Bill Easton on Conversation with Jason

In this episode of Conversation with Jason (which aired on May 29th, 2024, on our Instagram Live feed) pioneer of the Rhone Rangers and winemaker/owner of Terre Rouge & Easton Wines, Bill Easton joins Tablas Creek Vineyard Proprietor Jason Haas.

In their conversation, Jason and Bill discuss Bill’s start growing up in a Sacramento family who patronized local wineries (he describes the wines on their table growing up as “artisan jug”), his decision to open a “people’s wine shop” in the East Bay in his 20s, his beginnings making home wines in that era from amazing dry-farmed old-vine Zinfandel, and his embrace of Rhone grapes because, like Zin, they make wines that bring pleasure.

They talk about Bill’s experience in the late-1980s formation of the Rhone Rangers organization, the seminal 1990 international colloquium on Rhone varieties organized by our founder Robert Haas and hosted at Meadowood Napa Valley, and what the tiny but vibrant American Rhone community was like as it got started.

Then, they talk about what drew Bill to the Sierra Foothills, why the best wines are made from grapes grown in places where they barely ripen, what keeps Bill excited 30 years later, and how it seems like the 2024 vintage is shaping up.

All that and more on this conversation!

https://www.terrerougewines.com/
https://www.rhonerangers.org/

Website: https://tablascreek.com/
Instagram:   / tablascreek  

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel:    / tablascreek