
by cluster count, harvest date, vinification and
élevage. By blending time, there are usually
about a half-dozen paths to the final mix. The '18
reflects that level of care, with exotic scents of
cedar, pine tips, olive, pepper and smoke, continuing
to expand into cardamom, tobacco and
mace. It's composed, texturally seamless and
balanced-one for the ages. (200 cases)
Terre Rouge 2018 Syrah Sierra Foothills
High Slopes ($45, 94 points) This grows at
Winddance, a granitic site near Volcano, and
Oso Loco, a volcanic site closer to Pioneer. Both
above 3,000 feet in elevation, the parcels reflect
sunny intensity. The wine exhibits warm scents
of smoke and grilled fig, and an easy, sensuous
and natural feel, with ferrous tannins giving a
complete picture of mountain syrah. (200 cases)
Easton 2018 Fiddletown Rinaldi Vineyard
Zinfandel ($38, 94 points) This vineyard is
more than 100 years old, with some vines going
back to 1865. The wine is staunch and dark,
showing mostly umami notes of cinnamon, tar,
mace and olive. Fruit is a faint backing note...
until the next day, when dark red-plum and
cherry flavors take over, girded by ferrous tannins,
compacted by firm acidity, as if the wine
were crowded with flavor.
Wine & Spirits - Fall 2022

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