Clockwise from left are Francois Perrin, Cesar Perrin, Jason Haas, Neil Collins, and Robert Haas.
By Marty Ramsburg
As I write this in April, we are adjusting to the news that Robert Haas, founder of Vineyard Brands and Tablas Creek, died at his western home in Templeton, California, where Tablas Creek is.
I say western home because Bob also maintained his eastern home, in Chester, Vermont. While cosmopolitan, Bob embraced Vermont. We can recognize the consistency between core values that Bob held, then embedded in the businesses that he built that now live on after him, and some of the core values that we associate with Vermont, namely hard work and personal responsibility; connection to our family, neighbors and community; and ecological stewardship.
I first met Bob at the Windham Hill Inn in Townshend when he was guiding a wine dinner there seven years ago; he was 84. Bob clearly had others who could easily have led these dinners. Bob was always willing to put his own effort into the businesses he built and that he believed in.
His son, Jason, general manager of Tablas Creek since 2006, wrote about his father’s example:
“My dad maintained an active role at Tablas Creek up until the very end. I often heard from his friends that they thought that his passion for this project kept him young, and I believe that. In the period in the mid-2000s when we were pushing to establish Tablas Creek in the market, he was out there (in his 70s and 80s, mind you), riding around with our distributors, making presentations to restaurants and retailers, up and down subway steps during the day and hosting dinners and tastings in the evening.”
We last enjoyed a visit from Bob at Windham Wines three years ago, when he was 88. By then, he and Barbara had moved to Templeton for most of the year, returning to Vermont for summers. He continued to visit accounts and show wines, including that annual wine dinner at Windham Hill Inn. He brought seven wines to us to taste with our tasting team. Each was an authentic, honest wine conveying a sense of place—and delicious.
Bob and Barbara celebrated 50 years together in January. While in Vermont, Bob coached Little League and served on the school board. Daniel, Bob’s son from his first marriage, is a vice president at Vineyard Brands, and son Jason pilots Tablas Creek. When the time came for Bob and Barbara to sell the company they started in the dairy barn of their Chester home—Vineyard Brands—so that they could focus on their new adventure, Tablas Creek, they chose a path respectful to those they had hired. The employee stock option plan sold the business to its employees, leaving its future in their trusted hands. Vineyard Brands has continued to thrive with a continuity of leadership that includes many who were hired by Bob 30 years ago.
One of those employees, now a vice president of the company, is Sheilah McGovern, whose father, Jim, owned the Hermitage in Wilmington. According to Sheilah, Bob hired smart, young people and empowered them to do their best. Anyone who manages people or who has endured a bad manager knows that this is no easy task. That Bob was a great manager is evidenced by the continued growth of Vineyard Brands, led by so many Bob empowered.
After an inauspicious start during which early settlers clear-cut forests and overgrazed sheep, Vermonters have become attentive to humans’ impact on the environment. Act 250, for instance, in the words of the Snelling, Vermont Natural Resources Board, “sets goals and priorities for environmental and scenic protections and is responsible for helping Vermont retain its rural character, preserve the natural environment and support the state’s environmental diversity—which foster distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place.”
Tablas Creek has been organic since its inception in 1987. It was certified biodynamic in 2017, a move that incorporated organic practices and much more. Even when organic, most vineyards remain a monoculture. Biodynamics values biodiversity, transforming a vineyard into a farm that transforms waste generated in one part into energy for another. Among other practices, Tablas Creek has a flock of 200 sheep to graze between the rows, controlling the weeds and fertilizing the soils. Tablas Creek is committed to being the best stewards of the land that they can be.
Bob’s was a life well lived, guided by values of connection and responsibility. Although these are not particular to Vermont, we recognize them as part of a Vermont identity that has preserved a place we love. They are values that create lasting institutions and enduring relationships.
