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MANA GEMENT TECHNICAL REVIEW Expansion Aids Visitors and Wines Tablas Creek Vineyard in Paso Robles adds 8,000 square feet for $2.6 million By Laurie Daniel M uch of the history of Tablas Creek Vineyard in Paso Robles, Calif., is well known. The winery was founded in 1989 by wine importer Robert Haas and one of his French clients, the Perrin family of Château de Beaucastel in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. They legally imported Rhône grape varieties from France, propagating them in a nursery at the winery after they were released from quarantine. The availability of this new vine material helped raise the qual- ity of Rhône grapes in the U.S.: Winer- ies all over the country are growing the so-called Tablas Creek Vineyard Selec- tions (now marketed by Novavine) in their vineyards. Jason Haas (left) is general manager of Tablas Creek vineyard, while Neil Collins is its winemaker and vineyard manager. GWKent_WE_Sept08.qxp 7/28/08 2:56 PM Page 1 But as the business evolved, the facil- ity that the partners built on the west side of Paso Robles proved to be inadequate. When the winery opened in time for the 1997 vintage, for example, there was no tasting room and no plan to add one. When the decision was made to start a tasting room and wine club in 2002, the tasting space had to be squeezed into an entryway. "There was no other space that made sense at all," says Tablas Creek general manager Jason Haas, son of the founder. Three years later, the tasting room was expanded into what had been a conference room. "We had eight years, nine years of shuf- fling people through a tasting room that was supposed to be a lobby," Haas says. On crowded weekends, tastings would sometimes spill over into the adjacent winery production and aging space. That made it hard to keep the temperature and humidity at proper levels, Haas says. Meanwhile, as production increased, the winery part of the building proved to Wine Tanks, Presses, Grape Crushers, Pumps, Valves, Fittings and more! Guaranteed best quality and value with quick delivery from stock. www.gwkent.com www.wineryparts.com 1.800.333.4288 30 Wines & Vines JUne 2012