Zinfandel Festival guests last weekend were the first to sample Tablas Creek Vineyard’s new tasting room, part of a $2.5 million expansion of the Paso Robles winery.
“It was kind of a soft opening,” general manager Jason Haas said. “The people who had been to the old tasting room were wandering around looking at everything with their mouths open.”
Wine club and local industry members will be invited to viewings in early April, with a “big launch” to the public during May’s Paso Robles Wine Festival.
The expansion added 8,000 square feet, increasing the overall facility more than 70 percent. It included four new offices and two cellar rooms, visible through glass windows in the tasting room.
Originally slated to start in early 2009, Haas said owners postponed construction when the economy declined in fall 2008. But when sales — and its employee roster — continued to grow, they couldn’t put it off any longer.
Tablas Creek now employs nearly 30 full- and part-time workers.
“We’ve added three new full-time people in the last six months,” Haas said. “I had four people sharing my office.”
The old tasting room was so cramped on busy weekends, staff set up tables in the barrel room to accommodate customers.
The new one is on the east side of the facility, closer to its driveway.
Designed in a modern craftsman style, it features bamboo wood bars, pendant lighting and cork flooring. Haas said it’s better at absorbing sound than the former one, which had concrete walls and a tile floor.
Tablas Creek worked with Paso architect Nick Gilman and Marilyn Farmer of Habitat Studio in San Luis Obispo, who did the interior design.
Outside, a parking lot of chipped limestone was cut into the mourvèdre vineyards. Cascading limestone patios are surrounded with transplanted olive trees. That mineral initially attracted owners to the soil.
At the entrance, pots with the French mother vines used to start the vineyards greet guests.
Korean trade pact
The California Association of Winegrape Growers has joined other agricultural groups to support approval of a free trade agreement with South Korea. The president is expected to send it to Congress for consideration soon.
Signed in 2007, the agreement would reduce Korean tariffs on U.S. goods. The grower association said economists at the UC Davis Agricultural Issues Center concluded in 2009 it could more than double California’s exports to that market.
— Raven J. Railey
Do you have news for Wine Notes? E-mail rrailey@thetribunenews.com or call 441-4556.
SanLuisObispo.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. See our full terms of service here.
Here are some rules of the road:
You should also know that The Tribune does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at webmaster@thetribunenews.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the username of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to webmaster@thetribunenews.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
Be the first to know what's going on in San Luis Obispo County. Just tell us how you want to find out — we'll take care of the rest.
Sign up for breaking news alerts from SanLuisObispo.com and get the latest news sent to your cell phone via text message.
By signing up for alerts from this site, you are signing up for a program that may include up to 5 SMS text alert(s) per alert category per day. There is no service fee charged per month but your carrier's standard text messaging and other charges may apply. You may stop this subscription service at any time by sending the text message "STOP" to 72737. You must be at least thirteen (13) years of age to use our alert services. If you are between 13 and 17 years old, you agree that you have received parental permission both to complete the registration process and to receive SMS content on your cell phone. For help, send the text message "HELP" to 72737. This service will work with ATT, Verizon, Sprint, Nextel, Alltell, US Cellular, Cincinnati Bell, Boost, Virgin Mobile USA, Celluar South, Telos, Centennial, East Kentucky Network, Cellcom, Immix and Rural Celluar.
E-mail »
Twitter »
Facebook »
iTribune »
Subscribe »
RSS »
About comments
Reader comments on SanLuisObispo.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Tribune. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.