Two wineries worlds apart with similar terroir
About Tablas Creek Tasting Room and Winery
Deep into the west side of Paso Robles we find this winery producing exciting Rhone style wines. The trek to the winery from Highway 101 in Paso Robles is through some very pretty backroads and very much worth the effort of getting to the Tablas Creek tasting room and winery. Tablas Creek has a most interesting history. The Perrin Family, owners of the famed Domaine de Beaucastel in Chateauneuf de Pape, France, visited California to meet their importer Robert Haas. The Perrin Family thought that in California there must be a spot, a growing area, similar to what they had in Chateauneuf de Pape. They found similar climate and soil conditions (limestone) in this western area of Paso Robles. They formed a partnership with Robert Haas to create Tablas Creek. The most important ingredient to this mix were the grapes. In California in the 1980’s there were no Rhone varieties of grapes they could use. And so they began the tedious task of bringing over cuttings from their Rhone winery to plant. Around the Tablas Creek tasting room deck area, visitors can view several of the original vines brought to the U.S. Tablas Creek maintains a nursery on the property and provides cuttings for a variety of wineries throughout California. The Tablas Creek tasting room is open daily from 10am to 5 pm. There are tours available; check the Tablas Creek Website for complete details.