Well, I would describe them and thick and rich, with extremely ripe fruit. Lots of oak notes of vanilla and wood. If you like this style, then it may very well be worth a visit.
Agree about Tablas. Tablas Creek eschews the overly-extracted, overly-oaked, overly-viscous style. Provides a nice counterpoint to the BIG wines you will find at a lot of Paso wineries. Great juice at great prices. The sit down tasting, where you get to taste older vintages, is a blast. Well worth the tariff.
Itās AFWE frat code. It means you donāt have to gargle it to suck the flavor out 
We were underwhelmed by Tablas Creek. It felt the most corporate and touristy of all the places we stopped. Wines for the most part are more thin and mild compared to a lot of Paso, āgood food winesā. The Esprit de Beaucastel, which they donāt make anymore, was a bigger wine.
They still make the Esprit wines and the Panoplie which also previously had Esprit de Beaucastel in the name. Same wine programs, just new names.
As far as the wines, one personās balanced is anotherās underwhelming. Personally, Iām quite fond of their wines and their tasting room (and tasting room staff).
-Al
The bigger the winery (cases per year), the bigger the tasting room, and the less likely you are to meet an owner or winemaker in the tasting room. Or so it seems to me. I still like the small guyās best.
Al
Agree! And since Paso is known for bigger, bolder wines TC could be a good option to mix things up with the palate.
Cheers
My LāAventure wines are among my most cherished, BUT they require patience. Yes they have new oak, yes they exhibit high ABV, give them 10 or 15 years and they sing. Recently had an '04 Cote de Cote and it blew away some serious Rhone competition. Regarding Tablas Creek I love everything they do, but especially their white wine program. I no longer purchase Denner, Booker, Epoch or Turley. I find their wines heavy-handed and unbalanced.
So we went in Spring of 2017, a few notes below.
Typically we booked only two appts. per day, one morning one afternoon and asked for the full tour.
That was a good life decision, everyone was so enthusiastic and passionate.
Paso to me felt less āexit through the gift shopā than some large corporate Napa wineries Iāve visited.
My favorites were: Saxum, Booker, Epoch & TH Estates.
If you need a place to stay, this VRBO was INCREDIBLE. Views of Paderewski vineyard right down the hill, across the street from TH Estate winery. (Click for link)
Wineries (in no specific order):
Saxum - I mean, the highlight of the trip. Justin and Don lead us around doing barrel samples. No words. Just incredible. I can now die happy as this was a dream come true.
LāAventure - A fantastic tour, loved getting to check out the caves, the tasting was very thoughtful and they pulled out some interesting samples via Coravin.
Booker - Another wonderful tour, starting with a seating tasting, then a tour through the vineyard on a 4x4 gator. Delicious wines obviously.
Turtle Rock - a fun small tasting, really enjoyed running through their wines as I was less familiar with them.
Epoch - Quite the all encompassing tour. Went through the winery, the lab, barrel room, you name it. Extensive. Got to taste from the tank, was a great experience.
Linne Calodo - I mean, it was fine. No tour available. Just felt like kind of an average tasting. Good wines.
Herman Story - Entertaining tasting, sadly Russell wasnāt there. Really love their wines.
TH Estate Wines - What an experience, one of the best tastings I did while in Paso. We got Phil (assistant winemaker) and basically just followed him around the barrel room tasting whatever we wanted. Later at the sit down tasting Terry clearly made a point come say hello, was just top notch start to finish. Awesome wines as well.
Villa Creek (Tasting only) - Was a very nice relaxing sit down tasting. Beautiful location, really enjoyed it.
LAW Estate - Great sit down tasting with amazing wines, but they didnāt really do a tour of the vineyards or winery unless youāre on their mailing list which is kind of regrettable (joined later).
Food:
La Cosecha Bar and Restaurant - Solid wine list, almost Tapas style plates. Enjoyable.
Kitchenette - Probably my favorite place there, casual but amazing breakfast/coffee. Croque madame is to die for. Think we went here three times lol.
Il Cortile Ristorante - Fantastic fresh pasta and good wine list.
Thomas Hill Organics - Nice casual lunch spot, farm to table.
The Hatch - The whiskey list here is incredible and reasonably priced. Food also amazing. We did happy hour/snacks here and that was a mistake, should have stayed for dinner.
Fish Gaucho - It was fine, but I liked the other places we went better.
I donāt really like to speak badly about people or businesses, but I went to Thomas Hill Organics in June and it was one of the most sad dining experiences Iāve EVER had ANYWHERE; certainly the worst dining experience Iāve had in the last several years. I donāt want to go into details, but letās just say that before we even said anything, they comped 50% of the meal, and we still wouldāve been better off ordering a big chain pizza delivered to our room. Iāll be shocked if itās open next June. Whatever you do, donāt go.
Iād check out the place that was just opened by Stephan Asseoās son called Les Petites Canailles.
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Iād check out the place that was just opened by Stephan Asseoās son called Les Petites Canailles.
Itās excellent. Make reservations well in advance. Known as LPC, their website is www.lpcrestaurant.com.
First wine list Iāve seen with a āfamilyā producers section.
There is another new place in town to eat. Out on 46W near Vineyard is a new tasting room, Wines of the West. 4 different labels, you can form your own opinions of the wines. Whatās special is the food. Heirloom Catering runās the kitchen from 11-8 every day. The chef Matteo was the first chef at the Hatch, invented their famous mushroom dish. His wife is the baker. Tables are outside and inside the tasting room. This is not a fancy restaurant, but the food is great! I went for the first time last night and asked for the chefās menu dinner, let him pick the dishes for three of us. Everything was excellent. Ceasar salad, Pig ear chicharrones, roasted carrots, hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, porchetta, beef cheeksā¦ I look forward to trying the lunch menu.
I just have to ask. Are you a member of Saxum? I have been told you have to be on their allocation to taste there, but if there is some sort of loophole I am all ears! It is a bucket list item for me. I think I have another 5 years or so before getting my allocation.
Been on the list for quite a while, and they were gracious enough to put up with me for an afternoon 
Had to make a day trip due to scheduling and drive down there from San Francisco that morning at 4AM, totally worth it, lol.
Interesting, I didnāt have that bad of an experience, but I do remember the food being aggressively mediocre.
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These 2 are fantastic, I highly recommend them.
I second all the suggestions above, and must add the following:
Top Winery
Cordant Nelle
Desparada
Fulldraw
Dilecta
Levo makes some great wines - almost entirely from SB County fruit.
Cheers.
Lone Madrone -winemaker from Tablas Creek
Denner- Owned by the Ditch Witch guy so related names like Ditch Digger and Dirt Worshipper. I subscribed during visit and have been tempted to drop like I do most wine clubs. Then I open a bottle from delivery and not drop it.
Halter Ranch- A must for orthopedic surgeons and those with joint replacements because the sale of Synthes to J&J bought this place.
Cass is nice place, it is way out East and very scenic. Wines are quite good.
There are other wineries out that way as well such as August Ridge which does some nice Italian varietals.
I discovered Aaron way back when he only did killer PS and it was $30, now its much higher but he is a great guy.
I always like Eberle for its historic place, last time finally met and talked with Gary.
Booker
Yes sir! ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}