Jason Haas is a Partner and the General Manager of Tablas Creek Vineyard. His late father, Robert Haas was a renowned importer who partnered with Château de Beaucastel in Châteauneuf-du-Pape to scout a perfect site to grow Rhône varieties in California. They found it in the Adelaida District of Paso Robles and built one of the best wineries in California.

Jason Haas of Tablas Creek. Photo from Tablas Creek

Jason doesn’t just oversee the business, winemaking, and sales and marketing operations, he also is actively involved in the Rhone Rangers (they promote Rhone varieties in California), the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, Family Winemakers of California, and he is a talented and prolific writer. His clear and educational writing has been published in many wine publications as well as the award-winning Tablas Creek blog.

Jason is a big advocate for Paso Robles but also a passionate champion of more sustainable, earth-friendly solutions in the wine industry. He is a pioneer of the regenerative organic viticulture program in California, which we will discuss, and he is the first premium winery in California to put his wine in the sustainable 3 liter bag in box. This is Jason’s third appearance on the show and this time he updates us on all the work that he and Tablas Creek have done to push forward in making their vineyard and winery ever more gentle on the environment. They are leaders in California and in global thinking in wine and they are forging a path for the others to reduce their impact on the earth in wine. I’m excited to have Jason on the show again and I think you will love this show.

The wines of Tablas Creek. Photo: Tablas Creek Website

Here are the topics we cover:

1. We discuss how Tablas Creek moved from organic, to biodynamic and now to regenerative farming. Jason explains the difference between regenerative farming, biodynamics, and organics so we have it all clear.

2. Jason talks about some of the limitations of organics and biodynamics. He is nice enough to indulge me in a conversation about the famed biodynamic “cow horn” and why the idea behind it and many other biodynamic concepts are great but overshadowed by the more “cosmic” stuff in the philosophy.

3. We discuss dry farming and the conditions for it to work. We talk about how important it will be in the future.

The sheep of Tablas Creek. Photo from Tablas Creek

4. Jason talks about wine’s biggest impact on the environment: Packaging waste and transport. He tells us about his decision to put Patelin de Tablas rosé into box and the positive reception it received. We discuss the many ways packaging and transport can and may evolve to make wine’s impact on the earth minimal. We talk about the possibility of everything from bottle washing (We briefly discuss Caren McNamara from Conscious Container) to wine in bladder transport.

5. Jason shares some other ideas about how we can move to a more sustainable future for wine and some of the important logistical challenges we must face to be successful in the fight against climate change.

Patelin de Tablas Rosé in box Photo from Tablas Creek

Podcasts referenced

Ep 414: The Refillable Wine Bottle Revolution to Combat Climate Change with Caren McNamara of Conscious Container

Ep 432: Agroforestry -- An Answer to Wine's Biggest Environmental Challenges with Jean-Baptiste Cordonnier of Château Anthonic in Moulis-en-Médoc

Previous shows with Jason

Ep 281: 30 Years of Tablas Creek with Jason Haas

Ep 162: Jason Haas of Tablas Creek in Paso Robles, CA

Documentary on Fungus: Fantastic Funghi

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