Interview: Jason Haas of Tablas Creek Vineyard

So here’s another interview for you. This one is with Jason Haas of Tablas Creek Vineyard, and due to the length of it I think I will break it into two parts. He included some great information in his answers and for those not familiar with Jason you get a chance to get to know him a bit.

Tablas Creek is another one of the really cool stories in Paso Robles and I would go so far as saying one of the iconic local brands. From customer service to branding to playing with some very unique varieties, it’s definitely a winery that understands all aspects of the business.

So let’s dive in…

Matt: How long have you been involved in the wine industry? 

Jason: Somewhere between 12 years and my whole life.  I’ve been out here working at Tablas Creek full-time since 2002, but grew up in it, with my dad a wine importer and while I was growing up tending to get sent to vineyards in France to work when I didn’t have other summer plans.  But I didn’t want to go straight into a family business right out of school, so I taught for a while, and managed a tech company between 1998 and 2001.  I quit in 2001 – knowing I’d be moving out here the next year – to learn a little more about the American wine market, and to start making some contacts with our distributor network.

Matt: There is an amazing story behind Tablas Creek that most people know about so I won’t ask you to repeat that yet again. I will ask this though…what does Tablas Creek mean to you? 

Jason: Tablas Creek is ultimately the story of a friendship between two families that goes back nearly 50 years.  What people see when they come here reflects that in all sorts of ways: most obviously the grapevines that we brought over from France, and the style of the winemaking, with big foudres and native yeasts.  But it’s also a collaborative way of decision-making, a long-term outlook that what’s important is building a place and a brand that will last multiple generations, and a commitment to making the right decisions that will allow us to show off our place, through the prism of these Rhone grapes that we feel grow so well here.

Matt: If you were not in the wine business what do you think you would be doing? 

Jason: I really don’t know.  There are lots of things that I’m interested in and have done, from technology to teaching, so likely something involving those.  I also have a master’s degree in archaeology, so maybe that?  Or architectural design, which I studied as an undergrad, and whose combination of rigor and art I think has some parallels to winemaking.

Matt: What’s your favorite thing about Paso Robles? 

Jason: I love the sense of community, where wineries collaborate rather than compete, and are always in and out of each other’s places, sharing ideas.  I know from talking to friends who work in other wine regions that it’s not the norm.

Matt: What’s your least favorite thing about Paso Robles? 

Jason: There’s not much.  I do find the summers a little relentless, coming from the east coast, where you get warmth and heat broken by clouds, rain and cool.  By month 5 of blazing sun I’d love a little break.  But on the flip side, it’s nice not having to worry about weather in your planning, and not having to wrestle with cold-weather or wet-weather gear with our kids.

Matt: What is your favorite wine variety to drink currently? 

Jason: I don’t really have a single favorite, and it depends so much on what I’m eating as I rarely drink wine on its own.  Maybe dry rosés, whose flexibility I love, and whose quality has never been higher?

Matt:  If you’re not drinking wine you’re drinking ______? 

Jason: I tweeted out at one point that I was waiting for the artisan lager revolution to start, and I loved the responses it got.  I actually think it’s beginning to happen, and that maybe I wasn’t the only one frustrated with the trend toward more and more powerful IPA’s, with more hops and more sweetness.  I value refreshment in both wine and beer, and don’t want my beverage to be fatiguing.

Matt: What is the thing you are proudest of in Paso Robles that you were involved in? 

Jason: I love seeing what an epicenter Paso Robles has become in the Rhone Rangers movement, and am proud to have built the Paso Robles Chapter of the Rhone Rangers here.  When I joined the Rhone Rangers board of directors a decade ago, there were only a dozen Paso wineries involved, which I thought was a huge missed opportunity.  Now, whenever Rhone Rangers does an event anywhere, the number and quality of Paso producers who pour makes a compelling point about our central place in the movement.  And that this chapter has grown to the point that we do events nearly every month is incredibly rewarding.