Vineyard scene from a beautiful, frosty morning
My #TablasCreek conversation with John Alban this week was really fun! If you missed it, it's now on our Instagram feed and available (no Instagram needed) in our Vimeo and YouTube archives: youtu.be/ROUG47P_No0?...
Nice! Welcome to Paso Robles.
We are enthusiastic advocates of alternative packaging, and were one of the first US wineries to release a high-end BiB. But none of those packages are as good for long-term as glass. As long as that’s true there will be a need to get those bottles to customers. blog.tablascreek.com/2022/02/why-...
In a new blog, I lay out our numbers and explore what happens when a winery chooses to pass along, share, or absorb those costs and how the type of winery they are impacts those decisions.
blog.tablascreek.com/2026/02/the-...
If you know a winery whose approach you admire pls share!
4/4 & end 🧵
This presents an enormous challenge to wineries, for whom shipping heavy, perishable packages is a business necessity. At Tablas Creek, we send more than 20,000 packages to customers each year, at a cost in 2025 of more than $1 million. 3/4
At the same time, companies like Amazon have conditioned us all to expect free shipping. A study published last year showed that 45% of American consumers expect free shipping on any order, and another 42% expect it on orders over $50. 2/4
The disconnect between what shipping costs and what people think shipping costs has never been greater.
UPS and FedEx have raised rates a cumulative 47.9% since 2019, and added or increased fees and surcharges that push the total increase to something like 60%.
A 🧵 1/4
I'm excited for my #TablasCreek conversation this week! I get to turn the tables on @adammontiel.bsky.social: broadcaster, event host, TEDx speaker, and the host of some great podcasts including Paso Robles Wine's "Where Wine Takes You". Join us Wednesday at noon Pacific on the Tablas IG feed.
#Wine is delicious... and also a major source of economic impact in the United States, to the tune of $323.55 billion per year. That's $951.48 per person in the country, and it generates tax revenue of $404.78 per American household. My newest blog dives into a new, powerful economic impact report.
Steve that’s so great! Please say hi to Anton Vicar, the wine director there, for me.
If you missed my live conversation on #wine and #tariffs with Harmon Skurnik today, we have posted it in our archive. We even got to dive into the breaking news about the 90-day suspension of most of the tariffs! It's on the Tablas Creek Instagram feed and at vimeo.com/1074100851?s...
If you're looking for an update on the state of play and the impacts of #tariffs on #wine, I hope you'll join me for my #TablasCreek Instagram Live conversation tomorrow at noon Pacific. My guest is Harmon Skurnik, President of Skurnik Wines and a Director at the US Wine Trade Alliance.
Interesting analysis of the potential domestic impact in the US wine industry of Trump’s proposed tariffs on European wines.
@jasonchaas.bsky.social posted this a full 2 weeks ago but I just found it, so maybe others missed it, too.
With budbreak progressing through the vineyard, this might be the last photo of dormant vines I share. But what a scene as we enter April, looking west from the oldest Counoise block in California over a hillside of Syrah and on toward the Santa Lucia Mountains.
Oh, and that sky! 🤩
Old oak and bald eagle at Tablas Creek this afternoon
Are these tariffs a serious proposal, or just a negotiating tactic? I hope it's the latter. But the reality is that even the discussion of them has negative consequences for American wineries. Their implementation would usher in a new era with much greater and more unpredictable dangers. 11 & end 🧵/
The US wine market has grown from ~4 bottles per person per year in the 1950s to ~15 today. It has vaulted the US to its position as the world's largest wine market and a destination for winemakers domestic and international with dreams of making wines that will compete on the world's stage. 10/
It would also mean the end of an era for wine in America. For nearly a century, the United States has enjoyed the world's most dynamic wine market, with vibrant domestic wineries in every state and the world's best selection of imported wines. That has led to the flowering of wine culture here. 9/
Can a neighborhood Italian joint replace its inexpensive Chianti with a California Sangiovese? Probably not when that grape represents less than one-half of one percent of the red wine grape acreage here in California. Instead, they probably sell more cocktails or beer and less wine. 8/
Would there be a larger piece of the pie here for California wineries? Not much of one, I don't think. Last time, we saw a period where restaurants and retailers scavenged inventory from warehouses around the country, and then sales dropped sharply as buyers waited in hope tariffs were rescinded. 7/
Would tariffs hurt European producers? Absolutely. But because of the channels that alcohol must follow, Americans would be hurt more. The US Wine Trade Alliance has calculated that for every $1.00 in damage tariffs would inflict on the EU, they cause $4.52 in losses to American businesses. 6/
If European wine is targeted in a new round of tariffs, it's very likely that American wine will be on the list of reciprocal targets. Last year at #TablasCreek we invested over $42,000 to grow our sales in our export markets, and saw significant growth. Prospects for 2025? Looking shaky. 5/
The American wine ecosystem is already under record strain, with layoffs at the country's two largest distributors. If a major producer or distributor should declare bankruptcy the cascade of impacts on their suppliers and customers would almost certainly cause other failures. 4/
Could American wines fill in the gap? Not for years. American wine production is currently ~300 million cases. Consumption of wine in the USA is ~375 million cases. It takes roughly five years for new plantings to produce grapes, be fermented and bottled, and eventually reach the market. 3/
A producer like #TablasCreek cannot sell directly to restaurants and retailers in most states. So, our success is dependent upon distributors. Many of our distributors get the majority of their business from European wines. For those distributors, the proposed tariffs amount to a death sentence. 2/
I've been reading some hot takes that 200% tariffs on European wines would benefit domestic wineries. I think that's dangerously wrong. We all rely on the same federally mandated distribution system that tariffs at this level would devastate. A quick 🧵 1/ tablascreek.typepad.com/tablas/2025/...
Cotton candy sky in Paso Robles tonight
Thanks Randall! I can’t wait to hear you tell Syrah’s story at next month’s #RhoneRangersExperienxe seminar.
Yep. I've followed Randall since I signed up. But for whatever reason his posts don't often show up in my feed. I'm still figuring out this algorithm.
