Weekly Roundup for November 16th, 2014: AVAs, Local Achievements, Veterans Day, Direct Shipping and Uncovering the Obscure
November 15, 2014
Last week, we debuted the Weekly Roundup, news from around the wine community that we thought worth sharing with you. It's an admittedly eclectic mix, but we feel each thing that we've chosen warrants few minutes of your time. It's also a work in progress, so please share in the comments what you like, and what you'd like to see different. This week's list:
Some Great Press for Paso Robles and our new AVAs
- The Tasting Panel's Anthony Dias Blue visited Paso recently, just before Sunset's Savor the Central Coast in September. His article concludes with an exciting evaluation of our great town: "this sleepy region, once home to a few obscure, under-the-radar wineries, has transformed itself into the most exciting wine region in California". The article also recommends wines from 15 top Paso Robles wineries, including our 2011 Esprit de Tablas Blanc and 2012 Mourvedre. Read more »
- On of our favorite blogs for the week came from Wine Spectator editor Mitch Frank, whose piece Wine Can Be So Complicated — And That's OK was a notably thoughtful musing set against the background of the recent approval of 11 new AVAs here in Paso Robles. His conclusion -- that "while wineries, and journalists, need to work hard to make wine inviting for newcomers, that doesn't mean erasing what makes wine like few other beverages—it comes from someplace specific" sums up our thoughts pretty well. I'm quoted in the article, and submitted a comment with a few more of my thoughts on the subject. Read more »
Something from Tablas Creek
It was fun on Veterans Day to see the tributes to the many veterans in the wine community flowing through our social media feeds (for the intersection of the #wine and #veteransday hashtags on Twitter, check out this link). We posted this 1944 Navy photo of Robert Haas, all of 17 years old at the time. A sincere thank you to him and to all the many veterans and servicemembers, current and past, who have impacted our lives so substantially.
A Glimpse Behind the Scenes into the Business of Wine
- Wine marketer, expert blogger and consumer advocate Tom Wark was interviewed by ReasonTV, and the 3-minute video that resulted is posted on YouTube. I spend a fair amount of time trying to shine some light on some of the more convoluted and counterintuitive laws that govern how wine is sold around the United States in my Legislation and Regulation series. Tom's opening salvo: that "the only way to get them to begin to be repealed and reformed is to bring them to light" is absolutely spot on. Watch the interview »
Some Landmarks from our Neighbors
- Congratulations to Alta Colina Winery, who moved their first barrel into their new winery, on their estate which sits about 6 miles toward town from us, down Adelaida Road.
- And we loved this "then and now" photo from Epoch Estate, which has been thoughtfully rehabilitating their property atop York Mountain since they bought it a several years ago.
Paso Robles Beautiful
- We've been posting lots of photos of our fall foliage. The photo above, which our friends at Cass Winery posted on their Facebook page, is one of the most impressive we've seen. Too good not to share!
Food for Thought (Beverage for Thought?)
- We'll conclude this week with an article by Lettie Teague in the Wall Street Journal, entitled Dark Horse Wines: Great Finds in Odd Places. As a winery who chose what was, at the time, an odd place (Paso Robles) to make odd wines (southern Rhone-style blends), we find comfort in her conclusion that because gatekeepers will naturally tend toward the conservative, "wine drinkers themselves must ultimately be the ones to pursue the unexpected, to eschew the tried-and-true". She also suggests 5 wines, including one (a Pinot Noir from South Africa) imported by Vineyard Brands. Read more »