Demonstration vineyard planted to display all 14 Cháteauneuf-du-Pape grape varietals

Owner Jason Haas demonstrates grape vine grafting, first pulling the rootstock to cut into 14-inch segments

Grenache bud grafted onto rootstock with Omega cut, like a puzzle!

Over thirty years ago, Tablas Creek Vineyard established themselves as a Rhône wine pioneer in Paso Robles.  Partnering with the Perrin family of France’s Château de Beaucastel, the Haas family built their vineyard literally from the ground up, importing vine cuttings, building a grapevine nursery, and planting their estate vineyard with Southern Rhône wine grape varietals.  They were so successful that they would go on to provide almost five million plants to wine growers all over the US, advancing the Rhône wine movement and wooing consumers to these Rhône-style wines.

Jason Haas with Grenache Blanc in the grafting shed

Tablas Creek Vineyard

Solar panels at Tablas Creek Vineyard

Alpacas and sheep graze on cover crops in winter, Photo by Brittany App, Courtesy of Tablas Creek Vineyard

Tablas Creek Vineyard focused on mirroring Chateauneuf-du-Pape in their wine business, eventually planting the 14 varietals that are approved in the AOC.  This diversity is important, as blending wines for elegance and complexity is akin to the famous Aristotle quote, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”.  But Tablas Creek didn’t stop there, the grape vines themselves began the journey to organic and biodynamic farming.  Over time, the vineyard has evolved, with so many practices transforming the soils.  Biodiversity produced healthy vines and grapes, achieved from interplanting fruit trees around and within the vineyard, the health of the vineyard soils improved by applying compost made from prunings and grape must, achieving natural pest control with the help of 39 owl boxes, planting native vegetation that attracts insects and predators, establishing bee hives, and utilizing a flock of over 290 sheep and alpacas that weed and fertilize the vine rows.  Tablas Creek even has a full-time shepherd and a couple of trusty sheep dogs to guard the herd, considered the heart of their organic farming program.

Jason Haas, the second generation owner of Tablas Creek Vineyard, is a huge believer in yearly incremental changes, and starting in 2010, began to experiment with regenerative farming,  To his surprise, the transition produced immediate results, those wines were higher quality.  Over the next five years, the entire vineyard was farmed according to these new principles.  It’s a complex proposition, but one that Tablas Creek embraced wholeheartedly, participating in a pilot program in 2019 to flesh out the essence of Regenerative Organic farming.  In 2021, Tablas Creek was awarded the first Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) winery in America.

Grazing sheep, Courtesy of Tablas Creek Vineyard

The sheep's impact on the soils, Courtesy of Tablas Creek Vineyard

So you might ask, what is Regenerative Organic farming and how does it differ from other styles of farming?  ROC is the capstone of the farming pyramid, above sustainable, organic and biodynamic, succinctly inhabiting the Regenerative Organic Alliance slogan, “Farm like the world depends on it”.  Regenerative farming encompasses three different goals, the health of the vineyard soils, the wellbeing of the animals that are used, and the welfare of the people that work the land.  ROC requires that farmers be good citizens of the world, treating animals and workers humanely and with respect.

Tablas Creek in winter, head-trained vines, solar panels, and a flock of sheep, Courtesy of Tablas Creek Vineyard

At the center of Regenerative Organic Certified are the soils.  Besides being certified organic, many farming practices must be used, such as no-till farming, cover crops, using livestock to graze and fertilize the land, no chemical treatments such as pesticides, and creating a home for beneficial insects, just to name a few.  All of these techniques work together to revitalize the soil, and trap or keep carbon within the soils, often referred to as carbon farming, a tool to help fight global warming.  Planting vineyards with wider spacing of the rows allows for dry farming, reducing reliance on ground water.  With a keen eye to climate change, these farming practices help to mediate the impact that agriculture has on the planet, and hopefully will be part of the solution to the problem.

Jason Haas gave me a tour of Tablas Creek Vineyard in August 2021, he is very proud of the difference in the wines since they implemented ROC

Tablas Creek Vineyard has always been forward thinking, envisioning a better future for their wine business and the world. Their dedication to organic, biodynamic, and now regenerative farming isn’t a trendy marketing ploy.  It comes from a deep desire to set the very highest standards for all involved in their winemaking business model, from the soils and animals to their employees and everyone who drinks their wines.  And guess what, you can taste the difference!  Jason Haas believes that the past six vintages have been the best sustained run of quality in their wines during their 30 plus years in business.

*** You can read why Jason Haas believes that Regenerative Organic Certified is the way forward in an article for Canopy, Why I chose "Regenerative Organic Certified" 

*** And for the details of ROC, and how it applies to Tablas Creek, this blog post by Viticulturist Jordan Lonberg, Introducing Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC): Farming Like the World Depends on It