–Tablas Creek Vineyard has announced that it has received Biodynamic certification from Demeter USA. The certification is the international farming community’s highest level of sustainability certification. It begins with organic practices (Tablas Creek has been certified organic since 2003) and adds a holistic approach to building a dynamic, biodiverse and healthy farm unit in which the signature of the place can show clearly.

Demeter states that the goal of biodynamic practices is “to create a farm system that is minimally dependent on imported materials, and instead meets its needs from the living dynamics of the farm itself. It is the biodiversity of the farm, organized so that the waste of one part of the farm becomes the energy for another, that results in an increase in the farm’s capacity for self-renewal and ultimately makes the farm sustainable.”

Tablas Creek’s 270-acre property has 115 acres under vine, making it one of the largest certified biodynamic vineyards in the Central Coast. Practices include a mobile flock of 150+ sheep and alpacas to weed and fertilize the vineyard, interplantings of hundreds of fruit trees around and within the vineyards, compost made on site from pruning and grape must, applications of compost tea from the on-site compost, natural pest controls including 39 owl boxes around the vineyard and sections of native vegetation left to attract insects and predators, and our own hives of bees to support all these different plant species.

In response to the most recent award, partner and General Manager Jason Haas said, “We’re thrilled have earned our Biodynamic Certification, the farming community’s highest level of sustainability.” Shepherd Nathan Stewart adds, “I’m excited to see Tablas Creek’s years of dedication to sustainable practices being recognized with this certification. Tablas Creek has always led by example and having the first certified biodynamic flock of sheep in their vineyard sequestrating carbon is just the next step forward!”

Tablas Creek is one of the pioneers of California’s Rhone movement. Founded in what would become Paso Robles’ Adelaida District in 1989 by the Perrin Family of Chateau de Beaucastel and their American importer Robert Haas, the partners imported clonal material from Beaucastel, made this vine material available to the wine community through a new grapevine nursery, and planted their estate vineyard starting in 1992. Tablas Creek produces roughly 30,000 cases of red, white, and rosé Rhone-style wine per year from their Biodynamic estate vineyard and a handful of long-term relationships with independent Paso Robles growers.